“Of course, we’re scared. We’ve never lived through this level of violence and clashes like we have now. From my study, I hear gunfire throughout the city starting in the morning.” Élmer said.
Élmer Mendoza frequently converses with Édgar “El Zurdo” Mendieta, the lonely, lovestruck detective who is the main character in his novels. Mendieta is also an unyielding policeman against the criminals in his hometown of Culiacán.
“I have my whiskies with him. We talk, we debate,” says one of Mexico’s and the world’s most important writers, a devoted exponent of the narco-literature genre, which narrates the impact of the drug trade on society.
And with the recent devastating weeks, where the groups ‘Los Mayitos’ and ‘Los Chapitos’ are fighting for power within the Sinaloa Cartel, leaving a trail of terror across Culiacán and other Sinaloan towns, a conversation between Élmer and El Zurdo becomes necessary.
“There are two novels I would discuss with ‘El Zurdo’. I need to retrieve them. I see Zurdo saying there’s no point in intervening, there’s too much killing, nothing can be done. And there’s a second novel where other actors might be by my side. For example, Samantha Valdes (another character from his novels). She’s smart; she likes to negotiate, to stabilize,” says Élmer, who is from Culiacán and has breathed in and lived through the violence and narco life that moves this city.
“Of course, we’re scared. We’ve never lived through this level of violence and clashes like we have now. From my study, I hear gunfire throughout the city starting in the morning. We were used to it—I’ve even found bullet casings embedded in my house’s walls—but this is different, it’s a whole new level of violence,” he says.
The violence in Culiacán escalated after the ‘arrest’ of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, one of the legendary leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, by DEA agents. His capture has been the subject of much speculation. Some say he was betrayed by Los Chapitos. Others claim his surrender was negotiated, while others believe he was kidnapped.
“We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know the real toll of the dead and injured. We’ve hit rock bottom in this administration—this ‘hugs, not bullets’ policy is a joke. We have a president (Andrés Manuel López Obrador) who will be remembered for his unfortunate phrases. As a novelist, from the perspective of doubt, nothing has come close to the truth regarding El Mayo’s arrest. I tend to believe it was a negotiation. He’s very sick, he seems to have cancer and needs treatment. They could never have caught El Mayo. He was very careful, a whole town protected and defended him. We (the people of Sinaloa) never felt attacked by him; he was a good neighbor,” Élmer says.
The writer is very skeptical about the arrest: “I don’t buy it. No one catches him. He never disrespected anyone; he wasn’t a talker.”
Élmer has organized a movement for years called “We will not surrender our city,” where he invited families to take to the streets. But not this time.
“I’ve always lived in an intense reality, not like this. I prefer Borges’s phrase: ‘Fiction is made by men; reality is made by God’,” he says.
Élmer is not only afraid but also angry and disappointed.
“We Sinaloans want to work. We’re hard workers. We work the land. My family has restaurants, but they’ve had to close, like many other businesses. The statement from a high-ranking army officer saying they couldn’t do anything, that it was up to the cartels, is disappointing. Sinaloans have been forgotten,” he says.
“They could never have caught El Mayo. He was very careful, a whole town protected and defended him. We (the people of Sinaloa) never felt attacked by him; he was a good neighbor,” Élmer says.
Élmer points to negotiation as a solution to the conflict.
“El Mayo was someone who helped; he didn’t bother Sinaloans. When there was a disaster, his help arrived before the government’s. The same with El Chapo. We hope that now with the president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, things will change. That they’ll care more about Sinaloans,” he says.
Élmer is already announcing a new novel about ‘El Zurdo’ Mendieta. He says there will be many surprises, and one can’t doubt that the current conflict will feature in the plot. He also reveals his desire to write a science fiction novel, though his attempts have failed so far.
“I’ve tried twice already. I’ll give it a third shot, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll give it up,” he says.
As for the project to bring his novels to television, he says it’s all on hold for now.
“Until we sign, there’s nothing,” he says.
In the meantime, he will continue waking up at five in the morning to make himself tea, talk to God, and start writing.
“They say drinking coffee at that hour is bad for you. I said to myself, ‘Ah, damn,’ I’ve been drinking it my whole life, but you never know, so I’ve switched to tea and ask God for forgiveness for the things and characters I’m going to write about,” he concludes.
Élmer Mendoza: “Reading is a family matter. We shouldn’t blame young people.”
