The desperate cry was made by a man about 50 years old, black, tall and hairy, who was at the gas station next to the monument of Diana the Huntress of Acapulco.
However, four days after the impact of the category 5 typhoon, the lack of water, food, electricity and fuel dampened the spirits of residents, who asked for humanitarian aid to reach all the most vulnerable areas. quick and smooth. colony.
“It is abusive to the authority, the police took away the gasoline!” shouted the man with the veins on his neck very marked, as he threatened to wave the red gallon in the air where he intended to refuel. Behind him, a huge line of people stretching for kilometers, also raised empty jars and began to criticize a group of ministerial police from the state of Guerrero who asked the population to withdraw because they will also refuel with gasoline.
“Tricky!” could be heard in the crowd, thinking that the agents would not load any more fuel.
“Why don’t they sell us gasoline? We want to buy! They will steal it, they are the thieves, not us!
Sometimes, the tension increases, to the point that the ministerial agents grab the neck of one of the people who reprimands them, and push him aside, until the mob revolts and runs towards the group of ministerial police, When they realize that the situation of the powder has become dangerous, they decide to release the man and quickly get into their patrol cars to quickly leave the gas station.
“Where is the government, López Obrador?”the man shouted again with the veins in his neck and arms about to break, as he hit the red stripe on the ground with anger and frustration, to reprimand again: “Where is the authority?”
Food riots in Acapulco; the authorities promise to reach everyone
In the colonies farthest from the tourist area on the coast, the situation also continues to be chaotic. In Cereso number 2, where the Acapulco prison is located, Ricardo Flores, 26, watched through the cracks in the iron curtain to see if there was any food left in an Oxxo. She has been pregnant with her child for several months.
“We need water!” he shouted at a military convoy, looking back at him silently. “And food too! “The storm took everything from us!”, he shouted again. Next to him, sitting on a stool in front of Oxxo, an old woman put her hands on her face.
He was tired, desperate, and hungry and thirsty. “There are many children here who have nothing to eat or drink. “You need more diapers,” thought the woman, who once again put her hands to her face, sweating from the intense humid heat of the dock.
“You don’t even have a tortilla to put in your mouth,” muttered Ángel, from the neighborhood of Radio Coco. “Many days have passed and we still have no help. We need water, lots of water, and also food. There are people who are starving and don’t even have a blanket left in their house. ”
In the town of high plateau, As the military convoy passes, it goes around to identify the main needs of the population and then begins to distribute the food supplies that arrive in dribs and drabs at the collection center set up near the airport, there were among the population who greeted the soldiers and thanked them for their support, but also many who looked at them with angry faces and scolded them for not having authority and food.
“We want support, not for people to come and take photos!” shouted some of the people when they saw the military convoy accompanied by journalists.
“The water situation is terrible,” said Mrs. Rufina Maldonado, who sits in the shade next to the Diana roundabout; He hoped the military would allow him to call to let his family know, four days after the storm, that he and his family were okay. “In life, that’s the important thing.”
“And the state of insecurity is another terrible thing,” he added. “Crime is very high. Everything is chaotic. I would like to think that the authorities cannot control the city, so we must have faithbut the truth is that the situation is very complicated.”
“We are going at a very fast pace,” he stressed.
When it was pointed out that there are residents who in the less touristic neighborhoods criticized the lack of help, the Mayor stressed that since this Saturday, the supplies have been distributed through the Mexican Army.
“There is a deployment of 15 thousand elements of the armed forces and we are going to reach all the colonies,” he emphasized.
“Do you think 15,000 items are enough for the affected population of 800,000?” he was asked.
“Whatever is needed, there are no limits. Not to strengthen the elements, or resources. “We will reach anywhere,” promised the Secretary of the Interior.
The residents of Acapulco felt insecure, despite the arrival of the Army
Next to a pharmacy with its façade completely destroyed and its interior looted, a group of national guardsmen and Army soldiers restlessly watched the scene, focusing on making the traffic flow. on the jam-packed beaches of Miguel Alemán.
Hours before, in the morning, patrols of the Mexican Army passed the same beach of Miguel Alemán where, Like almost the entire territory of Acapulco, there is no large, medium or small business that has not been robbed. of people looking for supplies and others also trying to recover for themselves some of what the storm took from them.
“Hey, they’re stealing!”shouted a man of about 60 years old, small, slightly stooped, who caught the attention of the soldiers by raising his arm towards a small shopping center where a group of people were still managing to take in some tables and chairs that they loaded. in a van. at the punt.
“Don’t you have plans to do? “Are you going to leave them?”, the man shouted helplessly, while the Army patrol continued on their way and the soldiers could only answer him: “We’re sorry, there’s nothing we can do.”
The above is just a small snapshot of what happened in the four days after Otis, in terms of looting and lack of authority to protect businesses and property.
“It is not possible to return to my subdivision, there is severe violence: theft and robbery are overflowing,” said a woman who is a building manager.
“Not a single business has survived the theft. It doesn’t matter if it’s a big supermarket, a small shop, or a local shop. People are angry. And yes, there was the National Guard and the Army, but they did nothing to stop it. Sadly, Acapulco is destroyed,” lamented the woman, who admitted that she felt relieved after leaving the port.
“We left Acapulco terrified because there was no security. No one to order. There are departments that have been robbed. They rob living rooms and dining rooms with trucks, and everything they can.. It is very sad to see the port like this” added the woman.
