Mexican President Meets With Family of Slain U.S. Citizens

In a country where officials are not usually apparent when it comes to their religious practices, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador prayed on Monday with the family of the nine U.S. dual citizens murdered in northern Mexico on November 4.

In a report by Associated Press published on Latino Rebels website, Julián LeBarón, one of the relatives of the victims said on Tuesday that the prayer was done during the family's meeting with López Obrador and his Cabinet at Mexico City's National Palace. He added, they "just bowed our heads, prayed for the president and the country, for peace and goodwill, and to protect our loved ones, and protect our country."

In the same meeting, the president pledged to visit the region where the November 4 massacre took place, assured the victim's relatives that "at least four" suspects have been detained, according to another LeBarón family member.

In a report by Latin Post https://www.latinpost.com/articles/142785/20191202/at-least-21-dead-mexican-cartel-members-suspected-behind-the-attack.htm, the arrested suspects were members of the drug cartel who were recently involved in a gunbattle with the security forces in the Mexican town of Villa Union.

The LeBarón family are dual nationals who have been residing near the border of the northern states of Sonora and Chihuahua for decades and identify themselves as believers of the Mormon tradition. The family is known in the area and is often criticized for asking U.S. President Donald Trump to declare Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

The attack took nine LeBarón family members including three young mothers and six children. According to officials, the killers filmed the attack themselves and set fire to the SUV in which one mother who is LeBarón's cousin and her four children died. Meanwhile, one of the mothers' vehicles was set afire unintentionally, when a bullet hit the gas tank. LeBarón said family members have seen the video.

LeBarón is now thinking about the proposal to revive the kind of local anti-crime organizing that his community in Chihuahua state established in 2009 following an attack by members of a drug cartel.

"We think we should all be humble enough, and that's something we discussed with the president, to recognize that we have an immense problem on our hands and we need help," LeBarón said, adding that he and his family does not have to wait for a military invasion.

In his vision, he sees communities assuming responsibility to prevent attacks of cartels by allowing them to form detachment groups, authorizing the citizens to bear weapons to protect their families.

LeBarón said their community has been invaded by criminal terrorist organizations within Mexico, within their own communities for many times but the government has failed to stop these perpetrators.

LeBarón believes that the whole western United States was basically built on a structure that worked for communities. "What we call the Wild West was never the wild West. Within the community they basically had all the powers to hold people accountable. The whole town could be deputized to bring criminals before justice," he added.