Jesús Malverde

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Jesus Malverde figure

Jesús Malverde († May 3, 1909 ) is a Mexican folk saint from the state of Sinaloa , who is venerated as the patron saint of drug traffickers . It is also known under the names El Narcosanto and El Santo Bandido . The Roman Catholic Church has not canonized him because neither his existence nor a miracle attributable to him have been proven.

Life

Little is known about the historical person of Malverde. According to legend, he was a Mexican robber at the time of the Porfiriat , who, like Robin Hood, became popular by robbing the rich and giving gifts to the poor. He is said to have been born to poor people on Christmas Eve in 1870 near Culiacán , the capital of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. He is said to have become an orphan early on and had to make ends meet with slave labor on an estate. According to one theory, his real name was Jesús Juárez Mazo, according to other theories, he never lived. His personage is in the tradition of historical robbers such as Jesús Arriaga ( Chucho el Roto ), Heraclio Bernal ( The Lightning of Sinaloa ) and El Santañón .

According to tradition, the governor of Sinaloa is said to have placed a considerable bounty on Malverde, which incited an accomplice to treason. According to another version, Malverde was wounded in a shooting with the authorities and then fled to the mountains where he suffered sepsis . Near death, he let himself be extradited to get his accomplices the bounty. Since the governor wanted to make an example, he had Malverde's body publicly hung and displayed in 1909. Malverde is buried in Culiacan, a drug trafficking hotspot in northern Mexico.

cult

There is a cult surrounding Malverde, which is also promoted by the regional drug cartel. The circle of his admirers extends beyond criminal circles and includes not only the rural population but also lawyers and police officers. Malverde is often depicted in a white suit and a black mustache, his likeness is sold as an amulet . On the day of his death, May 3rd, there is an annual ritual celebration in his chapel , during which flowers and other offerings are made to him.

Malverde is an icon between hegemonic culture and subculture, as in Narcodrama and NARCOCORRIDO is expressed, a symbol of patriarchal oppression, postcolonial abandonment and crime, the life of the so-called border people mark on the cultural border between the US and Mexico.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sebastian Grundberger: How Latin Americans invent their saints themselves. Herder Correspondence, June 2011, accessed March 6, 2014 .
  2. ↑ The God of Crooks, Welt-Sichten. Magazine for Global Development and Ecumenical Cooperation April 23, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Malverde, Jesus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES El Narcosanto, El Santo Bandido
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mexican folk saint
DATE OF BIRTH 19th century
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 1909