Progreso, Yucatán, (June 23, 2021).- “Champotón” was the nickname with which he was known. He had stopped walking and was moving around in a wheelchair , but he never gave up his addiction to alcohol. He was meeting with his friends whom he met on the Malecón beach when he arrived 19 years ago from his native Villa Madero, Campeche, a port he left when he discovered his wife’s infidelity.
Like every other day, Juan was sitting on one side of the traditional malecón roundabout, on the intersection of Calle 19 con 80, that’s how he was found at 8 in the morning on Tuesday, June 22, and those who knew him thought he was asleep.
But the hours passed and “Champotón” did not move , around 11:30 in the morning a visitor was struck by the fact that the sun shone squarely on his face. Then he spoke to him and when he did not get a response, he reported the case to the municipal police .
In a matter of minutes a municipal police ambulance arrived, the paramedics assessed him and determined that the man had died about four or five hours ago.
” He was a sturdy and hardworking man ”
Juan MC.C. aka “Champoton”, was about 50 years old, when he arrived at this port, he was a robust man, he enlisted in the fishing boats of the larger Yucalpeten fleet. But when he returned from a trip, without a home or family, he sought refuge in the western beach and traditional boardwalk where he lived with the “teporochos” (drunken people) who also traveled on boats and had nowhere to live .
He stopped traveling on the fishing boats and became part of the “ Death Squad ”, which little by little are dying from alcoholism mostly because they consume cheap liquor.
Eduardo, 64 years old, another member of the “ Death Squad ”, remembers that when Juan arrived at this port from Villa Madero, Campeche, he was a sturdy, hard-working man, but alcoholism finished him.
Until about 20 years ago, the “ Death Squad ” was made up of 13 “teporochos”, and now, with the death of “Champotón”, there are already ten deaths registered due to alcohol consumption in that group. So, only three remain from the original crew, among them is Eduardo.
At the scene of the events, the municipal police and the Ministry of Public Security cordoned off the area. And agents of the State Investigative Police arrived for the proceedings.
It was reported that the body was picked up by personnel from the Forensic Medical Service and transferred to the SEMEFO. “Champotón” had no relatives, his acquaintances were the “teporochos”, no one else.