The children of “El Chapo” have created a makeshift school for the poor in Mexico

The former drug dealer is still revered by some as a fallen folk hero.

The children of former Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán helped build a makeshift school near the northern Mexican city of Culiacán for families without access to online classes during the coronavirus pandemic, locals said.

Now serving a life sentence in a US prison, “El Chapo” is still revered by some as a fallen folk hero and benefactor in his home state of Sinaloa, despite the large number of people killed by the drug cartel. the direct one.

Some sons of the former are following in his footsteps and have risen to the ranks of the Sinaloa cartel, leading a new branch of the gang known as “Los Chapitos”.

Last year they made headlines around the world and increased the reputation of the family’s outlaws when they besieged the capital Sinaloan Culiacán to force the police to release Ovidio Guzmán, one of their brothers.

Esmeralda Quiñonez, community leader of an irregular settlement called Bicentennial Extension, north of the state capital, said some children from “El Chapo” contacted her to ask what was most needed in the area and set up a makeshift school in few days.

“Thank God the note reached the ears of Chapo Guzmán’s children and they showed solidarity and helped us build here,” said Quiñonez.

Reuters was unable to contact El Chapo’s children for comment. The Sinaloa government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Juan Mejía, secretary of state for education – who visited the school last week – told Reuters that “the competent authorities will have to find out who has equipped the school”.

However, he commended the community’s efforts at the education center, saying it “was an incredible job” during a difficult time in the midst of a pandemic.

Decorated with Joaquín Guzmán Loera’s initials JGL, the name of the excavation, the installation has study materials, books, televisions, computers and the Internet. Quiñonez said uniforms and shoes were also provided.

Many children in the poor neighborhood stopped studying when schools closed due to the pandemic, locals said. Schools remain closed throughout Mexico.

Families often live off what parents earn by working in the vast nearby landfill, in homes with no internet connection, or in places that allow their children to take online and televised classes broadcast by Mexican education authorities during the pandemic.

“The idea is that children can learn while their parents work in the landfill, and not worry about food, which has motivated dozens of parents to send their children to this temporary school,” Quiñonez said.