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On Sunday, state and federal forces identified two alleged drug lords as those responsible for the massacre of 13 people in Minatitlán, in the state of Veracruz, who are part of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel.

Sources explain that search operations are being carried out throughout the state, as well as in Tabasco.

On Friday, armed men entered a private party that was being held in a palapa, a party venue, in Minatitlán, where they murdered 4 women, 9 men, and a one-year-old baby in cold blood and wounded other 4 people.

On Friday, the gunmen arrived “looking for someone named 'La Becky' and then shot against those present,” said the state's Public Security Ministry.

The person the gunmen were looking for was said to be Julio César González Reyna, known as “La Becky”, and who was a member of the LBGTQ+ community.

It's been confirmed that Julio César González Reyna was the owner of a bar in Minatitlán. On her Facebook profile, she described herself as a “hard-working trans girl.”

Survivors told journalists that the gunmen forced them to watch how they massacred their family members and friends and pointed at women with their firearms.

A woman told reporters that “they pointed at us, the old ladies who were dancing. Yes. They murdered several older woman (…) what I did was to hide under a table.”

The first investigations suggest it could have been possible revenge between the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel and Los Zetas cartel. Sources say that one of the main lines of investigation is for a possible vendetta against a Minatitlán resident: “They were after one person and those present intervened, which sparked the tragedy.”

On Sunday, some of the victims were buried while federal agents patrolled the cemetery in Minatitlán.

Another survivor said that it was her sister's birthday: “she turned 52, I was in the bathroom when the shooting began, I didn't see how many (gunmen) they were because I didn't leave (the bathroom). I lost my son, my only son, you can imagine the pain after seeing my only son dead. (…) He was 32.”

Another survivor described how they murdered the one-year-old baby in cold blood and they kept shooting at him after he died.

Some survivors are alive because they left the party early because, during Holy Week, Catholics are supposed to stay at home.

The victims are:

1.- Alfredo Megniout

2.- Felicitas Cabrera Gil

3.- Juan René López Velázquez

4.- Heber Reyes Martínez

5.- Ana María Santos Hernández

6.- Raúl Palacios Vasconcelos

7.- Leobardo Salinas Jiménez

8.- Julio César Vázquez López

9.- Santiago, the one-year-old baby

10.- César Hernández Barrera

11.- Julio César González Reyna

12.- Patricia Cabrera Ramos

13.- Irma Barrera Álvarez

On Saturday, three vehicles in which the gunmen were allegedly traveling after leaving the scene were set on fire near the Coatzacoalcos 2 bridge.



Photo: File photo/EL UNIVERSAL

In the last decade, Veracruz turned into one of the bloodiest regions in Mexico. Journalists were especially targeted in this state, and dozens of clandestine mass graves have been found there.

The President was due to visit Veracruz on Sunday, according to an official schedule published before the attack took place.

