'El Chapo' is a beloved folk hero in his Mexican homeland

Photos of El Chapo supporters

Young women wear headbands featuring the name of Chapo Guzman during a march in Culiacan February 26, 2014. More than a thousand people marched through the streets of the capital of captured drug lord Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman's home state in northwest Mexico on Wednesday, calling for his freedom after his arrest last year in a predawn raid in the beachside resort and fishing center of Mazatlan. less Photos of El Chapo supporters

Young women wear headbands featuring the name of Chapo Guzman during a march in Culiacan February 26, 2014. More than a thousand people marched through the streets of the capital of ... more Photo: Daniel Becerril, Reuters Photo: Daniel Becerril, Reuters Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close 'El Chapo' is a beloved folk hero in his Mexican homeland 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

In his homeland, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has a reputation that differs from how the rest of the world sees him. In the Mexican state of Sinaloa, Guzman is not always seen as the world’s most wanted drug lord. Many poor residents see him as a folk hero.

The Sinaloa Cartel boss made a daring underground escaped from a max security prison in Mexico over the weekend. His flight has Mexican and international authorities livid. But the impoverished inhabitants Sinaloa likely have celebrated the breakout.



RELATED: 17 things to know about escaped Sinaloa drug lord "El Chapo"

El Chapo is beloved in poor areas of Sinaloa for giving back. He allegedly invests revenue from his drug trafficking organization back into his homeland. The cartel’s presence there also protects the people from other criminal organizations that want to encroach on the territory, defenders say.

Supporters say he’s paved roads in Sinaloa and given people work. His Robin Hood status has been captured in song. Bands write narco-ballads envisaging a life as a drug lord. Locals pay respects to a legendary Mexican bandit and “angel of the poor” named Jesus Malverde – who often is referred to as the “narco-saint.”

When he was arrested in 2014, citizens of Culiacan protested Guzman’s detention and possible extradition to the United States. Hundreds of demonstrators played music, danced and changed for the cartel head’s liberation. One woman carried a sign that said “Chapo, give me a child,” the New York Daily News reported at the time.

RELATED: "El Chapo" memes take over the Internet after escape

Guzman isn’t the only drug lord to cultivate a folk hero image. Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was seen as a saint by swaths of the poor population in his hometown of Medellin. After one of the world’s most wanted criminals died in a shootout with police, thousands turned out for his funeral.

Still as author Don Winslow notes, there’s not really two sides to the story of Guzman. Winslow, who has written critically acclaimed novels on cartels, wrote in a recent editorial for CNN that El Chapo’s escape act will bolster his legend. But, he emphasizes, there’s not a soft side to the drug lord:

The man is no Robin Hood -- he's a mass murderer.

The last time that Chapo "escaped," his effort to put his empire back together touched off a decade-long war that caused untold suffering, left thousands of orphans, shattered communities and destroyed souls.

See the gallery above for a glimpse of some of El Chapo’s supporters.