
Image source, Getty Images
-
- Author, Santiago Vanegas and Darío Brooks
- Author's title, BBC News World
The vocalist and director of the Northern Enigma Group, Ernesto Barajas, died in a shooting attack on Tuesday in Zapopan, in the suburbs of the Mexican city of Guadalajara.
The murder of the 38 -year -old singer was confirmed by the Attorney General of the State of Jalisco, who informed BBC Mundo that he is investigating the case “to clarify the facts.”
A man who met Barajas also died, while a woman was injured.
Enigma Norteño was founded in 2004, when Barajas was barely 18 years old, and became one of the most famous groups of corridos of the popular genre of the Mexican regional.
The themes played by the band were “narcocorridos” that mainly described the life of the members of the drug trafficking posters.
These songs have generated controversy in Mexico due to their exaltation of violence in a country that has registered tens of thousands of homicides in the last 20 years.
Some singers of the genre expressed their condolences for the death of Barajas, such as Luis R. Conriquez, who wrote on his Instagram account: “Dep. My Compita left her legacy in music and corridors.”
The northern enigma issues record about four million monthly views on the Spotify platform. Barajas was also a podcast driver on YouTube in which he interviewed figures of the Mexican regional.
Image source, Getty Images
Threats and violence
Barajas was originally from Culiacán, the capital of the state of Sinaloa, the cradle of several successful Mexican regional bands, but also of drug trafficking bands.
According to information released by the local press, the singer had been threatened in 2023 by the Jalisco Nueva Generación poster (CJNG), one of the most dangerous drug trafficking organizations in the country.
At the time, a photo of a note was known on social networks, supposedly signed by members of the CJNG, who said: “Ernesto Barajas, vocalist of Northern Enigma, stops feeling protest (sic) by the Achilles and Rana sisters. Here you will not come to sing runs from your flag. The casualty has an owner.”
“The frog” and “Achilles” are the alias of the Arzate García brothers, who according to the FBI are high rank members of the Sinaloa cartel who control drug trafficking in the state of Baja California, which they refer to with “the decline.”
Several Northern Enigma songs explicitly speak of leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, including Ismael El Mayo Zambada, who for decades was leader of the organization and is now imprisoned in the US.
However, Barajas was also a composer of a theme – “Are they going to want more? (El Mencho)” – dedicated to the leader of the CJNG, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and launched in 2016.
Image source, Getty Images
Beyond the lyrics of his songs, Barajas assured that he was not related to any group of organized crime.
In 2012, the Northern Enigma drummer, José Baldenegro, was kidnapped and killed, which made them question the continuity of the group: “It was something that impacted us. We wanted to retire from music,” Barajas told Telemundo chain in 2023.
The musician said they were “very careful” with their lyrics not to attack, but only exalt the character of his songs. “It would be very dumb of my part if I did (attack). And so we won that credibility, that respect, from all the people,” he said.
Several states of Mexico, mainly from the north of the country, have prohibited the interpretation of “narcocorridos” due to the conflicts they can generate.
President Claudia Sheinbaum also launched a campaign this year to encourage the change in the style of the runs and leave drug trafficking stories out of her lyrics.
Subscribe here To our new newsletter to receive every Friday a selection of our best content of the week.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and act.