Corrido de Feliciano: the song of the old man who defended his ranch from narcos to death

The fight against organized crime has been over time a struggle waged by the Public Prosecutor's Offices, the municipal, state and federal police, even the Army, the Navy or the National Guard, but citizens have also entered the civic.

Whether through movements such as the so-called self-defence groups in territories or peoples of various states, or legends of women and men who raised arms, including collectives for searching, locating, rescuing missing persons, the public's spirit to restore peace to their lives is increasing.

Some of these stories have inspired everything from movies, to books, poems, comics, fictional characters and even songs, specifically northern corridos of lyrical epic style, where the history of the so-called heroes was briefly toured.

A clear example of this last category is Feliciano's Corrido, by the band Calibre 50, released in 2013 along with their entire album entitled Corridos de Alto Calibre, where continued the streak of the genre that brought them to fame.

Musically, it is a classical composition that finds its basis in its powerful and rhythmic section of winds with a furious tuba as the main protagonist, a skillful percussion performance full of redoubles, as well as the representative accordion by Eden Muñoz that gave the band personality since its inception.

In the lyrics, we find the story of a man named Feliciano, who was approached by members of the drug trafficking, who violently threatened him to remove him from his land and start planting drugs on them.

According to the song, they offered him money to leave with everything and family, but the man refused and ended up defending his ranch with bullets against a violent organized crime cartel.

The story is completely true, and it is about a brave man who responded to the name of Alejo Tamez Garza, who decided to stand behind closed doors in his house to face the command that sought to take over the land.

Don Alejo, as his friends, family, neighbors and acquaintances confidently told him, received on his ranch members of the drug trafficking sheathed in long guns who gave him 24 hours to hand over his property between the municipalities of Padilla and Güemes, 15 kilometers from Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas.

The man over 70 years old was the best hunter in the area, a loving, tender, dedicated man and father, who managed fishing, agriculture and livestock at Rancho San José.

His relatives were ordered to leave the farm and leave life behind as they knew it. His workers were warned not to return to work the next day. Don Alejo was already preparing a violent plan to, if necessary, defend his lands with his own life.

At night, a handful of vans appeared at his house with enough men to take his house, ranch and land without major problems, but they did not have an entrenched Tamez Garza, with guns in doors and windows.

Don Alejo died of a bullet in the forehead, the shot de grace, when the criminals managed to gain access to his property, but on the way, the Navy counted, four hit men also fell by the shots of the septuagenarian.

Media reports that went to the area reported the hundreds of casings struck by the esplanade, and the impacts of left holes of at least 5 calibers in walls, doors and showcases.

Unfortunately, the authorities who came to the area, the Mexican Navy, even left a 200-page file. For the murder of Alejo Tamez Garza, there were no perpetrators.

The corridos of the brave old man are also performed, in his own words, by groups such as Los de la 30, or Los Ramones de Nuevo León with the theme “The Last Hunt”, “El Corrido De Don Alejo Garza” by the Son of Chila, “The Deer Hunter” by El Gallo Fino, and “Don Alejo Tamez” by El del Rancho y Sus Compas , among many others.

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