After His Tragic Death, A Narco Monkey’s Fans Made A Corrido To Honor His ‘Legacy’
It’s not every day a narco monkey is honored with his very own corrido — but that was exactly the case for “El Changuito,” a spider monkey killed after a shootout between police and alleged members of La Familia Michoacana, a drug cartel and organized crime syndicate centred in Michoacán.
The shootout occurred last week in Texcaltitlán.
It all started when a group of men attacked a police convoy, which led officers to retaliate and kill at least 10 people and a pet spider monkey. Meanwhile, at least seven people were arrested, with other outlets reporting that up to 10 members are currently in custody.
The narco mascot was found wearing camouflage, a black vest and a diaper. His corpse was reportedly found next to his dead owner, who was possibly underage.
The Mexican government says that the monkey was presumably property of one of the dead suspected criminals, and they plan on performing a necropsy on his body.
Meanwhile, the narco monkey has become an icon in his own right, with someone even composing a narcocorrido dedicated to his life.
Corridos famously narrate people’s lives to honor their legacy. With so many people taken with the spider monkey’s story, it makes sense he would get a corrido, too.
In a video on Twitter, a male voice sings the narcocorrido for “El Changuito,” with guitar in the background. Set to videos and photos of the spider monkey, the song includes lyrics like: “It’s a very short life/ It wasn’t El Chango’s time/ Someone stole his story/ Because he came to triumph and shine.”
Other lyrics talk about how they executed him, and describe the monkey’s personality: “El Changuito was not brave/ but was not shy, either… He left us a legacy.”
Twitter is reacting in all kinds of ways to the video, with one user writing, “Beautiful Changuito, you were like a baby.” Another wrote, “Grande Changuito sicario,” while a third user said it all with: “Mexico can be so surreal sometimes.”
Others were extremely curious about where to “source a bulletproof vest for a spider monkey.” And then there’s those who were surprised to admit that the narcocorrido is “Kinda touching.” RIP Changuito!
