Jesús and Rosalba had spent years doing something as simple as working together to get ahead. Every day, they arrived with their enormous ear of corn as their banner and opened “El Chuy”, the esquites stand they had built over more than 15 years in Oaxaca’s Historic Center. The very stand that inspired the creation of Elote Day.
They turned their business into something special. It was their work, their effort and, for many of their customers, part of neighborhood life.
But on the night of October 3, that journey came to an end in the most brutal way. The couple was riding a motorcycle when they were shot in San Martín Mexicapam. Both died at the scene.
What is most infuriating is that, while the Prosecutor’s Office is still investigating and there is no confirmed motive, reports began circulating that point to possible extortion related to debts and the so-called “protection money” or key fee for their business. None of this has been officially confirmed, but the mere possibility is chilling: that years of work building a business could have made them a target.
Just 23 days earlier, Jesús had posted a photo with Rosalba on that same motorcycle: “In this world, we are all just passing through. Nothing is eternal—not success, not sadness, not even us”.
Today, that message seems like a goodbye that no one knew they were reading.
They went out to work every day. They should never have had to go out to die.
