Capilla Portátil Juan Soldado / Portable Chapel Juan Soldado

Juan Soldado

Esta capilla tiene su origen en la ciudad fronteriza de Tijuana, donde la niña Olga Camacho se perdió y más tarde se le encontró estrangulada y violada. Era hija de uno de los líderes del movimiento 'huelga de los sentados' el cual luchaba por re-establecer el casino de Aguas Calientes depués de haber sido expropriado por el Presidente Cárdenas el año 1937.

Un soldado mexicano llamado Juan Castillo Morales recibió ordenes del Capitán del exércitofronterizo: se le ordenó disponer de una caja --debería salir por la noche a enterrarla. Esa noche, cuando éste vasiaba el contenido de la caja, resultó el cuerpo de la pequeña niña asesinada. Fué tomado preso por las autoridades --las cuales le juzgaron y declararon culpable, aportando algunas pruebas: habían encontrado ropas del soldado ensangrentadas. Frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, a unas cuantas cuadras de la frontera, se le aplicó la ley fuga: el condenado a muerte debería intentar huír hácia la frontera y treparse al otro lado de la barda, cuyo resultado --si es que lo lograse-- hubiese comprobado su
inocencia. Al tratar de correr, se le disparó por la espalda, y, ante la vista de los testigos ciudadanos, murió inocente. "Mi Capitan me va salvar," fueron las últimas palabras que pronunció, creyendo hasta el fín en la buena palabra de su capitán.

Ante los trágicos acontecimientos, se enardecieron los ciudadanos y decidieron incendiar la Comandancia de Policía y la Delegación Municipal. Los hechos se llevaron a cabo la madrugada del 16 de febrero de 1938. Las fuerzas federales al retirar a la gente, dieron muerte a varias personas y fueron aprehendidos 182 individuos, de los cuales trece quedaron definitivamente presos, siendo sentenciados a 18 meses de prisión. Con el tiempo se comprobó culpable el capitán. La opinión pública lo exoneró a Juan Castillo Morales, y, habiéndose convertido en mártir de la injusticia militar se le venera como
"Juan Soldado."

Justo a un lado de la barda de su fusilamiento fué sepultado. Y según testimonios de ésos tiempos, se dice que los ciudadanos que sepultaron a Soldado intentaban limpiar las manchas de sangre del sítio donde fué asesinado; se les volvía imposible hacerlo, con brotes sangrantes que parecían por la tierra cada vez que se limpiaba. Allí mismo se construyó la capilla, en el panteón número 1 en el viejo Tijuana. Desde hace sesenta años
se inician devociones a Juanito, se le imprimen imágenes y se le atribuyen milagros, sobre todo como patrono de los indocumentados, a los que ayuda a pasar de contrabando a los Estados Unidos. A diário acuden peregrinos creyentes de lo milagroso, con oraciones forjadas de mandas y promesas: si es que se me concede buen pasaje 'al otro lado' le prometo X. Las paredes de la capilla son repletas de agradecimientos y testimonios, la mayoría con las palabras, "Juan Soldado. Gracias por el milagro concedido." A cual más de las muchísimas y múltiples expresiones de agradecimiento: se vuelven un amparo
total a los que no les queda otra más que pedir lo casi imposible al reparador de milagros fronterizos.

About Juan Soldado

This chapel was founded in the old bordertown of Tijuana, where a young girl named Olga Camacho was reported missing and later discovered strangled and raped. She was the daughter of one of the labor leaders of the 'huelga de los sentados' labor dispute which was attempting to re-establish the Aguas Calientes Casino after it had been declared illegal and closed down by President Cárdenas in 1937.

A young Mexican soldier named Juan Castillo Morales had received orders by his commanding officer in the border military: he was ordered to remove a box and to dispose of it at night by burying it somewhere. That very night, while carrying out his orders, the soldier discovered the box's contents: the murdered corpse of the eight year-old girl. He was arrested, charged with murder and immediately declared guilty by the authorities who claimed to be holding several of the young soldier's bloodied garments as proof. Facing the firing squad, within view of the international border with the US, he was bestowed with 'la ley fuga,' the fugitives' law: already sentenced to die by firing squad, the soldier was told to make a run for it, that if he managed to make it across the border this would prove his innocence and he would be a free man. As he turned to run, he was shot in the back and according to witnesses, died innocent, declaring: "My Captain will save me." These were the soldier's final words, believing to the very end in the honor of his commanding officer.

Before these tragic events, a mob of angry citizens stormed and torched the city hall and police station, setting these on fire. These events took place in the early hours of the sixteenth of February, 1938. In their attempt to subdue the angry masses, the Federal Agents killed several protestors and arrested 182 persons, of which thirteen were ultimately sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment. With time the Captain was proven guilty of the crime. Popular opinion has since exonerated the young Juan Castillo Morales, and, as the martyr to military injustice he is venerated with the name of "Juan Soldado."

Juan Castillo Morales was buried at the site of his death, beside the wall used by the border military firing squad. According to testimony by eye-witnesses of the era, the citizens that had volunteered to bury Soldado would cover the blood where he had been assasinated only to discover fresh sprouts of blood resurface through the earth with each attempt to clean his grave. Almost immediately, a shrine was erected right there atop Soldado's grave, at the first cemetary in old Tijuana. For over seventy years, prayers have been offered to Juanito, printed images and statues of his likeness left here, often resulting in miracles that are attributed to him, largely as the patron saint to the undocumented would-be border crosser, whom he guides safely -albeit illegally- into the United States. The daily faithful make their pilgrimage to the shrine, with prayers and promises: if successful in making it safely to "the other side" there shall be due compensation, promises made and promises kept. The walls of the chapel are covered with expressions of gratitude and written testimony, a great number of these with the words, "Juan Soldado. Thank you for the miracle bestowed upon me." The shrine is illuminated with the endless messages of gratitude and infinite devotion from the collective voice of those who have nothing left to lose and whose only recourse remaining is to wish for that which is near to impossible from the maker of border miracles.

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