Friday, September 17, 2004

A DUBIOUS ANNIVERSARY
For those who keep track of these things, yesterday, Sept. 16, is a day that the NUESTRA FAMILIA celebrates as something akin to their day of Independence. It also happens to be Mexican Independence day.

According to NF lore, Sept. 16th, 1972 is the day that RUDY "CHEYENNE" CADENA, an EME brother was assassinated by FAMILIANOS on the second tier of PALM HALL in CHINO STATE PRISON.

There's a backstory to this. The Eme and NF have been locked into a no-win war since the NF first started organizing in 1965. But CADENA was a true believer in the concept of a Hispanic supergang that would supersede the geographic loyalties of the Eme and the NF. He had a vision of a united La Raza uber-gang that would stop the brown-on-brown war and stop wasting the energies and depleting the manpower of both gangs. There's also reason to believe that CADENA ultimately wanted to use that base of power to gain some social and political capital outside of prison.

Although he was counseled not to do so by some of his brothers like JOE MORGAN, CADENA went ahead and set up a meeting with NF shot callers. The meeting took place in CHINO.

By all accounts, CADENA's intentions were honorable. He wanted a genuine truce that would eventually evolve into a full blown alliance. The NF, however were suspicious. They thought it was a set up and CADENA was actually there to hit the NF shot callers. He never got the chance to prove otherwise.

Before a single word was exchanged, three Familianos (FRANK "JOKER" MENDOZA, JUAN "MANSANAS" COLON, and BOBBY "CRACKERS" VINDIOLA) shanked and beat CADENA and threw him off the tier. When he landed, another Familiano was there with a shank to finish CADENA off. CADENA was stabbed at least 50 times.

It's supposed to be a red letter day for the NF and certainly a black one for the Eme. There's never been another attempt to unite the two factions. Needless to say, they've been at war ever since.

Last month, for instance, Folsom was purged of all Nortenos by the CDC for reasons that remain not fully explained. Folsom is now apparently a 100% Eme controlled institution. Eventually, I'll tell you what's going on in Folsom. But now is not the time. We'll wait for the dead tree media's version of this situation before we comment.

The CADENA killing was portrayed in AMERICAN ME, the Edward James Olmos movie. In the film, however, the character based on CADENA was killed by his own brothers. This was something that the EME found outrageous. And we don't blame the brothers for being upset. The truth is interesting enough. It doesn't require embellishment or outright fabrication to make it dramatic or compelling. Not to mention that it's a slap in the face to the brothers who tried to talk CADENA out of the sit down with the Familianos. As a result, Olmos was allegedly greenlighted and is said to have paid his way out of it. And we know what happened to ANNA LIZARAGA.

The irony of the CADENA assassination is that while the NF celebrates that hit on Sept. 16, the killing actually happened on December 17, 1972. Nations don't always celebrate events on the date they happened. So it's not that odd that any other organization should do the same.

13 comments:

XCONGUY said...

Excellent piece Wally. You have a way of getting into the root of all that is the lore and events that shaped these seminal gang groups. My respect and admiration for a job well done.
Regards,

Berge

Anonymous said...

Cool, I'll be adding a link from http://www.geocities.com/comandante_Cruz to this page

peace!




c/s

Anonymous said...

Great story, but No win as far as the war between eMe and NF? I think not. The NF can't really walk any line in CDC, and are in real trouble in the FEDS. THe only place they got any pull is the Northern Reception Centers

Anonymous said...

I appreciate the way you told the truth about my family. Both in the movie and in many published pieces we are represented the right way nor are the true reasons why Cheyenne went in. Gracias.
The Cadena Family

Anonymous said...

correction: "we are not represented the right way"

Anonymous said...

kmom watts 13 gang

Anonymous said...

Fuck XCONGUY if he doesn't like what you write on his blog he will delete your comments with a quickness.

The NF is starting to blow up in the FEDS ever since their RICO case homie.Just look at all the Norteno gangs poping up in places like Colorado , Montana and other places that never even seen a Norteno before the RICO.If anything Operation Black Widow opened up a whole new recruitment world for the NF.

Anonymous said...

this is rudy cadena's niece.i want to thank you for the information.i have been wanting to learn more about my uncle.im only 15 so i don't know much about him and his past thank you very much.i will be back to learn more.

Anonymous said...

this is Rudy Cadena's sister,the day my brother died i was only 16, whatever he did and was , he was my hero.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Rudy Cadena was and will always be a hero to all Mexicanos and should be honored. Que viva el Sur y que viva La Eme. Fuck nortenas

Anonymous said...

someone should post the writings of Rudy Cadena

Anonymous said...

Rudy Cadena was my distant uncle, talk to me. My father Anthony Cadena was there at Chino, talk to me about your version.

Anonymous said...

Cadena family from El Paso, Tx. If Rudy's family is reading this and would like to reach out to me please do so. I believe my mom is Rudy's cousin but I am not sure. I would need to verify this information. I am not sure if Rudy's dad was Paco Cadena or Jose Cadena or if he had any family in Chihuanua. If interested reply this comment so we can talk.