People who have forgotten the meaning of sympathy, the ones for whom killing is just pulling the trigger, for those who don’t feel guilty after the bloodshed, these are the individuals who are no longer humans. Somos (“We are” or “We Exist” in English) is a Spanish Television Mini-Series based on the ProPublica article “How the U.S. triggered a massacre in Mexico.” We will try to look upon those individuals who caused the Allende Massacre.
The mini-series is created by James Schamus, who divides the real-life emotional fable into 6 episodes of 50 minutes each.
Plot Summary
The opening note suggests that Somos is a fictional story but is inspired by the testimonies of hundreds of residents who lived in the small Mexican town of Allende. The narrative follows the interconnected lives of a few residents who were about to witness a terrible turn of events.
It begins with Allende’s fire chief Ronaldo who shares his story of sobriety with his fellow mates. A few years back, Ronaldo helped an alcoholic colleague, Chema, leave alcohol behind and begin a new life with Irene. Irene works as an emergency call operator, and her sister, Erika, is a local doctor (Veterinarian). Erika lives with her teenage son, Armando, while her husband stays away from the town.
Other prominent town residents are Hector Prieto (a local beer transporter), Mrs. Chayo and her son-in-law, Paquito, Ranch owner’s son, Benjamin, and DEA agent, Carlos.
The suspicion arrives on the screen when vet Erika reports a synthetic poison killing cows at Anselmo’s ranch. Soon Anselmo is found dead. The DEA intercepts a drug cartel communication near the American-Mexcian border town of Allende. They initiate their investigation that leads to a secret drug cartel operating at the border town, Allende.
‘Somos.’ Ending Explained
Hector Prieto was transporting drugs for the Trevino brothers (Z-40 and Z-42). Through his roadways distribution network, he transferred drugs from Mexico to America. His trucks had specially designed compartments constructed in Piedras Negras State Prison owned by the drug cartel. Hector was also in charge of the communication network and supplied new blackberries phones to the cartels so that their calls couldn’t be traced.
The flawless network got stained when Hector’s brother was arrested at the Dallas checkpoint with an 832,000 dollar vacuum packed in his truck’s gas tank. He was arrested by the DEA for further investigation. DEA agent Carlos concluded that they needed to extract Blackberry Pin used by the cartel to trace the drug operations. They tracked a low-level operator through their intercepted data, a vulnerable lead in their operation, Oscar Vasquez, nicknamed El Diablo.
An agitated Oscar crossed the border and reached Allende. He convinced Hector to give away the new BB Pins to save his brother from imprisonment. Hector complied. Carlos promised protection and extraction of Hector and Oscar, but the operation got compromised. The federals leaked the information about Hector and Oscar, who became enemies of the cartel. DEA showed its back to the people who helped them in operation.
The Trevino brothers unleashed their prison army. Hector, Oscar, and Benjamin (who transported the last bunch of BB phones to the cartel) were killed. But the cartel army didn’t stop. The outlaw prisoners seized the city, killed everyone on their way, just to extract Hector’s hidden consignment and take revenge from Benjamin. The operation was headed by Cesar Molina and his henchman, Pablo.
In the end, Pablo killed innocent school students, Nancy and Tom. Mrs. Chayo, son-in-law, Paquito, who worked in the prison army, was shot dead because he tried to escape. Benjamin’s whole family was murdered, except Benjamin’s brother’s three kids. The cartel men took away the baby while the two kids were dropped near an orphanage/church. An elderly Mexican sheltered the two kids (maybe, to adopt them).
Hopefully, Erika’s son Armando came back home safely. Nayeli crossed the river border with the brothel owner to start a new life in California.
Not much was left in Allende after the massacre. The scars would live in the hearts of the people forever. Only if DEA hadn’t cowardly stepped back, so many innocent individuals would have still been alive. Somos meaning, “we are” and “we exist” in English, is a tribute to the residents of Allende.
Somos. is a 2021 Spanish Television Mini-Series based on the ProPublica article “How the U.S. triggered a massacre in Mexico?” It was created by James Schamus for Netflix.
