Kate del Castillo has finally broken her silence since it was revealed that she and Sean Penn met with drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. On Wednesday, she posted a statement on Twitter thanking fans for their support, but also calling some media reports made up and untruthful.
But while other outlets work to verify the authenticity of BBM messages between del Castillo and El Chapo published in Mexican newspaper Milenio, there is one thing she can’t dispute: Guzmán’s history of writing cringe-worthy love letters. He’s been at since at least 2000, as revealed in Julio Scherer Garcia’s 2001 book Maxima Seguridad – a look into maximum-security prisons La Palma, Almoloya and Puente Grande through famous prisoners.
That book made Zulema Hernández a household name because of her detailed account about her relationship with El Chapo. (It also made her a target, and Sinaloa Cartel rival Los Zetas ended up murdering her seven years after the book was published.) Proceso shared snippets of the book that looked into her childhood, her fractured relationship with her mom, and the notorious drug lord. While El Chapo was in prison in 2000, he wrote lengthy love letters to Zulema, who was also in prison. And just as with Kate del Castillo, his letters to Zulema are filled with SO MANY FEELINGS.
Check out four letters El Chapo sent Zulema in 2000 when he tried to get her moved from a maximum-security prison, and prepare yourself for some serious run-on sentences:
1
"These days my only comfort is thinking, especially thinking of you"
Date: August 5, 2000
“Hello, my darling! I’m sending you this letter with a lot of excitement and pleasure, but perhaps not with the news I’d hoped to send about being able to see each other in the next few days or about your transfer. But I’m sending it anyway, my love, to say how much I love and miss you and how much I wish I could talk to and be with you, so that I could be as happy as I was in the brief moments when you were completely mine.
Darling, these days my only comfort is thinking, especially thinking of you and of a day that I can hopefully live my life by your side.”
¡Hola cariño mío! Te hago llegar esta carta con mucho ánimo y bastante gusto, quizás no con las mejores noticias que yo te quisiera dar, respecto de poder vernos en éstos días o referente a tu traslado, pero sí lo hago mi amor para decirte todo lo que te amo y lo mucho que te extraño y cuánto desearía poder hablar y estar contigo para ser tan feliz como lo he sido esos cortos ratitos que he podido gozar y hacer completamente mía.
Cariño en estos días mi único consuelo es pensar y pensar mucho en ti y en lo que un día espero sea mi vida a tu lado.
2
"I am here thinking of you constantly"
Date: August 17, 2000
“Hello love! How are you? I am here thinking of you constantly. I would have liked this letter to bring you news about what day we can see each other, but unfortunately, nothing is set in stone. Although, they did promise me that it’s going to happen in the upcoming week. All we can do is wait and hope it’s true, because truth is, I am very desperate. What I’m being told is that you’re still being heavily watched, but they have just told me that starting this weekend, things should change. That’s why I immediately started this letter, and so that I could update you and tell you how much I love you, my precious, adored Zulema.”
¡Hola amor! ¿Cómo estás? Yo aquí pensando en ti a cada momento. Hubiera querido que esta carta ya pudiera llevar la noticia del día en que nos podamos ver, pero desgraciadamente nada es seguro, aunque me prometen que ahora sí ya la semana entrante se va hacer, nosotros lo único que podemos hacer es esperar que ojalá y sea cierto, porque la verdad yo ya estoy muy desesperado, pero lo que me han dicho es que no disminuía la vigilancia sobre tu persona, pero me acaban de decir que al parecer a partir del fin de semana en adelante las cosas van a cambiar, por eso de inmediato me puse hacerte esta cartita, para comentarte ese detalle y además decirte cuánto te quiero y cuánto te amo mi Zulema preciosa y adorada.
3
"Nothing would make me happier than being close to you"
Date: November 28, 2000
“Hello corazón! You have no idea how much I have fought to meet with you, but they have you under too much surveillance…
Love, Christmas is around the corner and nothing would make me happier than being close to you, your skin and your lips, but everything is uncertain. Even though I haven’t lost sight of seeing you, I don’t want to promise any specific day because then it doesn’t work out.”
¡Hola corazón! …No sabes cómo he hecho la lucha por entrevistarme contigo pero te tienen demasiado vigilada…
Amor se acercan ya las fiestas navideñas y nada me haría más feliz que estar cerca de tu persona, de tu piel y de tus labios, pero todo es incierto y aunque no quito el dedo del renglón en verte no quiero prometerte ya que sería tal día porque luego me quedan mal.
4
"When you love someone, like I do, you are happy when that person receives good news."
Date: Unknown
“Hello, mi vida! Zulema, darling, I have been thinking of you at every moment and I’d like to imagine that you are happy and cheerful, because your transfer is going into effect. That’s why I write this letter with so much enthusiasm and pleasure, because in the new prison you will be happier. You’ll have more space, more leeway, and more time for your family to visit you.
When you love someone the way I love you, their good news brings you happiness too.”
Hola mi vida! Zulema, cariño he estado pensando en ti a cada momento y quiero imaginar que estás feliz y alegre porque ya se va a efectuar tu traslado, por eso amor al escribirte esta carta lo hago también con una gran entusiasmo y con mucho gusto, por ti, porque allá en el otro penal vas a estar mucho mejor que aquí, por lo de tener mayor espacio, más movimiento y tiempo para los días en que te visita tu familia.
Cuando se ama a alguien, como te quiero yo corazón, se es feliz cuando hay una buena noticia para esa persona que se adora.