Mireles: Partisan Justice

La Jornada: The arrest of José Manuel Mireles, ex member of the Council
of Autodefensas of Michoacan, occurred yesterday at the hands of federal forces, constitutes a clear example of the partisan application of justice and distortion of the state of law that state has endured in recent months and that has sharpened beginning with the federal government's intervention in the Michoacan scenario and the virtual annulment of state sovereignty.

It's noteworthy, in the first place, the lack of consequence of a federal
government that announces zero tolerance to armed civilian groups just
weeks after it used them to pursue and abate the alleged ringleaders of
criminal organizations. With respect to that, it's appropriate to remember
the participation of self-defense groups - according to what Mireles himself
related - in the operation that led to the death of Nazario Moreno, El
Chayo, supposed founder of the Knights Templar (Los caballeros
templarios).

Guns, Drugs and Money Laundering: What Does Obama Want from Mexico? (El Universal, Mexico)

"While here we bury the dead of this war, there they are providing the places and conditions for marijuana consumption. Nor is there any evidence that political forces in the United States are willing to halt the free sale of weapons, nor is there any indication that a serious crusade against money laundering is in the offing. Is President Obama willing to engage in discussions vital to eliminating the root causes of drug trafficking, or will he simply tell us that in our bilateral relations, we are subordinate to them?"

Editorial
El Universal
Translated By Miguel Gutierrez
 May 2, 2013

Today the president of the United States, Barack Obama, arrives in the country for a working visit. He will hold high-level talks with President Enrique Peña Nieto on the bilateral agenda, which, as the Mexican government has insisted on in recent weeks, will not be limited to security issues.


In Mexico, but also in some influential sectors of our neighboring country, agenda items considered subordinate to security must regain their importance: investment, trade, migration, geopolitical collaboration, and diplomacy. All the forgotten issues that remain relevant on both sides of the border.  Read more. 

Only the People Defend the People: Guerrero Human Rights Center Weighs in on Uprising

by the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of la Montaña
Translated by Kristin Brickier
January 15, 2013

On Saturday, January 5, 2013, at about 11pm, citizen Eusebio Alvarado García, commissioner of Rancho Nuevo, Tecoanapa municipality, was taken by force from his home by people who belong to the criminal groups that have overrun the Ayutla region.  Eusebio had recently arrived at his home with the news that he had been elected a subcommander of the Community Police.  That afternoon there was a regional assembly of the authorities of El Portrero, which is also in Tecoanapa, where there were also representatives from other municipalities such as Cuautepec, San Marcos, Cruz Grande, and Ayutla.  Previously, the communities in this corridor of the Costa Chica met to plan joint actions against organized crime, which for years has dominated as the scourge of the indigenous and peasant communities because of the authorities' indifference at all three levels of government.

According to residents, the situation became unbearable because of the cruel and abusive manner in which these groups acted.  That's why, in the assembly on Saturday they felt the pressing need to construct a basic structure that would confront this de facto power.  Various groups of police were formed, each with its own commander, who were given the order to practice armed self defense when faced with any circumstance that would put the fiscal safety, freedom, or life of their compañeros and compañeras in the struggle at risk.  Read more.