Well-armed vigilantes in Mexico’s Michoacan state have helped authorities dismantle a powerful criminal organization, but now the government may have a more difficult task: keeping Michoacan safe from these same ‘Self-Defense’ groups.
Mexico's Security Dilemma: The Battle for Michoacan
Faced with the government's failure to rein in the criminals, communities across crime-besieged Mexico have been trying for years to organize effective civic resistance. Michoacan's vigilantes express the most extreme…
Mexico's Security Dilemma: The Rise of Michoacan's Militias
Volunteer community policing has been a tradition in indigenous communities across Southern Mexico for centuries. Though controversial, advocates argue the practice is supported by international law and has been codified…
Mexico's Security Dilemma: A Myopic Approach to Michoacan's Militias
The desperation in Michoacan, as in many parts of Mexico, with regards to organized crime has led to a myopic view of this issue. In the short term, it produced,…
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