HomeNewsBriefVigilantes Challenge Mexico Govt's Disarmament Attempt
BRIEF

Vigilantes Challenge Mexico Govt's Disarmament Attempt

MEXICO / 7 APR 2014 BY MARGUERITE CAWLEY EN

Officials in Mexico are seeking to disarm self-defense groups they legally recognized just months ago, amid signs they are slipping out of control. The heavily armed militias are unlikely to simply pack up and go home.

On April 4, Michoacan security commissioner, Alfredo Castillo, announced the government planned to remove weapons from the self-defense groups operating in the southwest Pacific state, and to take down barricades they had set up at the entrances to local towns. He said once the process was completed, any civilians still carrying firearms would be arrested, reported El Universal. Some vigilantes will then be incorporated into rural police units, reported CNN.

Federal forces began the disarmament process on April 5, detaining 40 vigilantes in various communities, reported La Jornada.

The move did not sit well with vigilante groups. Self-defense leader and spokesman Jose Manuel Mireles said the groups would not disarm, and vigilantes in 15 communities marched to protest the decision. They also ordered the army and navy to withdraw from "their towns," claiming the forces were working with the Knights Templar criminal organization, reported Proceso.

InSight Crime Analysis

Michoacan's vigilante groups rose to international prominence over a year ago with the stated purpose of fighting the Knights Templar criminal group. They were semi-legitimized by the Mexican government in January under a legal framework that allowed some to bear arms and carry out joint operations with security forces.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Mexico Vigilantes

Since then, things have not gone according to plan. The self-defense forces have failed to register the bulk of their weapons -- a requirement under the agreement -- while leaders have engaged in a war of words amid rumors of them having drug ties. Recently, two vigilante leaders were accused of murder, including a hit on a local mayor who opposed the groups.

In the wake of these incidents, the government has wavered in its stance on the groups. Castillo announced last week the vigilantes were no longer necessary, in an apparent precursor to the disarmament initiative. 

The question remains of whether the government has the power to stop the groups they helped legitimize. The vigilantes enjoy significant local power, and insist their continued presence is necessary while members of the Knights Templar's battered leadership remain at large.

With the groups heavily armed, well-financed and driven by questionable motives, a forced disarmament campaign may be the perfect catalyst to push them into criminal activity -- a move widely predicted amid comparisons to Colombia's paramilitaries

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

FENTANYL / 21 JAN 2022

Chinese companies are turning to online sales to supply the fentanyl precursor market in Mexico. As a result, more criminal…

HUMAN TRAFFICKING / 15 JUL 2022

A recent report has shed new light on how temporary work visa programs for migrant laborers can backfire.

EXTORTION / 7 OCT 2021

Despite the pandemic’s economic fallout being felt throughout the Riviera Maya, cartels have continued their extortion schemes in Mexico's popular…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…