“For The Future Of The Children”: ‘Alfa’, In The Community Guard

Article By: Iván Sanchez  | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Their participation began with the preparation of food for the members of the guards, then they took up arms to reinforce security— they are the women of the United Communities.

On the 6^th Anniversary of the United Communities of the municipality of Los Reyes, Michoacán, Revolución 3.0 Michoacán had the opportunity to talk with Alfa, a member of the guard of the community of Cherato.

Alfa, is the code name that she receives within the community guard, which was integrated from the threat of organized crime after they seized the avocado orchards of the community. 

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Community Police Remains Found In Tixtla; Armed Group Kidnapped Him the Day Before

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Celso Nava, a member of the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities (CRAC) in Tixtla, Guerrero, was found dead a few hours after having been kidnapped.  Police reports indicate that on Saturday, an armed group took him.

The body was found on the bypass that connects Tixtla with the state capital, Chilpancingo; however, some members of CRAC “Mi Patria es Primero” (My Fatherland Comes First), which is one of three divisions of the Community Police, that is based in the neighborhood of El Fortín, denied that Nava was part of that organization.

This isn’t the first fall suffered by CRAC, as it is worth noting that last November 27, a few days before the extraordinary elections that would dictate who was mayor of Tixtla, Los Ardillos, a criminal group that operates in the area, assassinated four community police members.

The attack occurred a few blocks from the headquarters of the organization.

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Guerrero: Autodefensas Begin Forming To Tackle Organized Crime & Federal Police

By: Ángel Galeana | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

The mayors of San Miguel Totolapan and Copalillo warned that the residents of their municipalities have begun to organize themselves in order to create autodefensa and community police groups with the intent to tackle organized crime, and the federal police.

Interviewed separately on the premises of Casa Guerrero, they reported that the residents of their municipalities are creating civilian police forces, as has happened in other municipalities in the state, although for different purposes.

The PRD mayor of San Miguel Totolapan, Juan Mendoza Acosta, said that residents of the municipal capital have begun meetings to create autodefensa groups “against the federal police” because the people are outraged by their actions, and he said that he will participate, bearing a weapon.

—“Is there a possibility of creating an autodefensa group in your municipality?”-He was asked.

—“Of course there is, look, the people are outraged, they’re outraged with the federal police, which is in charge of the Department of Public Safety in the municipality, the truth is, they’re not doing their role as they should, the people are outraged with them, and they are the first ones who are going to arm themselves against them,” he said.

He also added that federal police detain people with arrest warrants, but then they free them “and the people are against that, and they have a reason to, I am supporting the citizens, the truth is, I agree that this needs to be eliminated.”

—Are you going to arm yourself?

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Judge Exonerates and Orders the Release of Cemeí Verdía

By Carlos Arrieta | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Due to a lack of evidence, the Third Criminal Court, located in Morelia, issued a release order to Cemeí Verdía Zepeda, former leader of the autodefensas in the Sierra-Costa area of Michoacán.  Verdía had been detained since July 19, 2015, while he ate breakfast in a stand in the community of La Placita, located in the municipality of Aquila.

The leader of the Community Police of Santa María de Ostula was accused by the Attonrey General of the State of Michoacán of homicide, in which he was freed today Thursday, December 24, 2015.

According to the decision, there was insufficient evidence to determine that Verdía had participated in the homicide of Argel Mejía Valdovinos, who was shot during a shootout with the Community Police, after the ambush against Verdía in May of this year.

“At the time of the commission of the facts, in proceedings, the probable criminal could not be credited of homicide.  Consequently, Cemeí Verdía Zepeda is decreed released under reserve required by law,” the court clerk read.

Héctor Zepeda, commander of the Fuerza Rural in Coahuayana, said that “it’s a big truth that we are all waiting for Cemeí; he has never ceased to be the leader, and never ceased to be the commander of the Community Police of the coast and it’s good that now they are going to do justice, that is what we will applaud our government, that those who are found guilty fall but those who are innocent will always remain free.”

According to state officials, Verdía will be released today from the Social Rehabilitation Center David Franco Rodríguez, also known as “Mil Cumbres”, where he has been imprisoned since July 29, 2015.

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Nestora Salgado: “Gordillo Was the Owner of Tepepan Prison”

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Elba Esther Gordillo “threatened me, saying that she would do everything to keep me in here,” the former commander of the Community Police of Olinalá, Guerrero, Nestora Salgado said during an interview with Aristegui CNN from the Tepepan Prison.

“We lived together, we shared the same hall, there was a conflict.  But obviously she’s a woman with a lot of power.  The fact that the state gave her too much power, the government gives her too much power, the lady has done and undone this place.  She was the owner of this place, I’m telling you this, she was the owner of this place (until she left to a private hospital).  Perhaps I shouldn’t talk much about the lady because then I would get into a worse conflict.  The only thing I can say is that they have given her too many powers, the government, which puts in and removes who it wants, I don’t think it should be like this.”

“She threatened me, (saying) that she would do everything to keep me from ever leaving this place, because I made a sexual harassment complain of a commander of this place who was the protégé of her and she got very mad, because she relied heavily on that person, he was a commander who allowed her to do anything and obviously very protected by her.  In fact he’s leaving from this place, but no punished, he’s going to another place as a chief.  They remove him from this place because (of the denouncement) of sexual harassment and they put him in another center as chief, so to me it’s that instead of punishing him, it was a prize.  His name is Jaime Sánchez Martínez.”

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Tixtla: Four Community Policemen Dead

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Armed men ambushed and assassinated four Community Police members of the House of Justice “La Patria es Primero” (“The Motherland Comes First”) of the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities (CRAC) in the neighborhood El Fortín, located in Tixtla, when they were patrolling the city.

According to El Sur, the assailants fled in ten trucks.

Members of the Community Police reported that at 2:20 pm on Thursday, they received an anonymous phone call warning them about the presence of armed men.

Six Community Police members went to the site on board a truck; they came out of the truck and searched the area to look for the armed men.

Later, the attackers caught up with the Community Police and attacked them with AK-47’s, killing four of them.  The other two members were not injured in the attack.

The bodies were covered with sheets and mats and were removed by villagers and taken to the House of Justice “La Patria es Primero” in the neighborhood El Fortín.

Forensic experts and public prosecutors based in Tixtla arrived at the scene, conducting relevant proceedings.

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Mayor Acknowledges Autodefensas throughout Soledad Atzompa

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

By changing the use of axes to cut wood, villagers on the slopes of Pico de Orizaba mustered up the courage to defend themselves against the growing insecurity in the region.  More than 40 communities of Soledad Atzompa make up this movement, as autodefensas.

Fortín, Veracruz— The mayor of Soledad Atzompa, Bonifacio Aguilar Linda, recognized that the people of his municipality organized themselves as autodefensas after they were victims of organized crime, “I’m reminding the governor of the state, and to put a name, whatever it may be, autodefensas, community police, or night surveillance, but it’s true.”

In an interview in Fortín de las Flores, they warned that the “degenerates” that harm the people of his municipality are located in the neighboring municipality of Acultzingo, so he warned that anyone who intends to travel to Soledad Atzompa, to visit, or do good, will be well received, but those who go with other intentions, “will not leave free”.

“They keep killing innocent people from Soledad Atzompa, they keep on disappearing and kidnapping our people, this first message is for the governor; the next one is for the Secretary of Public Security in the state, Arturo Bermúdez”.

The citizen gave the interview right there, in front of all his people, using the microphone and speakers so that everyone can hear the questions and answers, “We are going to propose that the State Academy allow us to send 50 youths so that they can train them, and after graduating, they will come back and work in order to ensure a small peace of mind to the families of the municipality.”

He added that they should be youths who can live from the fees or bonuses that the state government gives them for their work, “but those who are once again creating the autodefensas in Soledad Atzompa, that is, is the entire municipality.”

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Nestora Salgado Has Three New Arrest Warrants; Accused Of Killing Two Farmers

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Leonel Rivero, the lawyer of the Coordinator of the Community Police of Olinalá in the mountain region of Guerrero, Nestora Salgado García, informed that his client has three new arrest warrants against her.  The charges are of kidnapping, robbery and murder.  This accumulates to six criminal prosecutions through different offences.

In an interview, the lawyer said that his client was charged with the murder of two ranchers, apparently, the same event that led to the arrest of the procurator of Olinalá, Armando Patrón Jiménez, by the Regional Coordinating Body of Community Authorities (CRAC) in August 2014.

However, Jiménez was released by the public police and soldiers on August 21, while Nestora Salgado and other members of the House of Justice of El Paraíso, pertaining to the CRAC, were taken to prison and accused of kidnapping.

The lawyer of Salgado García said that he does not yet have access to the records, but urged the implementation of the arrest warrants in order to begin the defense process, after learning that there were more complaints and orders to be applied.

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Ostula Attacked: Autodefensa Leader Ambushed

Photo by: Heriberto Paredes

By: Heriberto Paredes | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

On the morning of May 25, 2015, the leader of the Community Police of Aquila, Michoacán, Semeí Verdía, along with Juan Manuel Satién Cándido, his bodyguard, were ambushed.  The incident occurred on the road from the municipal capital of Santa María Ostula to the federal highway 200, in the area known as Los Otates, next to La Cobanera.  At the site, various heavy caliber cartridges were found but no vehicle tracks were able to be found; this confirmed that it was a previously planned ambush and not a spontaneous confrontation.

The bodyguard was the only one reported as being injured but not life threatening and is currently out of danger.

The community members of Ostula, and the authorities are concerned about the safety of their commander and his bodyguard.  They strongly denounce what has happened, especially the current setting that is lived along the coastal region and throughout the state, that is, the elections for the office of governor, the mayor and the renewal of the state congress.

It is worth mentioning that the attacks against the Nahua community have not ceased since they’ve reclaimed their land on June 2009.  So far, there have been 32 murders and six forced disappearances at the hands of organized crime, which is linked with the Caballeros Templarios and the local PRI power.  This attack marks two assassination attempts against the autodefensa leader, Semeí Verdía, since the recovery of the territory at the hands of the new community police in February 2014.

Photo by: Heriberto Paredes

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Community Police Rescue 10 of the Kidnapped in Cocula

Photo by: Ezequiel Flores

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Community Police from the towns of Nuevo Balsas, La Fundición and Real del Limón freed 10 of the 18 people kidnapped two days ago by a gang in the service of La Familia.

Six of the victims, among them a contractor and a mining cleaner from the mine Media Luna, were abandoned on a hill by their captors who were in the presence of a siege by the community policemen who acted in coordination with the Mexican Army and the Federal Police.

The other four hostages escaped after one of them began to struggle with one of the criminals.

The victim, identified as Mario Bahena Aguilar, originally from Apipilulco and a mine worker, was injured after being shot in the leg and one of the criminals was beaten to death, three of the men who escaped reported to Proceso.

“Mario saved our lives,” said one of the hostages when he was safe with a group of Community Police, who went up to the hill of La Campana to rescue the wounded hero.

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Community Police of Guerrero Detain 22 in 72 Hours

Photo by: Jorge Rios

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

From January 31 to February 1, the Community Police of Guerrero carried out operations in Petaquillas in order to support the residents and to maintain order.  During the operations, they managed to arrest 18 people, secure an AK-47, an HK, a .38 caliber pistol, 40 kilos of marijuana, a cellphone, a bulletproof vest, cartridges, and a vehicle.

After the day in which residents of Petaquilla asked for the help of the United Front for the Security and Development of the State of Guerrero (FUSDEG), patrols were carried out during the night.

Photo by: Rogelio Agustín

During their first patrol around 12:40, the Community Police stopped a passenger truck which was discovered to be carrying 40 kilos of marijuana, while the weapons were seized during another patrol in a white vehicle.

Around 14:30, sightings of armed men were reported in the hills behind a police station, prompting the deployment of a siege by community policemen on foot and in trucks.

Photo by: Ezequiel Flores

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Tense Situation In Petaquillas, Guerrero

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

More than 600 community policemen of the United Front for the Security and Development of the State of Guerrero (FUSDEG) occupied the community of Petaquillas, Guerrero.  They set up checkpoints at the entrance to the state capital of the state in order to defend against organized crime.

The armed citizens arrived at the request of the residents and the municipal commissioner Arquímides Vargas Encarnación, who reported that they live in danger because the territory that they inhabit is fought between two groups of organized crime “those of Chilpancingo, and those of Mochitlán,” referring to the criminal groups “Los Rojos” and “Los Ardillos”.  

During the incursion on Petaquillas, at around 6:00 A.M., the community police set up checkpoints where they searched vehicles at the limits with the capital of the state and around 200 soldiers rushed to the scene, where they threatened to disarm the community policemen, but it did not happen.  In the operation, throughout the day, at least 1,000 military troops were involved.

The FUSDEG is a division of the Citizens System of Security and Justice (SSJC) of the Union of People and Organizations of Guerrero (UPOEG), citizens police of the Valle del Ocotito.  The community police, led by the commissioner Arquímides Vargas and the former commissioner Belester Herreras Rojas de Petaquillas, reported that they organized to protect themselves from kidnappers, extortionists, robbers, shootouts, and assassinations that have become daily occurrences, despite the fact that they notified and constantly asked for help from police and military forces.

It was announced that 10 men were elected to make up their own Community Police.  At 6:20 A.M. on Saturday, a checkpoint of the Community Police was set up in front of the colony Río Azul, of the community of Petaquillas, where they searched cars that were traveling towards Acapulco.  Armed with 22 gauge shotguns, and with black shirts that identified them as Community Police of FUSDEG, they traveled through the community, which is located 12 kilometers from Chilpancingo.

The Army Has Not Provided Security

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La Tuta Is Taking Refuge In The State Of Colima: Semeí Verdía

“We know that the people of Colima are suffering like the people of Michoacán suffered, because the Templarios, who once extorted in Michoacán, are now extorting those in Colima”.

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Morelia, Michoacán—There is a strong possibility that Servando Gómez Martínez, “La Tuta”, is in the state of Colima, since most of the Caballeros Templarios fled to that place, Commander of the Community Police of Santa María Ostula and General Coordinator of the Autodefensas on the coast of Michoacán, Semeí Verdía, stated.

“There is a 70% chance that he is there, we have information that he isn’t in Michoacán anymore and he has people over there that protect them”, the autodefensa said in an interview with Grillonautas.

He denounced that the autodefensas that operate in that region don’t have the support of the federal government or the Commission for Security and Integral Development for the State of Michoacán which Alfredo Castillo Cervantes leads.

The autodefensa stated that violence continues in Michoacán, despite the speech that says that everything is peaceful and that security has been restored in the state of Michoacán.

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After Ayotzinapa's Disappeared, Locals Are Taking Power In Tecoanapa

"We would wake up to find bodies in bags along the roadside. The bodies were cut into pieces; their arms, heads, legs. The people decided to rise up in arms, and that’s when things calmed down."
 
Source:Al Jazeera Plus

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The Voices Of The Indigenous Autodefensa In Santa María Ostula

Borderland Beat

Photo by: Rogelio Velázquez

By: Alejandra Natalia Rodriguez Escobar

June 10, 2014

With a full auditorium at Casa Lamm, the meeting of “The Indigenous Autodefensa In The Case Of Santa María Ostula” took place.  At the meeting was: Semeí Verdía Zepeda, the commander of the community and coordinator of the autodefensa group, Carlos González, the legal advisor, and Agustín Vera, the official spokesperson.  On this occasion, they were all the spokespersons of this indigenous movement.

After 5 years of struggling in defense of their community, the people of Santa María Ostula have revived the struggle in defense of their territory and security, the indigenous community police and the assembly have reignited in the village since this year.  Semeí Verdía explained: “On February 8, a group of exiled villagers of the community (who were exiled for security reasons), returned to Ostula in order to save part of the community organization, we should clarify that we are not autodefensas, we are community police because we all have a common origin as a community and as villagers”.

Among the demands of the villagers include: the reappearance of the disappeared people since 2009 and justice for those killed, as well as respect for the more than 1000 hectares of communal land reclaimed by private individuals such as Mario Álvarez, a smallholder in the region.

The community spokesperson, Agustín Vera, spoke in defense of natural resources and seconded Semeí Verdía stating: “For us, land isn’t about being rich in money; it’s about being rich in life; that is why only the people can save the people”.

The lawyer of Ostula, Carlos González, mentioned that “On the first of April of 2008, the Unitary Agrarian Tribunal of Colima issued a resolution which deprived the community of Santa María Ostula of 200,000 hectares.  On April 8, the villagers got together and decided to defend their lands, well they indicated that this would become their life.  The lawyer said that the community police in this region are not new, and noted that in 1989, the government at that time declared the disappearance of their community police.

The lawyer recalled that on June 14, 2009, the first environmental statement to the autodefensas at the National Indigenous Congress was issued in the municipal seat of the village.  The statement proclaimed that in the face of destruction and dispossession of the indigenous territory, it was necessary to form groups of defense for security, protected by the autonomy and auto determination of the villages.  Carlos González felt that this document is the precursor to the autodefensas in Michoacán.

All of the residents of Ostula present at the event made a call to spread their resistance, and to share their struggle in the methods and forms of each culture and space.

Source: Somos El Medio

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The Autodefensas of Tierra Caliente and the Example of Cherán

A Member of the citizens’ council of the self-defense groups surrounding Apatzingán, Michoacán, January 2014.   

Photo By: Heriberto Paredes

By: Romeo LopCam

January 26, 2014- Given the voices who see the emergence and spreading of the armed Self-Defense Movement against organized crime and the government inaction against those in Michoacán, as a worsening of the problem of violence in the state, I would like to compare a series of arguments pointing in the opposite direction.

Everything indicates that the Self-Defense Groups or comunitarios (as they like to call themselves) of Tierra Caliente emerged on February 24, 2013, in an almost simultaneous movement carried out in two villages.  This is how it’s been stated in various interviews by two of the most famous people in the movement; Hipólito Mora of La Ruana and Dr. Juan José Mireles Valverde of Tepalcatepec.

As the latter has said, in a way, they took the example of the people of the P'urhépecha Plateau, particularly of Cherán, where the popular organization managed to expel not only drug traffickers, but also illegal loggers and political parties, who they say just divided the people.

Being a town where the indigenous people are the majority, Cherán is governed by a system of practices and customs (self-governance), therefore the city hall was replaced in 2011by a council of 12 members elected by an assembly and its Community Police has full legal recognition.  Today, although they are still harassed by criminal groups, the inhabitants of Cherán are living in one of the safest places in Michoacán.

If you would like to learn more about Cherán and how they operate watch the video below about the Guarda Bosques (Forest Keepers)

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Self-Defense Groups Liberate Eight More Communities in Guerrero

Given the wave of violence, the community organized their own "Community Police"

Photo By: Anwar Delgado

The people are tired of suffering through kidnappings, extortions, and murders, says Justino Ocampo Hernández, coordinator of the SSJC.

By: Juan Cervantes Gómez

January 24, 2014- The Self-Defense Groups extend all the way to Guerrero, specifically in eight communities referred to as the valley of El Ocotito, located around 30 kilometers from the capital, towards the port of Acapulco.

The purpose of these groups, they say, is to combat against the organized crime gangs.  The people got tired of the extortions, kidnappings, and murders.

On Thursday of this week, coordinators of the Community Police of the Union of Organized People of the State of Guerrero (Unión de Pueblos Organizados del Estado de Guerrero (UPOEG)) lead by Bruno Plácido Valerio, conducted raids on homes in the communities of Cajeles, Mojoneras, El Rincón, Carrizal de la Vía, Dos Caminos, Buena Vista de la Salud, La Haciendita and El Ocotito, where they captured 13 suspected members belonging to organized crime; six of which have been released since they only had minor offenses.

Justino Ocampo Hernández, coordinator of the Security and Justice Citizenry System (Sistema de Seguridad y Justicia Ciudadana (SSJC)), in El Ocotito, in a meeting held in the community; announced on Friday that they won’t be backing out in the formation of the Community Police, because the people are tired of suffering through kidnappings, extortions, and murders, “We gave a notice to the government but they ignored us”.

The Community Police will operate in the towns where they conducted raids in order to detect and arrest suspected members of organized crime and bring tranquility to its residents, he said as he thanked the presence and cooperation of the Community Police from Tierra Colorada, Ayutla and Tecoanapa, to perform the operation.

 

Mobilization in El Ocotito, Chilpancingo

Apart from the police that emerged in El Ocotito; they’re going to be creating other groups in 14 communities of the municipalities of Chichihualco and Tlacotepec, and Filo Mayor De Guerrero, with the same goal of ending the insecurity he continued.

 

Mobilization in El Ocotito, Chilpancingo

As the leader of the CANACO (Mexico’s Local Chambers of Commerce), Pioquinto Damián Huato, said that the merchants of this capital look favorably at the formation of the Community Police in El Ocotito, he also added that next week they’ll announce their own plan of action that will take into account the formation of the Self-Defense Groups in the capital, but declined any further details.

Source:  El Universal

Footage from Grillonautas2

 

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Community Police Enters the Capital of Guerrero

The Community Police said that they entered the village because the locals called for their intervention.

Mexico City, January 23— Around 500 members of the Union of Towns And Organizations Of The State Of Guerrero (Unión de Pueblos y Organizaciones del Estado de Guerrero (UPOEG)) entered the town of El Ocotito in the municipality of Chilpancingo, the state capital, this afternoon where they arrested at least five suspected members of organized crime who were engaging in extorting and kidnapping people of that community.

Bruno Placido Valerio

Bruno Placido Valerio, leader of the organization, told reporters that he entered the village and that the people demanded an intervention since as it has been previously reported that there is an increase in insecurity.

 

After carrying out operations on the streets, the Civil Guards arrested at least five suspected criminals who will be presented in the coming hours.

 

Placido Valerio did not rule out more arrests of people who are linked to organized crime, who conduct kidnappings and extortions on the people and businesses of the community.

A member of the Community Police in Ocotito, Guerrero 

Photo By: Ezequiel Flores

According to press reports, the presence of the Civil Guards extends to villages such as Mohoneras, Buenavista de la Salud, Rincón de la Vía and Cajeles.

It is reported that these groups have set up checkpoints after entering the state capital this afternoon.

 

Last week, the Board of Common Land and Communities Opposed to the Parota Dam (Consejo de Ejidos y Comunidades Opositoras a la presa la Parota (CECOP)), announced the creation of a Community Police that operates in 47 villages of the municipality of Acapulco, Guerrero.

Marco Antonio Suastegui Muñoz with Subcomandante Marcos

Marco Antonio Suastegui Muñoz, leader of this organization, said that the formation of these Self-Defense Civil Guards is in response to the state and federal government forgetting about them.

He also said that this group of Community Police will be governed by the Regional Council of Community Authorities (CRAC), and will consist of people from the communities of Agua Caliente, Huamuchitos, Amarillo, among others.

 

“We need the governors to have a say and to not repress these social movements, in this we will never have an agreement,” he said.  “Right now, what we need the most is to have the support of the citizens, the governors, and other related social organizations.  “The last thing we need is a confrontation with the authorities”.

 

Last December, the National Human Rights Commission presented a report on the Self-Defense Groups in Guerrero, which states that the increase of these organizations in the state is indicative of the lack of an “effective response from the State” and a “void” that was generated by the state and local authorities of their fundamental obligations to ensure safety”.

 

Ángel Aguirre Rivero

The governor of the state, Ángel Aguirre Rivero, stepped out and rejected the report by the NHRC.  He considered it as “alarmist”.  However, the defender of human rights organization told him that he shouldn’t allude responsibility for the Self-Defense Groups, since they have confirmed that the state authorities have not responded effectively to the insecurity problem experienced by the people of Guerrero.

 

According to the report, there is a presence of the Self-Defense Groups in the seven regions of Guerrero, as well as 46 of the 81 municipalities of the state; in which 2,307,169 people live in, who represent 65.47% of the total population of Guerrero.

Source:  Sin Embargo

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