Mireles: The Federal Government Betrayed the Autodefensas

By: Dalia Villegas Moreno | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat 

Three years after the emergence of the autodefensa groups in Michoacán, Dr. José Mireles Valverde, an emblematic figure of the movement, said that the federal government betrayed those who carried out a “real social fight” and left them “worse”, because they disarmed them and left them in the hands of organized crime.

Through an audio recording that circulated throughout social networks, Mireles Valverde, who is imprisoned in a federal prison in Sonora since June 2014, accused of bearing arms that are not allowed, said that “there is nothing to celebrate” during the third anniversary of the autodefensa movement.

In any case, Mireles Valverde said that what should be celebrated is the dignity and the courage of the population of Tierra Caliente who faced organized crime with their limited resources.  “Unfortunately, the awakening was very painful, but in the moment when we faced our fears, we realized our greatness”.

He recounted when on one occasion, “those murderers,” which he says: were killing his people, “tying their hands and feet,” that a young 14 year old faced them with a shotgun; “he made them run, and there were six trucks filled with them armed, that’s dignity, and that is what we should be celebrating.”

Mireles Valverde said that during the 17 months that the autodefensas movement controlled the security in 36 municipalities, mainly in Tierra Caliente, the occurrence of crime reduced significantly.  “At that time, no one lost a needle,” he says.

In contrast, he said that the police and military apparatus of the Federation, of the state and the municipalities, with all the operational capacity and resources, couldn’t control both local jurisdiction crimes nor federal crimes.

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Dr. Mireles Asks For Forgiveness

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat 

José Manuel Mireles Valverde, former spokesman of the autodefensas of Michoacán, asked for forgiveness from the government and his family “for having disrespected them with his words or actions.”

“I use this message to apologize to the Government of Mexico and its official and unofficial institutions, and its structures spread out throughout the national territory, for having disrespected them with words or actions, for having offended them with my omissions and civil disobedience,” Mireles said in a message posted on social networks.

To mark the start of the year, Dr. Mireles also apologized for having abused “liberal thinking and for having altered the political and social order of Michoacán and Mexico.”

Mireles, who was detained on June 27, 2014 and is being held in a prison in Hermosillo, Sonora, confessed to taking the decision of being “at peace with God, with the government, with my family, and with the autodefensa movement.”

“I humbly pray and from the bottom of my heart, I ask that they forgive me for all the harm I may have caused them or for the reason or reasons that they may have been.  I apologize to my children, for having abandoned them trying to solve a problem that is only up to the bodies of government,” is heard in the audio allegedly recorded by family members during a phone call.

In a part of the audio, he talks about his father and dedicates this message:

“To my venerable father, I ask for forgiveness for having left him at the age of 83; forgive me father for having done this during the last part of your existence, for having gone to fight in order for them to let us live in peace and dignity.”

“Forgive me father for having disobeyed you when they came to us asking for our help in order for the village to rise up in arms, you gave your good reasons: I’ve lost my wife, I’ve lost my cattle, I don’t want to lose any of my sons.  Sorry for having disobeyed you and now being left alone,” said the former spokesman of the autodefensas.

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Due To Deteriorating Health, MC Requests Transfer of Mireles to DF

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

The Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) (Citizens’ Movement) party has asked the federal government to transfer the former leader of the autodefensas, José Manuel Mireles Valverde, to Mexico City (DF) so that he can be attended by medical specialists given the deterioration of his health in recent days.

According to information released by the newspaper Cambio de Michoacán, Daniel Moncada Sánchez, state coordinator of the MC, has been in constant communication with the sister of Mireles, Virginia Mireles, who brought to him the critical state Dr. Mireles is in.

Virginia Mireles explained through a statement that the former autodefensa leader has severe symptoms of dehydration due to diarrhea, as well as uncontrolled blood pressure, and is not responding to treatment.

In less than a week, Dr. Mireles has lost at least four kilograms (~8.8 pounds), which is concerning.

Meanwhile, Moncada Sánchez emphasized that there is currently an intense defense of Mireles Valverde to obtain his release in the coming days.  However, for his health to be at risk, it is imperative that specialized medical care is provided until his health improves, he said.

On July 3 of this year, the Attorney General of the Republic, Arely Gómez, announced that the agency in charge had abandoned the criminal proceedings against José Manuel Mireles, which opened the way for his release from prison.

However, five months after that statement, the activist remains subject to trial for the crime of possession of weapons, which is serious and does not allow the release on bail.

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Lawyers: Dr. Mireles Will Be Freed In December

Translated By Valor for Borderland Beat

The leader and founder of the autodefensas of Tepalcatepec, José Manuel Mireles Valverde, will obtain his freedom in the month of December, “before the start of the holiday period,” assured his lawyers.

At a press conference accompanied by the leader of the Movimiento Ciudadano (Citizens' Movement), Dante Delgado, they detailed that they presented an argument for the exclusion of the crime and an error of prohibiting that would invalidate the crime for the possession of a firearm for the exclusive use of the army.

 The fact is that according to his lawyer Ignacio Mendoza, the autodefensa leader had every right to carry and use weapons, as it was the authorities who had determined it, “it is proven that the State deceived the autodefensas,” he said.

The law firm said that they were 100% sure that he would be released before the holidays.

José Manuel Mireles is being held in the maximum security prison in Hermosillo, Sonora, since June 27, 2014.

Source: Michoacán 3.0

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Dr. Mireles Will Be Freed Thursday or Friday

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Valor's note: 

Take whatever Ana Valencia says with a grain of salt.  She was the same wife that didn’t agree with what Mireles and the autodefensas were doing in the beginning when they first rose up in arms.  She also left Mireles to be with the Caballeros Templarios because of the wealth that they had even after some of her family members had been killed by the Templarios.  Mireles has previously stated that they hadn’t been together since December of 2014, I believe.  He also said that he was embarrassed to call her his wife.

Valencia is also currently in a feud with Priscilla/Grillonautas due to the releasing of audio of her talking about how she wanted Mireles dead and that she wanted Mireles’ house and truck after he dies, among other things.

The former spokesman of the autodefensas of Tepalcatepec, Dr. José Manuel Mireles Valverde, will be freed sometime between Thursday the 16 and Friday the 17 of April, according to the wife of Dr. Mireles, Ana Valencia, based on what the defense attorney said.

Interviewed via telephone by Quadratín, the wife of Mireles said that the litigant, Javier Livas, has transferred to the prison of Hermosillo, Sonora in order to wait for a response and to wait for the release of Dr. Mireles.

He revealed that even support groups are organizing a welcoming outside the federal prison for the former spokesman, who was detained on June 27 2014, and two days later, admitted to the maximum security prison.

Valencia said that Dr. Mireles will immediately board a plane that will move him to Guadalajara, Jalisco, and later to Michoacán, specifically to Tepalcatepec.

It should be noted that in recent days, the First Unitary Court granted an amparo to the former leader of the Michoacán autodefensas, José Manuel Mireles Valverde, and to three of his bodyguards accused of violating the Federal Law on Firearms and Explosives.

Source: Quadratin

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Michoacán: Dr Mireles in the Crosshairs and in Prison

Borderland Beat La Jornada: Pedro Miguel translated by Jane Brundage

Dr Mireles, head shaven, mustache gone is being given little food and not provided meds

On May 14, on these pages and under the same byline, appeared an article titled Mireles in the Crosshairs . The article concluded that against José Manuel Mireles;

"and against his followers a triple alliance is being configured that can be schematized as Tuta-Castillo-Smurf, and that single perspective reveals (because people are not stupid) the true nature of the peñista Michoacán strategy."

MV Note: Servando Gómez Martínez, La Tuta, heads The Knights Templar cartel. Estanislao Beltrán, Papa Smurf, is a self-defense leader chosen by José Mireles to be his bodyguard when Mireles was convalescing from injuries sustained in airplane crash. Beltrán joined State Rural Force and is now prominent follower of Alfredo Castillo, Federal Commissioner for Public Security and Comprehensive Development of Michoacán.

Coincidentally, 45 days later, the self-defense leader was arrested along with 82 other people, precisely in the village of La Mira, in the Municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas. The episode is part of a script. The only thing left to chance was that this headline might once again focus on La Mira.

The assessment made a ​​month and a half ago remains valid. Although Commissioner Alfredo Castillo insists on assuring that things in Michoacan "have changed," the only visible change is the manager of the state's executive branch. As for the remainder,  organized crime is alive and active. 

Family of 5 killed after this photo was taken by the Washington Post- In death below

As an example, there is the murder of self-defense Santiago Moreno Valencia and his entire family (wife and three children aged 11 to 16 years) just June 19 .  [above]

In his last public address before his arrest, Mireles said he received a call for help when Moreno Valencia's ranch was being fired upon. He made ​​contact with the military in the area and asked them for support in order to assist the victims. The soldiers replied that they were not allowed to move from their positions; instead, they blocked the transit of the doctor and his men. [Read my post about this-link here]

When self-defense forces were finally able to reach the ranch, situated on the border between Jalisco and Michoacán, they found only corpses. The crime had already been committed, and Federal Police and rural guards obedient to [Commissioner Alfredo] Castillo undertook "the search for the murderers." In other words, many citizens of Michoacán go around armed not because they want to break the law, but out of a simple desire to stay alive.

Eight days later, Mireles was arrested for "aggravated violation of the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives" (LFAFE), said Castillo, and for "crimes against health in the form of simple possession of prohibited substances." The second [charge arising] because in the vehicle carrying the leader and his bodyguards were found, in addition to firearms and cartridges, "four bags with marijuana and a bag of cocaine."

The second part of the accusation is suspicious, because we know that when it comes to Mireles, Commissioner Castillo is very adept at turning real events into a 'crime novel'. In May, for example, Castillo said that he had pictures of the doctor "holding a head like a trophy,"  [above left] when the truth is that Dr. Mireles was simply helping an agent of the Public Ministry [prosecutor or investigative police] to identify a corpse.

But the most interesting part of the statement made yesterday by Peña Nieto's Commissioner is the one regarding arms possession. In a desire to put forward an alibis reminiscent of the South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, Castillo censured the now alleged noncompliance with the

"agreement with the leaders of organized communities, including Mireles himself, that as of May 10 neither the mobilization of armed civilians nor the carrying of high-calibre weapons would be allowed." 

Let's read it well: on April 14, the date of that agreement [which, to be sure, Mireles denies having signed, and in fact told me on the day of the meeting, "the meeting was for clarification of the previous agreement,  nothing was signed], Castillo absolutely took to himself the extra-legal authority to suspend implementation of the LFAFE in Michoacán for almost a month. 

 [ of the 4 leaders below, two were imprisoned and Santiago and his family slaughtered]

Then the man responsible for "resolving"  the case of  4 year old Paulette Gebara Farah in the state of Mexico (which gave way to another memorable literary creation) granted, [Castillo allowed the child's wealthy mother to go free without charge of her child's murder]

God knows on what basis, the force of law to an agreement and, incidentally, he set himself up, and set up the self-defense leaders who signed it, as lawmakers.With the same legal smartness, he decided that the agreement would take effect in 26 days.

However, it took another 47 days before he would decide to restore enforcement of the LFAFE. He would enforce that agreement and proceed with detaining Mireles and his men when they were advancing towards the port of Lázaro Cárdenas to fight The Knights Templar entrenched there. Significantly, for these [The Knights Templar] the LFAFE has no enforcement date.

Now Mireles is no longer either in the spotlight or in La Mira, but rather in a Sonora federal prison accused of illegal possession of firearms and drug trafficking. His companions have been sent to half a dozen prisons in various parts of the country. In fact, enforcement of the rule of law in the style of Alfredo Castillo should cause a huge sigh of relief and reassurance to the leaders of organized crime in Michoacán. With bodyguards like this, who needs to go around worried?

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