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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=1999wildcat@gmail.com href="mailto:1999wildcat@gmail.com">John Reimann</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=socialistdiscussion@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:socialistdiscussion@yahoogroups.com">socialist discussion</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, February 02, 2013 11:12 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [socialistdiscussion] vigilante militias in
Mexico</DIV></DIV>
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<P>Below is an interesting article in today's Wall St. Journal about some rural
villages in Mexico whose populations have organized militias to rid their towns
of the criminal drug gangs. In some places, such gangs have been seen as local
benefactors, building basketball courts, etc. but not really in Mexico. There,
it seems these gangs, while involved in the drug trade, have also engaged in
kidnappings, extortion, rape, etc. Although the article never mentions it, it
has been reported elsewhere that the soldiers sent in to combat these gangs have
been allied with them, and many soldiers have gone over to the gangs. Therefore,
these villagers have risen up and formed their own vigilante groups.
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>It seems to me that there are several possible conflicts within these
militias. I think the most important revolves around the role of local
businessmen and ranchers. They have been subject to extortion, and are
reportedly involved in these militias. They must be financing them. (One photo
shows them riding around in the back of a fairly new pickup truck.) What happens
when local peasants get into a land dispute with one of these ranchers, or when
some workers get into a dispute with a small businessman? It is possible that
these militias could split down the middle.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>On the other side, there is the example of the local community groups that
sprang up after Mexico City's earthquake in the '80s. They developed in order to
dig trapped neighbors out of the rubble since no aid from the government came,
but they then turned into a political opposition.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>ARTICLE:</DIV>
<DIV>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">AYUTLA,
Mexico—Masked men, rifles slung over their shoulders, stand guard on a lonely
rural road, checking IDs and questioning travelers. They wear no uniforms, flash
no badges, but they are the law here now.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">A
dozen villages in the area have risen up in armed revolt against local drug
traffickers that have terrorized the region and a government that residents say
is incapable of protecting them from organized crime.</P>
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<H3 style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 1.4em" class=first>Taking the Law
Into Their Own Hands</H3>
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Slideshow</A></P></DIV></DIV><A
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width=262 height=174></A></DIV><CITE
style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; FONT-STYLE: normal; COLOR: rgb(102,102,102)">Mauricio
Palos for The Wall Street Journal</CITE>
<P style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 1.2em" class=targetCaption>Ranchers
in Tecoanapa, near Ayutla, voted Sunday in favor of having local militiamen
provide security.</P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">The
villages in the hilly southern Mexican state of Guerrero now forbid the Mexican
army and state and federal police from entering. Ragtag militias carrying a
motley arsenal of machetes, old hunting rifles and the occasional AR-15
semiautomatic rifle control the towns. Strangers aren't allowed entry. There is
a 10 p.m. curfew. More than 50 prisoners, accused of being in drug gangs, sit in
makeshift jails. Their fates hinge on public trials that began Thursday when the
accused were arraigned before villagers, who will act as judge and jury.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Crime
is way down—for the moment, at least. Residents say kidnapping ceased when the
militias took charge, as did the extortions that had become the scourge of
businessmen and farmers alike. The leader of one militia group, who uses the
code name G-1 but was identified by his compatriots as Gonzalo Torres, puts it
this way: "We brought order back to a place where there had been chaos. We were
able to do in 15 days what the government was not able to do in years."</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Yet
a few shaken townspeople in Ayutla, the area's primary town, have stories of
being arrested and held for more than a week before being deemed innocent and
released. And one man was shot dead trying to escape the masked men at a
checkpoint.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Village
justice has long been part of life in rural Mexico. Now it's playing a growing
role in the country's drug war. Across Mexico, from towns outside the capital to
along the troubled border with the U.S., mobs have lynched suspected drug
traffickers and shot those accused of aiding them. Last year a logging town in a
neighboring state took up arms when traffickers of La Familia Michoacana, a drug
cartel, attempted to lay claim to their forests.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">The
uprising around Ayutla, a two-hour drive from the resort city of Acapulco,
differs from the others because it has started to spread locally. In the two
weeks, bands in six other towns in Guerrero state have declared vigilante rule,
including in Iguala, a city of 140,000. In the nearby Jalisco state, groups say
they are considering similar action.</P>
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<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Some
government officials are even siding with the militias, for now. Guerrero
Governor Ángel Aguirre has met with the vigilantes and says state law gives
villagers the right to self-rule. Ayutla's mayor, Severo Castro, says he
welcomes the new groups. On a recent evening, he pointed toward a checkpoint
blocks away and said the town is nearly crime-free for the first time in
years.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">"There
are two police departments now," he said. "The ones in uniform and another
masked one, which is much more brave."</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">That
sentiment seems to be shared even among local police, who are still technically
on duty but who now seem limited to the role of directing traffic around the
central square, leaving the rest of the patrolling and police work to the
militias.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Police
Commander Juan Venancio, a broad-faced middle-aged man with a mustache, said
local police are too afraid of organized crime to make arrests.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">"We
could arrest a gangster for extortion, but if we couldn't prove it, we'd have to
let him go," he said. "But then what about our families? Do you think we're not
scared they will take revenge on us if they are out? Of course we are
scared."</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">In
some ways, life is getting back to normal here after years of insecurity.
Village rodeos attract young cowboys and girls in traditional dresses, and
weddings stretch late into the evening. The same townspeople who were once
extorted by drug gangs now bring melons and tamales to the militiamen standing
guard at checkpoints.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Suspicion
of the government and outsiders runs high here. During a visit by The Wall
Street Journal last week to the nearby hamlet of Azozuca, rumor spread that the
reporter's car was bringing state human-rights officials. An angry,
stick-wielding mob of about 150 blocked the only road into town and didn't allow
the reporter to enter.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">"Get
out of here! Don't take another step!" yelled a woman waving a wooden bat.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Remote
villages in Guerrero, one of Mexico's most independent regions, had long
complained that too few police looked after their towns. In 1995, the state
passed a law allowing towns to form "community police" groups that worked much
like neighborhood-watch organizations, permitting the groups to detain suspects
and hand them over to authorities. But the laws didn't allow the groups to pass
judgment on those accused.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">By
2006, Mexico's drug war had begun to weaken its already-troubled institutions.
Areas like Mexico City remained under tight control, but the power of the state
in rural areas diminished. Some 65,000 Mexicans have been killed since 2006, but
only a fraction of the killings have been solved—or even investigated, according
to the government and legal experts.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">"Mexico
has a 2% conviction rate, and Mexicans have taken note of that," says Sergio
Pastrana, a sociology professor at the College of Guerrero who has studied rural
regions. "It's caused unrest and a determination among some to take the reins
themselves."</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Villagers
in Ayutla say the town was never crime-free—bandits sometimes robbed horsemen
riding the road, for example—but the specter of organized crime was something
new.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Several
years ago, a group known by villagers as Los Pelones—literally, the Bald
Ones—entered Ayutla and began a racket which included both drugs and other
crime, people here say.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Mr.
Castro, the mayor, says his 19-year-old daughter was kidnapped two years ago and
he paid a "large sum" for her release. Last July, the body of the town's police
chief Óscar Suástegui was found in a garbage dump outside town. He had been shot
13 times. Authorities said it looked like the work of a criminal group. No
arrests were made in either case.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Townspeople
say Los Pelones moved into extortions last year, demanding protection money from
those who ran stalls in the market adjoining Ayutla's central plaza. The
payments were usually 500 pesos, or $40, a month per stall, according to several
vendors, a large sum in the impoverished town.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">As
harvest season approached last fall, the group fanned out into the countryside,
demanding monthly payments of 200 pesos, about $16, for each animal that farmers
owned. Several farmers say the gang made a list of those who had agreed to pay
and those who had not.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">In
November, a spate of kidnappings began. Gunmen in the village of Plan de Gatica
captured the village commissioner, a kind of locally elected mayor, along with a
priest in a nearby village who had refused to pay extortion fees for his church.
A second commissioner was kidnapped in the village of Ahuacachahue in December.
The three men eventually were released after ransoms were paid, villagers
say.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">When
a village commissioner named Eusebio García was captured on Jan. 5, several
dozen villagers from Rancho Nuevo grabbed weapons and formed a search party. The
next morning, they found Mr. García in a nearby house with his kidnappers, who
were arrested and jailed, say the militiamen.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">"This
was the turning point, the moment everything exploded here," says Bruno Placido,
one of the leaders of the armed groups. "We had shown the power armed people
have over organized-crime groups."</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">As
word spread of Mr. García's release, farmers in villages around Ayutla also took
up arms. Their plan: to descend into Ayutla, where they believed the rest of the
Los Pelones gang was based. That night they raided numerous homes throughout
Ayutla, arresting people they believed to be lookouts, drug dealers, kidnappers
and hit men, and brought them to makeshift jails. Other villagers set up
checkpoints across the town.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">The
vigilantes were now in charge. They instituted the curfew and declared that
state and federal authorities would be turned away at checkpoints. Villagers
were allowed to make accusations against others, anonymously, at the homes of
militiamen.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">The
group ordered most schools shut down, saying Los Pelones might try to take
children hostage in exchange for prisoners detained by the vigilantes.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">"I
hadn't seen anything quite like this before," says state Education Secretary
Silvia Romero, who traveled to Ayutla after the initial uprising to negotiate
for classes to resume. Some teachers agreed that suspending school was necessary
until all top gang leaders were under lock and key. "The students were an easy
target for the criminals," says teacher Ignacio Vargas.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Many
schools have since reopened. The army, after negotiations, set up a checkpoint
at the entrance to the region. Beyond that, the militiamen remain in control and
no state or federal officials are permitted to enter the villages around
Ayutla.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Townspeople
interviewed recently said the masked men are ordinary farmers and businessmen,
not rival criminals looking to oust Los Pelones. The mayor agrees. Still, Mr.
Torres, the lead militiaman in Ayutla, acknowledged the risk of "spies from
organized crime coming into our ranks." He said he encourages his men to turn in
anyone seeking to join the vigilantes who might be linked to crime groups.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">The
militias are moving beyond the drug gangs to other alleged crimes and, in the
process, are revealing some of the pitfalls of village justice.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">On
a recent day, two pickup trucks filled with masked men pulled up carrying bar
owner Juan de Dios Acevedo. They alleged that Mr. Acevedo, 42, had been involved
in the rape of a local woman. One of them pulled a shirt over his head while
another bound his hands with rope. His mother and sister comforted him and
cried.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">As
he was being bundled into one pickup, his mother fetched signed papers from the
local prosecutor's office that said he had already been arrested for the same
crime, and cleared by prosecutors. "This is a false accusation, and now I've
been arrested for the second time," Mr. Acevedo protested.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">The
vigilantes were unmoved and took him away for questioning. Later that day, he
was released unharmed.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">A
makeshift detention center run by villagers in El Mezón is home to two dozen men
and women accused of being with Los Pelones. There is no budget to run the
prison, villagers say. The prisoners eat donated tortillas and rice and sleep on
cardboard on the floor. On a recent afternoon, seven men were clustered behind
bars in a tiny, dark room that smelled of urine. It was hot and dirty. There
were no visible signs of physical abuse.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">The
masked commander of the facility, who wouldn't give his name and declined to
allow interviews with the prisoners, said the men are being treated well and
will be given a chance to defend themselves in a public trial in the village.
They won't be allowed lawyers, he said, and villagers will decide their
sentences by a consensus vote.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Possible
punishments include hard labor constructing roads and bridges in chain gangs, he
said, although it will be up to the villagers, not the militia, to decide. He
added that executions, which are not permitted under Mexican law even in murder
cases, were not on the table.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">"The
village will be their judge," he said. "If the village saves you, you will be
free. If not, then you are condemned."</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Nightly
raids of suspected drug traffickers have provided the militiamen with a clutch
of high-powered weapons, including AR-15 rifles. It isn't clear how the men will
be trained to use the weapons.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">On
Jan. 6, the night the checkpoints were erected, a man named Cutberto Luna was
shot dead by the vigilantes, state authorities say. Mr. Torres, the Ayutla
militia commander, says the man refused to stop at the checkpoint and opened
fire on the men standing guard, who responded by firing back. He also alleges
Mr. Luna was a "known leader of organized crime."</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">Members
of Mr. Luna's family couldn't be located for comment. The state prosecutor's
file on the case says Mr. Luna was a local taxi driver. The file makes no
mention of organized-crime ties. No arrests have been made in the killing.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">On
a recent day, a group of militiamen in the village of Potreros discussed what
lay ahead. A rancher in a nearby town was thought to have collected extortion
money on behalf of the criminal gangs. Several militia members wanted to
organize a raid to take back the money, then use it to buy ammunition. The men
also discussed the merits of shooting on the spot criminals they believed to be
guilty rather than taking them to village courts.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">A
vendor in the Ayutla town plaza is glad to have faced neither fate. He spent 14
days in the El Mezón jail but was released on Jan. 21, he said. The vendor said
he was accused of helping an organized-crime member. In fact, he said, he was
simply paying his 500 peso weekly extortion fee. He wasn't harmed in detention,
he said, but got sick after he was given dirty water from a nearby pond to
drink.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 1.5em">"Clearly
I wasn't on the side of the bad guys," he said. "Still, I went to jail. The kind
of psychological damage this does is great. Now I'm afraid they'll come back for
me and cut off my finger or gouge out my eye."</P>
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