Self Defense forces increasing in Rural Mexico

[johnwilliamson062]

... Or at least international news coverage of said forces.
I started seeing coverage about a year and a half ago concerning some of the Mormon groups in Northern Mexico with strong ties to the US. Then there was some coverage of a group near Cancun blocking all outsiders from entering their town(including government forces).
Now it seems there is a female "vigilante" group emerging. This new group is right outside of Acapulco. Interestingly, most of the non-Mormon groups seem to be centered in Southern Mexico. Most of the reported violence is in the North, but it is well known that cartels rule the South to an even greater degree than the North. Many farmers are forced to grow marijuana by the cartels in a sort of tax scheme. The poorer Southern areas are corruption saturated with cartels and local governments often containing so much overlap as to be indistinguishable from each other. That is similar in the North, but in the South there is even less federal authority to provide a limited control on the cartels.

The natural right to self defense against despotic government being exercised en mass right across the border.

[PawPaw]

I read a piece last week about self-defense militias springing up to battle the drug cartels. LINKY HERE to the piece in the Washington Post.

TEPALCATEPEC, Mexico — An audacious band of citizen militias battling a brutal drug cartel in the hills of central Mexico is becoming increasingly well-armed and coordinated in an attempt to end years of violence, extortion and humiliation.

What began as a few scattered self-defense groups has spread in recent months to dozens of towns across Michoacan, a volatile state gripped by the cultlike Knights Templar, a drug gang known for taxing locals on everything from cows to tortillas and executing those who do not comply.

It's a pretty good article. I particularly like this quote:

A 47-year-old bureaucrat, who is sure that she will be killed if the gang retakes her town, said of her decision to join the cause: “I may live one year or 15, but I will live free.”

That's the spirit!

[NWPilgrim]

“We are coming together with only one thing in mind: Kill or be killed,” said the doctor, JoséManuel Mireles, 55, who described what is happening as an armed social movement and estimated that thousands of citizen-fighters are pursuing the gangsters into the hills. “The only training we have is the courage we have inside.”

What is interesting is these are not trained firearm experts, ex-cops or former military. These are doctors, office workers, farmers, etc that used .22LR and bolt actions and shotguns to hunt down cartel members. Now they are capturing and using silver plated AK47.

Sometimes here in the states guys say that unless you train several weeks a year with tier 1 weapons you don't stand a chance to defend yourself. I agree that mire training and better weapons increase your odds of survival. But, we shouldn't lose sight that people pushed to the wall can overcome frightening odds.

This is an inspiring example happening down there in Mexico.

[ClydeFrog]

Id heard of a few spec ops & DEA/SF task forces working in Mexico but they were shut down after the Fast & Furious mess.
It would be good if the citizens could stand up to the cartels & narco-terrorists but there's so much $$$ involved its a huge up-hill battle.

Illegal drugs create a "shadow economy" in central & Latin America. $$$ is a big part of it.

[johnwilliamson062]

DEA/SF task forces working in Mexico but they were shut down after the Fast & Furious mess

They weren't. The US is still very involved in Mexico. The Mexican government would not fight this battle if not for military aid and political pressure from the US. Intel is fed regularly and there are strong rumors of "retired" military personnel embedded with government forces.

I liked the lines before what PawPaw quoted in his article:

They include a 63-year-old pot-bellied farmer mindful that he can run only 30 yards; a skinny 23-year-old raised in Oregon who said he had never used a gun before; and a man who wears a metal bowl stuffed with newspaper as a helmet.

I hope he never realizes 9mm FMJ will probably go through that bowl. Maybe it won't though. What amazed me in Mexico was people weren't restricted from protecting themselves b/c of a lack of firearms. They were widely available even if at an inflated price. No one knew how to use them. At all.

The important thing in this, for me at least, is some of the defense groups aren't just battling the cartels. They are kicking out government forces also and overtly setting up sovereign governments. Michoacana is supposed to be empty at this point. Almost no one younger than 45 in the state. Predictions of economic collapse due to lack of work force are discussed among those I know who were originally from the area.

As I always have to mention when I read about the deaths figures for the war on the cartels. I know several people who disappeared or were found murdered in Mexico. NONE of them are listed in the official tally of deaths. Everyone I know who has spent time in Mexico recently says the same thing. 60,000 is probably not 1/4 the real number.

I often find myself wondering if arming and training regular women/mothers in some of the conflict regions of Africa might slow things down there.

[Aguila Blanca]

Paging Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen. Mr. Brynner or Mr. McQueen to the red emergency hotline phone, please.

[TLeo]

I can see why they would kick out government forces due to the rampant corruption in them. I wish them well and they will need it as they are seriously outgunned by the druggies.

[johnwilliamson062]

Aguila,
If you only knew. Common enough that it is well known the American can not carry the firearms as it is so illegal for a foreigner to be found in possession. A VIP, American, and ?squire? is not an uncommon sight in many parts of Mexico.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

We are wandering away from the appropriate topics for this forum.

Thus, closed.