Grupos de autodefensas (self-defenders groups) or Policía Comunitaria (Community Police) or Policía Popular (People's Police) are vigilante self-defense groups that arose in the Gulf of Mexico and South Mexico regions between 2012 and 2013. The Mexican government has attempted to monitor and absorb these groups into the federal government to act as Rural Police in order to avoid clashes between the paramilitaries and the Mexican Armed Forces itself.
Background
The presidential administration of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006–2012) began a fight against drug cartels in the state of Michoacán. The primary resource used in the fight was the anti-drug joint police and military initiative known as Operation Michoacán. However, even though in states such as Tamaulipas or Veracruz killings by criminal and military power declined significantly, the campaign against organized crime has caused violent response, increasing the vulnerability of the civilian population due to skirmishes between these organizations and the federal forces.
History
When the criminal groups known as Los Zetas took over the streets of Michoacán from the previously dominant criminal groups in this state, a local criminal gang La Familia Michoacana was created to oust them and to take back control of the area.
In recent times the first notable self-defense event occurred on April 15, 2011 when a group of indigenous people in Cherán armed with rocks and fireworks attacked a bus carrying illegal loggers armed with rifles and associated with the Mexican drug cartel La Familia Michoacana. The indigenous people assumed control over the town, expelled the police force and blocked roads leading to oak timber on a nearby mountain. The vigilante activity spread to the nearby community of Opopeo. They established self-defence groups. Mexico has recognized Cherán as an autonomous indigenous community, but criminals continued to murder residents in the forest.
When power vacuum occurred La Familia Michoacana fell into infighting and disintegrated, its former members created the Knights Templar Cartel. At first this new criminal group had the support of civil society, believing their promises of protection from Los Zetas, but soon began to commit the same atrocities committed by La Familia Michoacana and Los Zetas: they began to extort, kidnap, murder and rape civilians, leading to a situation of semi slavery.
For this reason, on February 24, 2013 Hipólito Mora, Estanislao Beltrán and some land-owners, like a doctor from the community of Tepalcatepec José Manuel Mireles Valverde and Alberto Gutiérrez, took up arms against the Templar Cartel and all criminal groups that wanted to impose dominance in the area, entering a new phase in the war against drug trafficking.
As civilian open-carry of weapons is restricted in Mexico and military grade weapons are illegal, federal forces could not legally distinguish between armed-civilian convoys and drug-cartel convoys, they started a hard process of regularization of these militias.
Some defense groups and their members were absorbed into a faction that answers to the Mexican Army (SEDENA) and also registered their weapons; some were issued new legal-weapons by the government.
Other members did not join, arguing fear of disarmament and distrust in the government that left them alone for so long. The groups are currently divided into registered (Rurales) and non-registered groups (Autodefensas), some of the last are being persecuted by the authorities for failing to register their heavy weapons.
This had led to armed clashes between factions, both factions state that they are being betrayed by their former colleagues, or that some member of the opposite faction has ties with the cartels, in an attempt to legitimize their actions.
Leadership
The principal founder of the community self-defense forces in Michoacán and Guerrero was José Manuel Mireles Valverde who was a doctor from Michoacán. Doctor Mireles was charismatic and well equipped to lead the Autodefensas groups because of his political experience with the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Dr Mireles was critically injured in a plane crash in 2014 which made him unable to continue his previous role as leader of the Autodefensas. After a few months, Mireles returned to the Autodefensas. At this time the Mexican government ordered the Autodefensas to disarm. Many other leaders of the Autodefensas groups complied and Mireles tried to flee the country but was arrested by the Mexican government in late June 2014.