Rise of citizen "self-defense" units presents headache for new PRI administration
*Jan. 31, 2014 - Mexican prosecutor: Jalisco drug cartel armed Michoacán autodefensas*
*Jan. 24, 2014 - Enrique Peña Nieto's top domestic security adviser resigns*
Guadalajara -
Although president Enrique Peña Nieto has been in office for almost 100 days, we've heard surprisingly little from one of his key advisers who was much in the news in the days following the Institutional Revolutionary Party's July 1 victory.
That man is former Colombian general Óscar Naranjo, whose official title is national security adviser to the president.
In reality Naranjo is, or was supposed to be, Peña Nieto's primary drug war strategist. MGR first wrote about him a week after EPN was elected, pointing out that his plan of action offered little distinction from former president Felipe Calderón's. Security consultant elaborates on "new" Mexican drug war strategy - but is it?
Last October MGR analyzed Naranjo again after a respected Mexican journal suggested he was a double, if not triple, agent. Peña Nieto's Colombian drug war consultant is a U.S. informant, with clear marching orders from new prez: cut a deal with the cartel bosses.
In any case Naranjo has surfaced again, this time to address the thorny issue of local militias and self-defense forces which are springing up all over Mexico, especially in rural areas, as local police demonstrate time and again that they're no match for drug cartels and organized crime. Human Rights Watch's latest condemnation of Mexican drug war reveals how little it understands conflict.
According to recent government reports, citizen armies or civilian police forces now exist in at least 13 Mexican states, with a particularly heavy presence in violent Michoacán, Guerrero and Chiapas, where cartel operatives regularly enter or return from neighboring Guatemala. Speaking at a business and security forum this week, Naranjo made it clear that the new PRI government is not interested in sharing law enforcement authority with them.
"The end doesn't justify the means," Naranjo said, "and we won't tolerate armed self-defense groups."
Naranjo said that other Latin American nations had experienced the rise of local militias during their own domestic security struggles, including Peru and Colombia. The general told his audience that civilian self-defense forces often unwittingly end up working for or with the very organizations they're trying to protect the local populace from, such as regional drug traffickers and gangs. All it does is "create a monster which is soon out of control," said Naranjo.
But like it or not, the Colombian security strategist and his boss in Mexico City will have to confront - along with the country's 60-80 cartels - the reality of dozens of local communities determined to take law enforcement into their own hands. Naranjo offered no clues on how the new administration plans to disarm them, or when it will begin to do so.
Mar. 8 - Much as General Naranjo predicted, 34 members of a Michoacán self-defense force who were taken into custody yesterday by federal troops have admitted that they got their firearms from the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (better known as Los Matazetas, or the "Zeta killers"), a group closely allied with the Sinaloa Cartel of El Chapo Guzmán. The Matazetas are engaged in a deadly struggle with Los Zetas and another group, Los Caballeros Templarios, for control of drug trafficking and other crime in Jalisco, Colima and Michoacán states. The Sinaloa Cartel is helping the former. Arma "El Chapo" a grupos de autodefensa; Fuerzas militares pegan a “autodefensas” del Chapo.
Mar. 12 - Another 17 autodefensas were arrested yesterday by military units in Michoacán. Families of the original 34 have appealed to president Enrqiue Peña Nieto for their release, saying the men are merely trying to protect their community from violence by Los Caballeros Templarios.
Apr. 18 - In an interview earlier this week, General Naranjo said Mexico's rising autodefensas pose a grave threat to the entire nation. "Only a sovereign government enjoys the right to use arms, charge and collect taxes and prosecute criminals," he noted.
May 9 - "Autodefensas," origen de los "para-Estados," alerta Naranjo
Aug. 25 - Civilian militias soar, with citizen police now patrolling 50 counties in 13 Mexican states
Apr. 11 - Mexico's troublesome policías comunitarias will prompt some to argue Failed State theories
Mar. 1 - 100 police officers and soldiers killed in PRI's first 90 days
Feb. 19 - NY Times figures out, in Mexican drug war Enrique Peña Nieto = Felipe Calderón Hinojosa
Feb. 11 - Another Jalisco police officer executed near Manzanillo
Feb. 9 - Area police chief executed in Guadalajara Metro Zone
Feb. 6 - Gunmen ambush police patrol in war torn Guerrero state, leaving nine officers dead
Jan. 30 - All the familiar weapons used in latest assassination of Jalisco police chief
The citizen "police force" taken into custody in Michoacán had been armed by two major drug cartels
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
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