By: Rodrigo Caballero | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat
Aquila, Michoacán— Before signing the so-called Mando Unificado (Unified Command), the municipalities of Chinicuila, Coahuayana and Aquila laid out some conditions in a cooperative agreement between the communities of the coastal sierra region of Michoacán.
Some of these conditions include the cancellation of arrest warrants against Héctor Zepeda Navarrete, Germán Ramírez Sánchez, Fredy Cruz Martínez and Evanivaldo Arceo Rojas who are currently members of the Community Police Force and Fuerza Rural in the area.
The agreement includes seven points including the freedom of José Manuel Mireles Valverde, Cemeí Verdía Zepeda and Agustín Villanueva Ramírez, as well as over the 300 autodefensa members who are regarded as political prisoners.
Furthermore, it appeals that Article 115 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States to be respected since it states that each municipality is responsible for its own safety, which they believe that the Mando Unificado would violate their sovereignty.
The agreement was signed by communal and municipal representatives of the three municipalities and included guidelines on where they should conduct evaluations for the new police, as well as prohibiting people linked to organized crime from entering the corporation.
It should be worth noting that the Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, chaired the creation of the Mando Unificado in Michoacán on November 9 but did not mention how many municipalities had joined the agreement.
In his speech, the governor of Michoacán, Silvano Aureoles Conejo, said that “some problems” must be resolved before the 112 municipalities of the state, not counting Cherán since it is governed by its own traditions and customs, join the police agreement.
Source: Michoacán 3.0