Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Milenio article
Subject Matter: Jose Manuel Mireles
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required
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Reporter: Angel Soto
With a serene but imposing face, Jose Manuel Mireles has the look of someone who has seen the horror in the first person. He came to FIL de Gguadalajara to present his new book "Todos Somos Autodefensas" from Random House publishing.
Among a small crowd that he made his way through while entering, he answered some of the questions put to him by Milenio.
With what historical character do you identify yourself?
I do not identify with any. I know the history of Mexico, I know the greatest men the country has had, but honestly and humbly, I would not put myself in any of their shoes.
What do you like most and hate most about Mexico?
From Mexico, I can not hate anything, because I am Mexican. If I hated something, from Mexico I would hate myself. I like my country. We only have one Mexico, we will never have another, even if we flee from this nation, we will continue to be Mexicans wherever we are.
What is it that makes you happy in this moment in your life?
That I am free.
What characteristics should a person have to be your friend?
Wanting the nation to have freedom, and seeking the truth above all things.
Will the PRI maintain the Presidency?
I do not know, I do not want to know anything about these people.
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Dr Mireles then posed for photographs with those present.
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It is available in Ebook from Google
Todos Somos Autodefensas
Also available most book stores and for the Iphone.
Amazon has it too for the Kindle
A synopsis for the book
In 2004 Michoacan broke down
That year, the cartels, dissatisfied with the profits obtained from drug trafficking, diversified their activities and included extortion, kidnapping, looting and rape and torture. After a decade of unleashed violence, the inhabitants of the area reacted. Impoverished by the ravages of crime, forgotten by the authorities, furious and fed up, they decided to take justice into their own hands.
Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde is a central figure in this panorama. Founder of the self defense groups in the Tierra Caliente, he fought for more than a year against the cartels, but was arrested in June of 2014 during a Federal operation that was harshly criticized. Then it had to undertake other battles: the legal one: to get out of prison, and the morality, to break his spirit but he triumphed.
Dr Mireles has turned that dignified rage into the complete chronicle of the Michoacan auto-defensas. In this book, which goes back to the Purepecha inheritance and the fight that the Terracaliente gave during the Mexican revolution and the Cristero war, the doctor and commander narrates in detail the genesis of the self defense movement, as well as the adrenaline of the combatants and frustrating negotiations with the Government, which culminated in a historic betrayal.
Subject Matter: Jose Manuel Mireles
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required
Reporter: Angel Soto
With a serene but imposing face, Jose Manuel Mireles has the look of someone who has seen the horror in the first person. He came to FIL de Gguadalajara to present his new book "Todos Somos Autodefensas" from Random House publishing.
Among a small crowd that he made his way through while entering, he answered some of the questions put to him by Milenio.
With what historical character do you identify yourself?
I do not identify with any. I know the history of Mexico, I know the greatest men the country has had, but honestly and humbly, I would not put myself in any of their shoes.
What do you like most and hate most about Mexico?
From Mexico, I can not hate anything, because I am Mexican. If I hated something, from Mexico I would hate myself. I like my country. We only have one Mexico, we will never have another, even if we flee from this nation, we will continue to be Mexicans wherever we are.
What is it that makes you happy in this moment in your life?
That I am free.
What characteristics should a person have to be your friend?
Wanting the nation to have freedom, and seeking the truth above all things.
Will the PRI maintain the Presidency?
I do not know, I do not want to know anything about these people.
Dr Mireles then posed for photographs with those present.
It is available in Ebook from Google
Todos Somos Autodefensas
Also available most book stores and for the Iphone.
Amazon has it too for the Kindle
A synopsis for the book
In 2004 Michoacan broke down
That year, the cartels, dissatisfied with the profits obtained from drug trafficking, diversified their activities and included extortion, kidnapping, looting and rape and torture. After a decade of unleashed violence, the inhabitants of the area reacted. Impoverished by the ravages of crime, forgotten by the authorities, furious and fed up, they decided to take justice into their own hands.
Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde is a central figure in this panorama. Founder of the self defense groups in the Tierra Caliente, he fought for more than a year against the cartels, but was arrested in June of 2014 during a Federal operation that was harshly criticized. Then it had to undertake other battles: the legal one: to get out of prison, and the morality, to break his spirit but he triumphed.
Dr Mireles has turned that dignified rage into the complete chronicle of the Michoacan auto-defensas. In this book, which goes back to the Purepecha inheritance and the fight that the Terracaliente gave during the Mexican revolution and the Cristero war, the doctor and commander narrates in detail the genesis of the self defense movement, as well as the adrenaline of the combatants and frustrating negotiations with the Government, which culminated in a historic betrayal.