Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Proceso special report
Subject Matter: Mexican Government, Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required
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Reporter: Proceso Redaction
Towards the first decade of the 21st Century, organized crime expanded its crime spectrum in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacan. Not only did it keep the region ravaged by the violence associated with drug trafficking, but with extortion's, kidnappings and rape.... Unprotected by the authorities, and fed up with the wave of death and abuse, several Michoacan communities took up arms to face the executioners. A central figure in that movement, Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde tell the details of it in his book, Todos Somos Autodefensas. The awakening of a sleepy town, which also tells how the Federal Government betrayed its commitments to the Auto-defensas, to the point of even imprisoning the community. We print a fragment from the book, with the authorization of Grijalbo.
On April the 14th of 2013, the disarming of the Auto-Defensa Groups was planned and organized for May 10th, by an agreement that took place in the space now occupied by the Ceferso # 17 Tierra Caliente. During the meeting, I told Federal Commissioner, (Alfredo Castillo Cervantes): How is it possible that you are planning disarmament for May 10th if we still have Auto-Defensa prisoners, if the rule of law in Michoacan is still not restored, if we still do not have a fair distribution of justice in the state of Michoacan, if we still do not have efficient public security in Michoacan?
"By May 10th, I will have it resolved", was his response. All your imprisoned Auto-Defensas will be released; all the leaders of the cartel and their people, their Sicarios will be arrested. You are going to have a fair dispensation of justice; you are going to have efficient public security, because you are going to be public security, you yourselves are going to be backed up in large areas from the Armed Forces of the nation and the State. On one side, you are going to be forming part of the State Rural Police, on the other side they will form part of the Defensas Rurales of Sedena.
Listen Commissioner, we have had one and a half years fighting and to date we have 36 regions of the state of Michoacan clean but we still have 6 or 7 more, important areas of the state to clean....
Its all solved, you do not have to worry anymore, I have already identified the places where all the leaders of organized crime are hiding, now we need to stop. Its a matter of two or three days.
But I insisted, and he said:
In addition, I have to try to give you, all of you, your Federal licenses so that you and your bodyguards always go armed for your self defence because after the disarmament you will be the most persecuted, and they will try to execute you one by one. That is why I have to give you Federal licenses, so you can go armed all over the country and with good bodyguards. How many body guards do you need?
I only need four
I will authorize you twenty.
If you authorize me twenty armed people for my personal security, with that small army I make a revolution if it does not fulfill what is being offered.
Don't worry, just support me today with the agreements that are being made.
"Look Mr Commissioner, you are the one offering things, I am not asking anything of you, no Auto-Defensas are asking for anything. You have just offered that you are going to release all of my arrested comrades, starting with our brother Hipolito Mora. If by May 10th you have not released Hipolito Mora and all the other Auto-Defensas, we can not surrender our weapons, because you put the date, not the Auto-Defensas. If by May 10th you have not arrested La Tuta, El Chayo and Plancarte and all of his people, the Auto-Defensas will not disarm.
If you have not restored the rule of Law in Michoacan on May 10th, we will not disarm. If you have not created or have not provided a team or trained personnel that provides us with an efficient public security, we will not disarm, because right now the only efficient public security in all of the municipalities that we have cleaned is us, and now those municipalities are enjoying peace and tranquility.
If they do not comply with giving licenses to all our leaders and all our personal body guards, we cannot disarm, the war will continue, but it will not be for our pleasure or for our foolishness, it will be for the breach of the offers that right now they are guaranteeing us. But they are of language, just spoken words, and we are up to the mother with their words because they will never fulfill them, no sir.
I am giving you my word and I do, I assure you that Hipolito is already going to.... Look, we already brought 30 Auto-Defensa Groups from Veracruz, Sonora and where I else I do not know, those from here in the Apatzingan prison we are going to release in a few days.
That's what he said on April 14th 2014... I obviously never believed him, much less disarmed ourselves.
"Do not lie to us, if you are really going to comply, just do it", I said to the Commissioner. We take care not to take our weapons, we keep them to ourselves. We have always had them, we keep them to survive in the region in which we live, not to kill people. We are farmers, we are hunters. We have no need to go armed. Only when you fulfill what you say will we retire.
Very well, I just want to tell all the leaders to register their weapons and those of their body guards in order to give them licenses to carry them, transport them and take them to where they have to move to from their places of origin, for their personal security.
Okay I said, a General through a friend has donated me .308 rifle. I will tell him that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, when I go to register that weapon, I would like a ballistic test done, so that I know that they didn't already murder someone with the weapon and try and pin that on me.
Before this comment, the Federal Commissioner told the commanding General of the 43rd Military Zone, who was sitting next to me:
How do you see this matter?
"The same thing you are saying to us", the General replied, "tell the person who is going to register your weapons. Tell him that he already spoke with us, that it is a weapon that has just been given to him, and that you want to know tomorrow if somebody was killed with that weapon."
Perfect!
That was the only thing we talked about just before the agreement of April 14 of 2014.
We were in the presidium the Federal Commissioner that Mr Pena Nieto sent for the restoration of the social and economic order of the State of Michoacan, the General Commander of the 43rd Military Zone, the Federal Commissioner of the State Preventative Police of the region and his assistant. The agreements were those offered by the Federal Commissioner and we all approved them unanimously. The only request of the Auto-Defensas was the immediate release of Mr Hipolito Mora and all the Auto-Defensa prisoners, an efficient public security, a fair administration of justice and the restoration of the rule of law.
By May 10th all the agreements had to be fulfilled, that is: all the leaders in the cartel in the State of Michoacan should be detained ( it was not fulfilled); all the Auto-Defensas Groups to be freed, including Mr Hipolito Mora (it was not fulfilled); the leaders of the social movement had to have licenses, documents and credentials for the carrying of arms for our self-defense, for our personal defense (it was not fulfilled); all the Auto-Defensa comrades who were to be integrated as State Police and as Rural Defense of Sedena must be armed and authorized. But by the agreed date there were only 750 registered of the more than 25,000 Auto-Defensa Group members that were operating for the liberation of Michoacan from organized crime and to have the social peace that we so desired.
False accusations
Later there were deadly attacks provoked by the puppets infiltrated in the Auto-Defensas, in which they wanted to involve the legitimate members of the Auto-Defensa Groups. These were the cases of the murders in Chuquiapan and in Chucutitan, in which a Federal Commander named Valerio provoked all these murders and wanted to involve El Platano and Mireles, but it did not work out. El Platano is still detained for crimes he did not commit.
After these events, another meeting was held in the 43rd Military Zone, with the purpose of determining who was responsible in the cases of Chuquiapan and Chucutitan. We were in the presidium with the Federeal Commissioner of the Federal Preventative Police, Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde, and El Pitufo, who at that time was already allied with the Federal Commissioner.
They wanted to involve El Platano, who did not attend the meeting; we only attend the leaders, the social fighters, the leaders of all the municipalities that were already up in arms. But the order was to involve El Platano, although the Auto-Defensa Groups did not accept that involvement. There he said to the face of the Federal Commissioner, called Valerio, that he had done all of the entanglement and cleansing.
After we found out that El Pitufo had armed these people that confronted the Auto-Defensas of El Platano. This made evident that there was a decomposition among some of the leaders of the real Auto-Defensas.
After this I never returned to a meeting with the Federal Commissioner or his puppets. We made a general meeting of all the Auto-Defensa Groups of the State of Michoacan in La Placita and Las Brisas, on the Michoacan Coast, to resolve the differences between us.
This meeting was only Auto-Defensas and Communitarios, to deal with the betrayal of El Pitfuo and others who were in favor of the Federal Commissioner. At that meeting, uniformed Federal Police officers tried to come in, and were asked kindly to leave the assemblies place, since it was an Auto-Defensa meeting only.
These gentlemen left the place in a very disciplined manner, there were no negative comments, there was no booing, or high spirited words; they were treated with all the respect they deserved and they respected our autonomy. They were very grateful for the act of respect towards the self defense groups. Federal gentleman thank you very much.
Otis: for further reading, click on the book link on the right hand side of the main page.
Subject Matter: Mexican Government, Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required
Reporter: Proceso Redaction
Towards the first decade of the 21st Century, organized crime expanded its crime spectrum in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacan. Not only did it keep the region ravaged by the violence associated with drug trafficking, but with extortion's, kidnappings and rape.... Unprotected by the authorities, and fed up with the wave of death and abuse, several Michoacan communities took up arms to face the executioners. A central figure in that movement, Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde tell the details of it in his book, Todos Somos Autodefensas. The awakening of a sleepy town, which also tells how the Federal Government betrayed its commitments to the Auto-defensas, to the point of even imprisoning the community. We print a fragment from the book, with the authorization of Grijalbo.
On April the 14th of 2013, the disarming of the Auto-Defensa Groups was planned and organized for May 10th, by an agreement that took place in the space now occupied by the Ceferso # 17 Tierra Caliente. During the meeting, I told Federal Commissioner, (Alfredo Castillo Cervantes): How is it possible that you are planning disarmament for May 10th if we still have Auto-Defensa prisoners, if the rule of law in Michoacan is still not restored, if we still do not have a fair distribution of justice in the state of Michoacan, if we still do not have efficient public security in Michoacan?
"By May 10th, I will have it resolved", was his response. All your imprisoned Auto-Defensas will be released; all the leaders of the cartel and their people, their Sicarios will be arrested. You are going to have a fair dispensation of justice; you are going to have efficient public security, because you are going to be public security, you yourselves are going to be backed up in large areas from the Armed Forces of the nation and the State. On one side, you are going to be forming part of the State Rural Police, on the other side they will form part of the Defensas Rurales of Sedena.
Listen Commissioner, we have had one and a half years fighting and to date we have 36 regions of the state of Michoacan clean but we still have 6 or 7 more, important areas of the state to clean....
Its all solved, you do not have to worry anymore, I have already identified the places where all the leaders of organized crime are hiding, now we need to stop. Its a matter of two or three days.
But I insisted, and he said:
In addition, I have to try to give you, all of you, your Federal licenses so that you and your bodyguards always go armed for your self defence because after the disarmament you will be the most persecuted, and they will try to execute you one by one. That is why I have to give you Federal licenses, so you can go armed all over the country and with good bodyguards. How many body guards do you need?
I only need four
I will authorize you twenty.
If you authorize me twenty armed people for my personal security, with that small army I make a revolution if it does not fulfill what is being offered.
Don't worry, just support me today with the agreements that are being made.
"Look Mr Commissioner, you are the one offering things, I am not asking anything of you, no Auto-Defensas are asking for anything. You have just offered that you are going to release all of my arrested comrades, starting with our brother Hipolito Mora. If by May 10th you have not released Hipolito Mora and all the other Auto-Defensas, we can not surrender our weapons, because you put the date, not the Auto-Defensas. If by May 10th you have not arrested La Tuta, El Chayo and Plancarte and all of his people, the Auto-Defensas will not disarm.
If you have not restored the rule of Law in Michoacan on May 10th, we will not disarm. If you have not created or have not provided a team or trained personnel that provides us with an efficient public security, we will not disarm, because right now the only efficient public security in all of the municipalities that we have cleaned is us, and now those municipalities are enjoying peace and tranquility.
If they do not comply with giving licenses to all our leaders and all our personal body guards, we cannot disarm, the war will continue, but it will not be for our pleasure or for our foolishness, it will be for the breach of the offers that right now they are guaranteeing us. But they are of language, just spoken words, and we are up to the mother with their words because they will never fulfill them, no sir.
I am giving you my word and I do, I assure you that Hipolito is already going to.... Look, we already brought 30 Auto-Defensa Groups from Veracruz, Sonora and where I else I do not know, those from here in the Apatzingan prison we are going to release in a few days.
That's what he said on April 14th 2014... I obviously never believed him, much less disarmed ourselves.
"Do not lie to us, if you are really going to comply, just do it", I said to the Commissioner. We take care not to take our weapons, we keep them to ourselves. We have always had them, we keep them to survive in the region in which we live, not to kill people. We are farmers, we are hunters. We have no need to go armed. Only when you fulfill what you say will we retire.
Very well, I just want to tell all the leaders to register their weapons and those of their body guards in order to give them licenses to carry them, transport them and take them to where they have to move to from their places of origin, for their personal security.
Okay I said, a General through a friend has donated me .308 rifle. I will tell him that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, when I go to register that weapon, I would like a ballistic test done, so that I know that they didn't already murder someone with the weapon and try and pin that on me.
Before this comment, the Federal Commissioner told the commanding General of the 43rd Military Zone, who was sitting next to me:
How do you see this matter?
"The same thing you are saying to us", the General replied, "tell the person who is going to register your weapons. Tell him that he already spoke with us, that it is a weapon that has just been given to him, and that you want to know tomorrow if somebody was killed with that weapon."
Perfect!
That was the only thing we talked about just before the agreement of April 14 of 2014.
We were in the presidium the Federal Commissioner that Mr Pena Nieto sent for the restoration of the social and economic order of the State of Michoacan, the General Commander of the 43rd Military Zone, the Federal Commissioner of the State Preventative Police of the region and his assistant. The agreements were those offered by the Federal Commissioner and we all approved them unanimously. The only request of the Auto-Defensas was the immediate release of Mr Hipolito Mora and all the Auto-Defensa prisoners, an efficient public security, a fair administration of justice and the restoration of the rule of law.
By May 10th all the agreements had to be fulfilled, that is: all the leaders in the cartel in the State of Michoacan should be detained ( it was not fulfilled); all the Auto-Defensas Groups to be freed, including Mr Hipolito Mora (it was not fulfilled); the leaders of the social movement had to have licenses, documents and credentials for the carrying of arms for our self-defense, for our personal defense (it was not fulfilled); all the Auto-Defensa comrades who were to be integrated as State Police and as Rural Defense of Sedena must be armed and authorized. But by the agreed date there were only 750 registered of the more than 25,000 Auto-Defensa Group members that were operating for the liberation of Michoacan from organized crime and to have the social peace that we so desired.
False accusations
Later there were deadly attacks provoked by the puppets infiltrated in the Auto-Defensas, in which they wanted to involve the legitimate members of the Auto-Defensa Groups. These were the cases of the murders in Chuquiapan and in Chucutitan, in which a Federal Commander named Valerio provoked all these murders and wanted to involve El Platano and Mireles, but it did not work out. El Platano is still detained for crimes he did not commit.
After these events, another meeting was held in the 43rd Military Zone, with the purpose of determining who was responsible in the cases of Chuquiapan and Chucutitan. We were in the presidium with the Federeal Commissioner of the Federal Preventative Police, Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde, and El Pitufo, who at that time was already allied with the Federal Commissioner.
They wanted to involve El Platano, who did not attend the meeting; we only attend the leaders, the social fighters, the leaders of all the municipalities that were already up in arms. But the order was to involve El Platano, although the Auto-Defensa Groups did not accept that involvement. There he said to the face of the Federal Commissioner, called Valerio, that he had done all of the entanglement and cleansing.
After we found out that El Pitufo had armed these people that confronted the Auto-Defensas of El Platano. This made evident that there was a decomposition among some of the leaders of the real Auto-Defensas.
After this I never returned to a meeting with the Federal Commissioner or his puppets. We made a general meeting of all the Auto-Defensa Groups of the State of Michoacan in La Placita and Las Brisas, on the Michoacan Coast, to resolve the differences between us.
This meeting was only Auto-Defensas and Communitarios, to deal with the betrayal of El Pitfuo and others who were in favor of the Federal Commissioner. At that meeting, uniformed Federal Police officers tried to come in, and were asked kindly to leave the assemblies place, since it was an Auto-Defensa meeting only.
These gentlemen left the place in a very disciplined manner, there were no negative comments, there was no booing, or high spirited words; they were treated with all the respect they deserved and they respected our autonomy. They were very grateful for the act of respect towards the self defense groups. Federal gentleman thank you very much.
Otis: for further reading, click on the book link on the right hand side of the main page.