‘The order to kill you has been given’

Posted by DD translated from Milenio

  One hundred farmers who have decided to arm themselves to face insecurity in the municipality.
(Hector Tellez photo) 

  'Mr. President, I have to warn you that they have given the order to kill you at this time of closures' ...
(closure refers to the ceremonies for the end of school courses that in this region are presided
over by the city authorities)   is the warning Ambrosio Soto, mayor of Pungarabato, Guerrero, recieved on his telephone.

It is the first part of a received text message on his cell phone a couple of weeks ago. It is not the
first:: during the campaign for the municipal presidency last June, organized crime demanded that
he drop out of the race. 

Pungarabato is one of 10 municipalities that make up the Tierra Caliente in Guerrero and is the
main commercial center of the region for its boundary with the State of Mexico and Michoacan.

When he took office, last September, his 'welcome' was from the jefe of the plaza of the region
who asked for a million pesos for the honor of serving as mayor and ordered that the jefe approve
of who  was made treasurer and director of works in the municipality.  



'With a threat that size  we could not decide, I could not resist, it was impossible. The senores
(from organized crime)  had control of everything in the region, state, federal police, including
military, 'he said.    'We are already desperate asking the Department of Defense to register their
weapons. Let communities and asked the battalion to go and register or come here to register
weapons. And we will defend, there is no choice.

'In Tierra Caliente will be no other alternative. Maybe it'm pessimistic, but if the federal government does not act and not exterminates this crime that has done so much damage to my town specifically, it will be complicated and we will have to put together, 'he said.

Then the PRD municipal president decided to put his resignation on the table before the national
leadership of his party on the grounds that it could not accept this situation; Soto also filed a
complaint with the Attorney General's Office.

Ten days later, the National Security commissioner, Renato Sales, and the governor of Guerrero,
Hector Astudillo, led the relaunch of the operating Tierra Caliente, which then expanded the
presence of federal forces in the area with 400 elements.  

The mayor in Ciudad Altamirano said there are only two state police cars and a 'few' federal to
care for nearly 30,000 people ... we also removed 30 policement from the last administration who
had failed the trustworthness tests and suspected of ties to organized crime. 

The jefe of the plaza would not accept that and demanded that we keep paying them even though
they were now working for organized crime.

The Federal Police presence calmed things down, the mayor said, but in a 'month and a half the
federal government made the mistake of removing  the police and since there are at least one or
two a week kidnappings, extortions returned'. And yes, last week his driver was executed.

A few days ago, Soto decided to take action on his own: despite having a bodyguard  of the
Federal Police, the mayor nowcarries his gun, which 'almost always loaded'.

But the mayor did not stop there and made the call ranchers of Tierra Caliente, the sector hardest
hit by organized crime in the region, to arm themselves and defend their property with their own
hands.

We are already desperate asking the Department of Defense to register their weapons. Let
communities  go and register or the battalion can come here to register weapons. And we will
defend ourselves, there is no choice.

'In Tierra Caliente will be no other alternative. Maybe i'm pessimistic, but if the federal
government does not act and not exterminate this criminal group that has done so much damage to my
town specifically, it will be complicated but we will have to act together, 'he emphasized.

***
  Currently a hundred farmers in the Tierra Caliente of Guerrero already have ready their shotguns,
rifles and various weapons.

Catalino Mancilla is one of them. He is president of a livestock association in the region and in the last two months has already had a couple of attempted murder at his ranch, located in the town of Cutzamala de Pinzon ..

'It was 6 am, it was still dark. I milked the cow first. I heard an explosion and it was a shot and I got hit in
the back. Fortunately I had no problems, I did not touch any vital organ, that was a work of God, 'he
said to evoke the first assassination attempt a few meters from his home in the Las Borregas
ranch.

This situation reaffirmed the decision of this man, 54, to defend themselves on their own, he says without putting down  his shotgun.

The owners of property are going to arm themselves, because we cannot lose the lives no more
and  put myself in  front of an individual to kill me and take what I've built for years. 

  'We're going to take the initiative because we have no other option than to defend our rights and heritage that we have and that in life what we have done,' he said.  

The farmer leader highlighted the problems that have lived in recent months by organized crime and cattle rustling.

He stressed that in two months he had 150 head of cattle stolen that 'softly' have a value of 10 million pesos.

  The 400 members of this association farmers have no hesitation in joining the call of the mayor. 'We're going to do rondines, to carry our 'armita' that is permitted by law.

However,  the law that you fear more,  currently only has a registration of our weapons , but have not given  a permit to carry weapons.

 'We have the disadvantage that we can not carry any weapon. They say the weapon should it be in the house, then how are we going to defend organized crime? 'He asked. 

  'That rural producers, farmers or those who are working for the nation to move forward, working, give us that power, that permission, not only have the gun in the house, but to carry it, because without that how can we take care of ourselves?..   'He asked.

"Taking advantage does not bring a lot of security, because it can happen several days later than in the warning."  is the second part of the warning to Mayor Soto.  The mayor said. "This is proof that in the Tierra Caliente there is no alternative than to be armed." 

Ambrosio Soto was threatened by crime gangs during last year’s election campaign — when they demanded he retire from the race, after he was elected - See more at: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/the-order-to-kill-you-has-been-given/#sthash.fGarHrt3.dpuf

Faced with threats against his life and in the absence of an adequate police force, the mayor of Pungarabato has taken to carrying. - See more at: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/the-order-to-kill-you-has-been-given/#sthash.H6gMdvva.dpuf