Article By: Iván Sanchez | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat
Their participation
began with the preparation of food for the members of the guards, then they
took up arms to reinforce security— they are the women of the United Communities.
On the 6th
Anniversary of the United Communities of the municipality of Los Reyes, Michoacán,
Revolución 3.0 Michoacán had the
opportunity to talk with Alfa, a member of the guard of the community of
Cherato.
Alfa, is the code name that
she receives within the community guard, which was integrated from the threat
of organized crime after they seized the avocado orchards of the community.
She is one of the women
that makes up part of the group, which is made up of inhabitants from the
municipality, which decided to take up arms after being tired of the violence
and insecurity.
“Roberto Serrano
Cervantes, who was in charge of the order at that time, called a meeting to
prevent the entry of organized crime,” so they joined forces between the four
communities, 18 de Marzo, Orúscato, Cheratillo, and Cherato.
They started doing
marches to the municipal seat of Los Reyes, of which people of all ages
joined. The men organized themselves in
groups to act as guards, “the number 17 was the strongest group, it was the
group that faced the most serious threats.”
The women on the other
had were responsible for preparing food for the guards.
Subsequently, the
Community Council was formed, in which Alfa, among other women, had the task of
obtaining food and to spread the situation on what the communities were going
through.
Months later, the
disappearance of the person in charge of the order caused moments of great
tension among the inhabitants, she says, so they had to reinforce security even
more.
Shortly after, the
federal government sent a commission which called for the inhabitants to create
the Rural Police, gave them uniforms and a salary.
The communities already
showed some exhaustion from forming guards, but the offer of a salary to
continue with the care of the community motivated the women to join the guards,
so Alfa joined the Rural Police, however, due to different situations of
disagreement between the council and the federal government, the communities
decided to return to the community guards, Alfa continued in them.
Despite the questioning
of her family for participating in the surveillance patrols, Alfa is convinced
that it is necessary to do so for the future well-being of the children of the
United Communities.
Like her, other women
continue in the surveillance patrols of their communities.
Source: Michoacán 3.0
Esas son las mujeres cuatro por cuatro. - Sol Prendido
ReplyDeleteAre y'all stupid or what look at Colombia las farc was started as a auto defensa group
DeleteExactly. Whether they start out as cartel-related or not, eventually these groups are corrupted by money and power.
DeleteDon’t sweat it, Otis said not to worry, so that means it’s true
DeleteExcellent patrolling of thier town. Article did not say what rules. The government wanted, but good they choose to be independent. Now keep those rat infected Cartels out.
ReplyDeleteThis autodefensa has a few too many shiny new toys. Remember when Mireles and Mora first started the autodefensa movement? Those groups had the backing of avocado planters and they still came out with old Chinese Ak-47 knockoffs and white t-shirts for uniforms. Compare the photos of the original autodefensas (even after they had captured tons of territory from CT) to this "autodefensa". It makes no sense; this autodefensa from a podunk little town suddenly has the resources to outfit a force with new guns, new body armor, new tactical boots? Paying for the boots alone would mean a normal subsistence-level family would have to go without food for a week.
DeleteIn order of likelihood; here are the probable sources of the weapons...
Delete-Don Gera of Cartel de Colima, who has been fighting Americano/CJNG in Beunavista
-CJNG, for obvious reasons
-El Tena (ex CT) who has also been fighting CJNG in the area
-and finally, they actually captured ALL of this (and to be independent of cartel influence they must have captured ALL of the gear) from dead/arrested sicarios
She will not last. It will be a couple articles from now and they will have found her body somewhere
ReplyDeleteI have a question. Why is michoacan the only place where they stand up to organized crime when the whole country of Mexico is under siege by the cartels? Onother place is guerrero too but that's about it, other than an article I read last week of jalisco starting up their autodefenzas. Michoacan has been at it for a long time now and have succeeded in places like cheran, and uruapan area where its the capital of the avocados. These guys are some tough people, no joke.. other mexican states need to the the same.
ReplyDeleteYou inadvertently answered your own question; it’s the avocados. The autodefensas de Michoacán were allowed to exist because a group of wealthy avocado planters got behind them. Michoacán depended on the avocado sales to stay afloat. Once FM and CT started taxing the living shit out of avocados, the wealthy planters back-channeled with municipal and state government and the autodefensas were allowed to do the government’s job for them.
Delete@ 3:42pm....and simply put because the paisanos from Michoacan have balls! My respects to the women from Michoacan. Great cooks and when it comes time to defend their family,forget about it!....I'm from Michoacan, just call it how I see it.
Delete3:42 cheran is in indigenous town that doesn't grow avocados but yet managed to have no government intervention in their town after they raised guns.. The sinaloa cartel is known to extort the Indians from chihuahua but I don't understand why they don't arm themselves and do the same. I agree that other states need to jump on the bandwagon like 12:16 wrote
DeleteThere are many reasons behind it, some people are afraid and cant trust the government for backup, some communities just dont have the financial capabilities,Michoacan has a rich avocado economy, other places usually where the indigenous people live just dont have any way to finance their cause, cant buy weapons cant even buy food and dont want to rob or commit any crimes to finance their cause because that makes them like the people theyre trying to get rid of. Michoacans avocados are sold worldwide,the templarios extortion on avocados affected the prices, they went way up everywhere there was even a shortage so you know the support to rid the templarios came flooding in from everywhere, bussinessmen who where losing money, government that felt pressured to support and from cartels that saw it as an opportunity to take over. Thats part of modern warfare, when you fuck with someones income youre getting fucked, what happened when al qaeda and the taliban took over the oil fields? They got bombed by every nation that depends on that oil, NATO. Same concept applied here. Now in other states like Sinaloa and some pueblitos in Jalisco and Durango, the poor people support these guys (also the dumb fucks that glorify them just because they think sicarios are cool) for the poor in some areas these guys are robin hood theyre the ones that take care of them the ones that protect them feed them also build schools and churches for them despite the violence they cause everywhere else.
DeleteMichoacan are just a different breed, they are some tough hombres
DeleteHope they keep the federal government out! They seem to be the biggest problem.
ReplyDeleteVery true
DeleteMoney is the only thing that will keep people striving for it 😔 man when are people going to understand that joining or doing an agreement with a the SYSTEM PERIOD is still going to lead to corruption or cartel infiltration "money always WINS the mind of the weak" main reason why Autodefensas split because of government agreements and cartel infiltration.
ReplyDeleteSome very expensive looking weaponry they have. How did they come by it?
ReplyDeleteNah, they aren’t that expensive. An AR carbine made from military surplus parts can cost less than $450. If you build it yorself it can be even cheaper. It’s Mexico so anybody can get their hands on the right weapon with a decent bribe.
DeleteActually they are probably taken from dead sicarios
Deletethey can also be made, 3d printers are becoming cheap, are able to print lower receivers, lowers can be made of plastic (polymer) and still be effective and super cheap, CJNG is know to build their weapons and also is known to have provided support to some autodefensa groups.... But thats just my opinion
Delete@ Otis
DeleteWhile I agree that the exact scenario you described has occurred numerous times, there's still something fishy about this particular situation. Even if most of the guns came from sicarios, do you also expect me to believe that this autodefensa also confiscated matching body armor, uniforms, and tactical boots? This is a well-funded autodefensa. What were those other well-funded autodefensas? Oh yeah, it was los H3 and the Sierra Santana brothers; and those groups certainly didn't turn out to be funded by a cartel. Except wait, they were.
Next we'll see a photo of this group armed with RPGs and Barretts and Otis will say "But they confiscated them from sicarios guys!!! Nothing to see here, not a possibility that this group could be financed by a cartel."
DeleteJust to give you an idea and spread awareness on how easy and cheap it is to own a rifle, look at these links
Deletehttps://www.polymer80.com/ar-15-lower/g150-lower-receiver-only
http://www.primaryarms.com/anderson-manufacturing-ar-15-stripped-upper-receiver-ar15-a3-upfor-um
https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/category/parts-and-accessories/parts-by-gun-model/ar-15/lower-parts.do
I just provided you with some (not all) of what it takes to legally build an AR15, and the crazy part of it is that unlike the rifles you see in these women, the rifle you woukd build with these links wont have a serial number and cant be traced back to you because its not registered, these parts are delivered to your door no questions asked about a felony or a mental illness, there is no background check at all and its 100% legal. It may not be a top quality rifle but it works its shoots its crazy cheap. You can build it however you want make it look however you want, you can have an AR that looks like a very fine expensive weapon that you might think its only available to the most elite of special forces yet yiu build it in your garage with pocket change. NOW I DONT ENCOURAGE ANYONE TO BUILD ONE IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE WEAPONS AND LAWS REGARDING THESE WEAPONS.
5:41 do you really think these campesinos have a 3D printer?
DeleteNow, an M4/AR-variant generally costs anywhere from $400-$1000 (obviously some are even more expensive). Applying the math from drug trafficking, those values should be doubled the moment the guns cross the border, with the values climbing from that point up to about 4X to 5X the MSRP value by the time they reach the areas furthest from the border. Thus, you are looking at some weapons that probably cost anywhere from $1200 to $3000 APIECE. Now tell me, how is this impovershied community supposed to pay for (based only upon the number of weapons in the photos) $20,000 to $30,000 in armaments?
1:48 you are complicating things a bit. I’m sure in some cases you are correct when it comes to AR’s costing 4 times the MSRP. But like Otis stated above most of these weapons are taken off dead sicarios. There are some who are armed by an opposing and more community friendly cartel to help keep the competition out.
Delete6:09 I am not Otis' mom, but I am sure she was just being sarcastic and you little girls ate it all hook line and sinker obviously...
DeleteThe Mexican Secretary of Defense has its department of military industries and I am sure a few machining ce ters have been stolen from them with machining programs licensed to their exclusive use for a Lotta money, to avoid "illegal exporting" accusations...zedillo and giniral Rafael Macedo de la Concha brother in law of Vicente Fox from his first wife are known weapons traffickers along with the hank rohn brothers, jaime Camil Garza and uranium trafficker Argentinian Carlos Ahumada Kurtz and more, sure, find them.
Those look like US military issued M4s. How on earth do they get such fine rifles? By the looks of these pictures these people have absolutely no bussiness handling a rifle like the M4. Those are very expensive firearms. Amazing, lets hand some US army rifles to some old fat ladies who have never operated a weapon what could possibly go wrong? The one lady is loading her magazine backwards...lol
ReplyDeleteIt’s called “Straw purchasers” 2:00. Thats how weapons like this make it to Mexico. I can name 2 or more websites in the US where you can purchase AK’s, Draco’s, Vepr’s, .223 AR’s, 458 SOCOM AR’s and .308 AR’s for $429 to $650. Obviously there are rules in place on how many rifles one person can purchase legally but not the parts to build them and sale them on the down low.
Delete2:00pm Why do they let clown shoes like you post comments,if you think you can do a better job have at it!or shut your shitter up!!!
DeleteUncle Sam has bills to pay. He'd sell his mother out in a heartbeat.
DeleteThank fast and the furious for such fire arms. ATF and Eric holder who made it happen, now cartels and autodefenzas are armed to the teeth.. I read a story about a town in michoacan that spent 1 million dollars in weapons to have their own police there to keep out cartels and its working. They are avocado growers though, big money there.
Delete@2:00 PM....and you'd be whining for your mommy if they confronted you, cellar dweller.
Delete@6:07PM Fast and Furious "gun walking' operation that ran from 2009 to 2011 was a boondoggle stupid operation that was patterned after the "operation wide receiver" gun walking operation that started in 2006 during the GW Bush admin. with Attorney General Michael Mukasey as the AG. So I think you will have to thank a lot more people than Eric Holder.
DeleteAccording to the records obtained by a Committee of Congress there were about 2000 weapons involved in Fast and Furious gun walking operation at a cost of about 1.5 million dollars. You yourself said that one town in Michoacan spent one million dollars to buy weapons to protect their town. Do you really think the 1.5 million dollars spent for the 2000 weapons in Fast and Furious guns were sufficient to "arm to the teeth" the cartels and auto-defenses all over Mexico. I think you are letting your political beliefs over ride the facts.
7:56 hey DD, you might have a point. I still believe fast and furious had way more guns sold but you know how numbers suddenly change when media is involved.
DeleteWhen they kill or arrest sicarios, they confiscate their weapons.
DeleteObama no and Eric Holder famously did not mess with the Republican appointed people's in charge of the justice department, FBI, CIA, DEA, NSA, ICE, ATF...weapons dealers used the opportunity to make it an even bigger operation...
Delete5:41 out of the 2000 firearms only a certain amount actually made it to Mexico and haven’t accounted for. Stop blaming the US government for the private citizens that are buying and trafficking firearms into Mexico because of greed. The private citizens that are claiming their 2nd amendment right is being infringed upon are the ones profiting from the drug war by trafficking firearms into Mexico not the government. Believe me I know. In West Texas its big money if you have a contact who is willing to pay just about anything for the product they want. Not just Mexican-Americans are involved either. It’s white and black Americans who are in the shadows making thousands of dollars of extra money selling firearms with the sole purpose of the weapons to be smuggled into Mexico. I think it’s quite amusing that right wingers still bring up Fast and Furious like it just happened yesterday.
Delete2:00, At least they know how to hold a firearm check out there index finger. Not like most wannabes that hold it with there finger on the trigger
DeleteBy that you can tell that this lady’s are train military style
Cheers,
From Michoacán
Ohhh shit DD talking common sense.
DeleteFast and Furious always gets played,2000 guns morphed into 20 million guns arming everyone in Mexico
@2:00 WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ? What kind of cretin calls desperate people who do desperate and brave things like trying to protect themselves , their families and their communities “ OLD FAT LADIES “ ?
DeleteDelete yourself !
Pretty soon they will also be a cartel......
ReplyDeleteYe of little faith grasshopper!
DeleteNo I just know what guns and power do to people Tonto.....
DeleteEl Americano did it, Los Viagras did it....
Okay Tonto?
El americano, papa Smurf and los viagras were already dealing drugs but they acted like they didn't. Basicly they infiltrated the autodefenzas but there is real autodefenzas against that cartel that came out the closet.
DeleteRemington, maker of R15 declares bankruptcy, hehe hee!
ReplyDeleteGood news, a chingar su madre...
--Puro pedo, now they will make their wares in North Korea, free labor 24/7 on the Hermit Kingdom...
@3;26 Wrong my friend. Remington filed a bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy act that gives them protection from creditors while they restructure their debt. The will continue to manufacture and sell guns right here in the good old USA even through out the bankruptcy proceedings.
DeleteHey ok, toys R us going out of business, after getting loaded with about 6 billion dollars debt and over 400 million payments by the likes of Bain and co...who paid themselves lavish fees for taking over the company after loading it with debt and disappearing KKR toys with the same moves,
DeleteRemington sold weapons to both sides of every war since the US war for independence right? Some say they are property of the Bush family too
Hopefully, they resist the dark forces that will tempt them with money and power long enough to make change. Once they hit critical mass, the government will look for ways to eliminate them will false arrest, assasination, or bribes.
ReplyDeletelider informativo is with cartel del noreste
ReplyDeleteIt is all about the Mother, the Father's first and perfect creature. The Mother of everything and Her first born, Jesus. Men are creatures made to help Her. Where are you hombres? Is that all there is left in Mexico, just stinking macho assholes that scare the children? God, bless this woman and her courageous friends.
ReplyDeletewish there was a way to sent em some money!
ReplyDeleteValor where have you been?Welcome back!
ReplyDelete6:55 taba en El bote, canadiana,
DeleteLos violadores no me dejaban salir.
Valor
Viva Michoacan arrba con autodefensas. Cartels no valen.
ReplyDeleteSi wey para que luego acaben como el americano jefe de plaza para un cartel . Todo tiene que ver con el dinero y a los carteles les sobra alli es donde esta el problema
Delete5:56 no güey, AutoDefensas is the only option sure to burn corrupt as all the time, as soon as they become corrupt.
DeleteThey should be the first line at the front
and never give it up, they can be supported with half of the moneys the corrupt government steal every day and work at recovering everything that has been stolen since the mexican revolution was hijacked all over again by murdering Don Francisco I Madero, by Victoriano "La Cucaracha" Huerta and US ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, the bitter truth...
Most of the time I don’t continually read Borderlandbeat because it is so irritating to listen to most of the comments, some of you put in your remarks and think you know all about how it works just because you read articles on here which is just a small portion of what is really happening. Uruapan is just about more fucked up now than it has ever been before! Huge amounts of extortion, kid knapping and local drug sales to younger generations! Cherán seems to be working pretty well because it is completely self governed and they don’t let outsiders even come in a lot of the time. Me 2:00pm
ReplyDeleteYou really sound like a genius because you know the name of a rifle? I bet you don’t have any kids because if you did and where threatened by some narcos and worried every single day about never seeing your child again then you would do anything possible to try and protect them from disappearing! Most of the time they get these guns from opposition cartels because that cartel knows it will only benefit them to push them out of town so they can take over that plaza, in the long run it helps them get rid of their competition. I believe in the picture the reason the lady has the cartridge up side down is because when you show up to help out the situation with your big mouth, then she can push it up right up your fucking asshole because she will know your only full of shit! If you don’t have any clue as to what your really talking about than better is you just keep your two cents to yourself you ignorant fucks!
Michoacan is worse now than ever before and the only reason the government gets involved is because they don’t want to have a massive uprising of self defense groups all across Mexico because they will end up having another civil war which Mexico is long over due for.
Gracias Borberlandbeat!!!
Gringo Loco!!!
Cuídate!!!
Where do you live gringo loco? Michoacan? I doubt it, your just like us that read the news but really don't have a clue.
DeleteOtis . Don't know if you have seen this one or not . It should get some debate going.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/afghan-war-vet-deported-to-mexico-and-left-homeless-and-penniless-his-chicago-family-says/ar-BBKJnqv?ocid=spartandhp
Let's Mexico take care of this ILLEGAL immigrant.
DeleteWe, in USA, don't need more of them !
THANK You for reading !
He's getting deported because he never bothered to file citizenship papers and then got caught trying to sell a cop a kilo of cocaine. He was also booted out for drug use, he made the decision that drug use was more important than his buddies.
DeleteI pity him for the bad choices he made, but I don't pity him for the punishment he received for those choices. He lucked out by only have to serve half of the 15 years.
@5:36AM He wasn't an illegal, he had a green card. You don't help the conversation by refusing to even read the first sentence of the article.
KB
You are correct KB
DeleteBad choices were made by him and him alone!
This cry for help has been aired on few news outlets. Mostly Spanish news channels looking for pity / ongoing immigrant deportations practices within the country.
Goes to show actions have consequences
E42
To the wierdo complain about the weapons, the magazines the lady is holding. You sit behind the computer and putter away nonsense. People are dying everyday from all kinds of violence, and the last thing we need is a moron.
ReplyDeleteI live in San Fransisco, Centro de Uruapan, Michoacan. Please feel free to send me a email next time you come down and let’s take a ride down to Los Reyes and visit. I’ll even show you Old San Juan on the way they have a really neat Church that was covered by lava when the volcano erupted the whole town was relocated around 1946! Point being Michoacan is extremely beautiful and it’s a real shame!
ReplyDeleteI think it might be best if you just only go and buy your avocados at Costco instead!
Don’t let it grow together!!!
Gringo Loco
Cuídate
For some weird reason I always envision you as looking like that Joe T Hodo character. That guys a quack. He’s funny as shit. I also get the impression you have a lot of patience. Up until some nitwit comes along to rattle yo cage. Lol. - Sol Prendido
DeleteYou living in Uruapan for business or pleasure?
Delete"They tore out the flower, however the roots are sprouting among us." The increasing formation of community groups in Mexico is reminiscent of the initial collective efforts by the compesinos of El Salvador. The resulting coordination of farmers, students, teachers, trade unionists and laborers resulted ultimately in the formation of the F.M.L.N.. And some of the most courageous soldiers were women. In El Salvador the female soldiers were not confined to domestic duties, tasks and roles. The female soldiers linked to the Salvadoran insurgency were known as skillful snipers and excellent battlefield tacticians. However today there are a number of glaring differences between the War of El Salvador and the current Mexican War. Today we have social media to inform us of the atrocious violations of human rights that are a daily occurrence in Mexico and throughout Latin America. Also, modern day weaponry and ammunition are far more lethal than any time in history. And lastly, the opposition forces that the poor and the workers of Mexico have to confront are far more institutionalized and entrenched. Specifically, there exist multiple battle fronts. Geographically, the farther you live from Distrito Federal there exists the well-documented merging of military, law enforcement and cartel instrumentality. In other words, any viable insurgency in Mexico is facing an enemy that is probably insurmountable; primarily due to corruption and malfeasance. The near future for Mexico may be as follows. Since international currency traders are using the Peso as a hedge currency, they will continue to profit from its receding value. Organized crime related to fuel theft will obviously continue. The distribution of narcotics proceeds will also be unabated. And political corruption at a level unseen in the history of human civilization will grow exponentially. Virtually all of these seemingly insurmountable conditions, exacerbated primarily by American foreign policy, will result in a failed currency. Obviously there will be numerous international banking attempts to re-structure debt and bolster the Peso. And finally the USA awarding 40 million Mexican citizens with Refugee status to flee the failed Mexican regime.
ReplyDelete11:52 maaan, you should apply for the position of El Ora-culo de Nostradamus with your pregnostications.
Delete--You made me fall asleep faster than fentanyyl laced heroin, (i'my lucky I came back)5 times while reading your crap.
--but thanks for trying, I know you can only do better now...
I wish them all the best in their fight to secure their Towns from criminals.
ReplyDeleteShe is done. Her family too. To many times.
ReplyDeleteGoogle mujeres guerrilleras de El Salvador images, and then you can google the world's Guerrilleras, images...
DeleteFunny how young women and males that don't have 5 pesos to buy tortillas get expensive weapons and cammo uniforms to wear and fight other people's wars for profit, conquest, or provocation.