Mexico's vigilante "self-defense" groups have been riven by internal
disputes after driving the vicious Knights Templar drug cartel out of
much of the western state of Michoacan.
Officials and residents
said Tuesday the dispute came to a head when hundreds of police and army
troops were sent in to separate two armed factions in the town of La
Ruana on Monday.
The confrontation revived fears that the
government has created a monster by letting the heavily armed group of
an estimated 20,000 vigilantes take over basic law enforcement duties in
the state without knowing who is really behind the movement. Vigilante
leaders say their movement is supported by contributions from farmers,
growers and businessmen. But there are concerns that a rival drug
cartel, personal interests and local feuds may also play a role.
The
vigilantes are now the de-facto authorities in about 15 of the state's
townships, and several top drug cartel leaders have been arrested or
killed.
The Michoacan state public safety department said
authorities "are conducting mediation efforts to defuse the conflict
between self-defense groups." The department identified the leaders of
the two factions as Hipolito Mora, who founded the movement in February
2013 after he and fellow residents wearied of the drug cartel's demands
for protection payments, and Luis Antonio Torres Gonzalez, a vigilante
leader known by the nickname "Simon El Americano."
The two
represent different wings of the movement, which is composed mainly of
farmers, ranchers and farmworkers and seeks to end the Knights Templar's
reign of kidnapping, murder and extortion. The grandfatherly Mora has
become a public face of the movement, with frequent press interviews,
while "El Americano," so-named because he lived in the United States, is
viewed as rougher, less communicative and far more involved in armed
incursions aimed at kicking cartel gunmen out of the state.
Mora
has been accused of abusing his position, holding on to lime orchards
and fields that were seized from the Knights Templar and possibly having
a role in the deaths of two vigilantes found murdered over the weekend.
A recent increase in price for limes - the mainstay of the economy in
Michoacan's semi-tropical lowlands - may have brought the dispute to a
head because lime orchards have become enormously profitable.
Mora
has denied those accusations, saying he returns the land to its
rightful owners when they can show proof of ownership. He also denies
any role in the deaths of the vigilantes, whose bodies were found
Saturday in a burned-out pickup truck. Mora says the rival faction has
allowed former Knights Templar cartel gunmen to join the vigilante
group, a complaint frequently heard in the area. "They will do anything
for money," Mora told local media.
The federal government's envoy
for Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, said Mora had been flown Monday from La
Ruana to Mexico City for meetings with authorities, and more meetings
were planned Tuesday in an effort to iron out differences.
Neither
Mora nor Torres Gonzalez answered phones on Tuesday, but Ramon
Contreras, a town official in La Ruana, where the movement to combat
drug cartel extortion began a year ago, said Mora's vigilantes had grown
arrogant and abused the local population.
"Hipolito is doing
well, but only with the media," Contreras said. "People are saying
'we're more afraid of the self-defense forces than the Knights Templar.'
"
It was a development that many had feared as largely untrained
vigilante forces armed with assault rifles have sprung up so quickly.
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