Mexico Authorities Schizophrenic on Self-Defense Groups

[livingston]

Mexico Authorities Schizophrenic on Self-Defense Groups
The presence of armed civilian self-defense groups across Mexico will only cause "anarchy," according to the country's interior minister. His recent comments underscore a lack of coherent public policy on key security issues, as well as the precarious situation faced by citizens exposed to high levels of violence.

"Nothing allows society to arm itself, because that would lead us into anarchy, which is what some [groups] want," stated Interior Minister Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong during a press conference in the southern state of Guerrero.

The state is home to a number of rival self-defense groups as well as some of the highest homicide rates in the country, and it is being contested by dozens of different criminal factions -- a situation the state government admits it is unable to control.

Osorio Chong also urged Mexicans to trust in the country's security forces, including municipal, state and federal police as well as the army, which was dispatched a decade ago as part of Mexico's crackdown on drug trafficking and organized crime.

"So it's clear: The authorities in charge of security are the municipal, state and federal governments," the interior minister said on July 18, according to Mexico's La Jornada newspaper.

SEE ALSO: Mexico's Security Dilemma: Michoacan's Militias

Self-defense groups across Mexico have surged over the last decade, and new ones continue to emerge. In July, a new 200-strong community police force emerged in Guerrero. New civilian defense groups have also recently risen up in the states of Quintana Roo, Guanajuato and Michoacán, among others.

Michoacán was where Mexico's contemporary wave of self-defense groups first emerged. (Volunteer community policing has been a tradition in indigenous communities across southern Mexico for centuries.) Armed civilian groups there helped the government dismantle criminal organizations, but following the defeat of the Knights Templar crime group, President Enrique Peña Nieto's government attempted to co-opt the self-defense movement into a rural police force -- a plan that ultimately failed.

Throughout the country, the line between these community defense groups and the ranks and interests of organized crime have become blurred, with many of them accused of acting as the armed wing or accepting financing from criminal gangs.
Mexico Authorities Schizophrenic on Self-Defense Groups

 

[livingston]

an absence of control around weapons -- all of which are illegal in civilian hands in Mexico -- has allowed these groups to arm up.

"There is no public policy to seize weapons. There are plenty of laws, but they aren't enforced," he told InSight Crime.

The government has long complained about the number of weapons sold in the United States that contribute to violence and arm organized criminal syndicates in Mexico, yet Islas says that authorities need to do more to control the weapons coming through its borders both north and south.

"Our customs authorities are not efficient at confiscating weapons," he said.

 

[Jezman]

They already have violent drug lords tearing there country apart. The government is more corrupted then ours. But allowing people to use deadly force against the deadly will cause anarchy? Glad there interested in there citizens safety.

 

[tirwin1]

Anarchy is what the country currently has.

The interior minister is most likely on the payroll of one or more of the cartels, which is why he is opposed to the self defense groups.

Given the lawless nature of that country and the power of the cartels these self defense groups are the only way regular people can hope for a measure of safety and security. But it is possible for them to become co-opted by the cartels themselves. There is a ton of money in the drug trade and life is cheap in Mexico. I suspect a smart cartel would try to buy them off if they couldn't scare them off initially. Just another cost of doing business.

 

[Mr. terzmo]

They need to build a wall on their northern border to stop gun infiltration.

 

[Deplorable Me]

Build a bulletproof wall. And oil it.

 

[Catskillkid]

They need to build a wall on their northern border to stop gun infiltration.

Hell, both countries should share the costs of building that wall. Keep the drugs from coming north and the guns from coming south. Sounds like a win-win to me.

 

[2Dead]

Not directly mentioned in the quotes but worth noting:

"According to [U.S.] Justice Department figures, 94,000 weapons were recovered from Mexican drug cartels in the five years between 2006 and 2011, of which 64,000 -- 70 percent, according to Jim Moran -- come from the United States."[dead link][19] The percentages pertaining to the origin of weapons confiscated from organized crime and drug cartels may not be accurately reported. Said numbers represent only firearms Mexican authorities asked the US to trace (7,200 firearms) and that the ATF was able to trace (4,000 on file, of which 3,480 from US). US ATF Mexico City Office informed Mexican authorities ATF had eTrace data only on firearms made in or imported into the US and told them not to submit firearms that lacked US maker or US importer marks as required by US law. The guns submitted for tracing were only firearms that appeared to be US origin. The remaining guns were not submitted for tracing, or were not able to be traced. "In fact, the 3,480 guns positively traced to the United States equals less than 12 percent of the total arms seized in Mexico in 2008 and less than 48 percent of all those submitted by the Mexican government to the ATF for tracing. This means that almost 90 percent of the guns seized in Mexico in 2008 were not traced back to the United States." [20]

And:

A significant source of Mexican cartel weapons is legal sales by U.S. gun companies to the Mexican military and police, sales approved by the U.S. State Department which after they arrive in Mexico end up in cartel hands. In 2011 CBS News reported "The Mexican military recently reported nearly 9,000 police weapons "missing."" A 2009 U.S. State Department audit showed 26 percent of guns sold legally to governments in Mexico and Central America were diverted to the wrong hands.[37]

Smuggling of firearms into Mexico - Wikipedia

 

[tirwin1]

Hell, both countries should share the costs of building that wall. Keep the drugs from coming north and the guns from coming south. Sounds like a win-win to me.

The only problem is the govt of Mexico wants the drugs going north and guns coming south. The cartels own half the govt through bribes and the other half through fear.

 

[@thewheels]

Mexicans shouldn't avoid anarchy with the corrupt craptastic government they currently have. They need anarchy at this point.

 

[Catskillkid]

The only problem is the govt of Mexico wants the drugs going north and guns coming south. The cartels own half the govt through bribes and the other half through fear.

Bingo. Mexico doesn't want the wall because it will be bad for business. The drug related business that is.