Borderland Beat
Neither the
federal authorities nor the state authorities dare to report what international intelligence agencies, such as
Stratfor, have reported; of exactly what the inhabitants of
of Jalisco and Michoacan are suffering; that the killings of the last days of
2012 and the beginning of the present year is caused by the conflict over
expanding territories between
the Knights Templar and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, after emerging as the main groups in their native
entities.
Inhabitants
of the region, who feel at mercy of the criminals, report the dispute between Jalisco New Generation Cartel
(CJNG) and the Knights Templar that erupted before Christmas and continued during the first
weeks of January, is due to the conflict over
control of the ‘Jalmich’
territory (the border of Jalisco and
Michoacan).
The clash
between the groups in conflict has caused an increase in extortions of
civilians and the imposition of a parallel government, since the criminal
groups control the movement of the people and charge fees to merchants and
agricultural producers.
The cities of
Jalisco most affected by this war
are; Jilotlán de los Dolores, Pihuamo,
Tecalitlán, Quitupan, Mazamitla, San José de Gracia, Santa María del Oro, La
Barca, Atotonilco, Ayotlán, Tizapán El Alto y Degollado, Tuxcueca, Jocotepec
and Chapala.
In Michoacán,
the conflict has erupted in; Briseñas,
Yurécuaro, Sahuayo, Marcos Castellanos, La Piedad, Zamora, Cotija de La Paz,
Tepalcatepec, Los Reyes, Peribán and even Apatzingán, Tierra Caliente and
hundreds of kilometers of mountain zones.
The residents
of both states point out that the clashes
and the massacres in the zone was due to the advance of the Knight
Templar into Jalisco territory, the bloody reaction of the CJNG and the
incompetence of the authorities of both states to provide security.
“We are
fearful that sooner or later this region will explode into something more because of the
conflict over the territory is because of drug
trafficking, also the location of production zones of marijuana or illegal
substances".
"We don’t really know what is going on but we suppose that all these
factors that are mentioned erupted in the wave of violence that ended the
peace in dozens of towns”, says a 65 year old farmer, who asked to maintain
anonymous.
Government employees know they can’t travel into several municipalities to conduct work,
even though their vehicles display state government license plates, consequently road
infrastructure and assistance for schools have gone incomplete or unaided due
to lack of security and supervision.
The
inhabitants of several municipalities are forced to pay a "war tax" to conduct their employment,
either milkman, butcher or baker. Also those that utilize sand and gravel banks
are charged.
“Sicarios
demand even small business owners (in this case a milk man)
pay the equivalent of three liters of milk for every ten liters they sell; farmers using the
threshing machines are charged 500 pesos for every thresh or 100
pesos for each hectare”, says a witness.
“Employees of
state that give health services or support to communities of
Jilotlan de los Dolores, Jilotlán de los Dolores, Tecalitlán, Quitupan and
adjacent villages, have to enter from the south, travelling the perimeter of
Michoacán territory to evade the criminals.
Citizens have known for years, that the region is out of the control of the Jalisco
government.. Explaining they came to the realization when the attack occurred on rural
police in October of 2010. In Jilotlan, at least 15 officers were
killed, although the authorities only reported nine.
 |
| October 2010 deadly attack on police; official tally was 9 officers killed, in reality it was 15 |
During the
recent wave of violence, Erika Esparza Mora, of 22 years old, was killed. She
was traveling Saturday January 5th in a
Frontier truck with her husband and her two year old daughter through the Guadalajara – Morelia road, in the
municipality of Tuxcueca, when they were attacked by members of the CJNG, who apparently confused
them with rivals of the Michoacán cartel (Knights Templar).
[Below:Maria Santos former Mayor of Tiquicheo-Templarios took responsibility for her killing]
The
aggressors were in a black Avalanche
truck and in a white Mitsubishi. According to witnesses, Erika’s husband
stopped after seeing they were pursuing them, but when he noticed that the
aggressors were armed, he tried to escape. Then the hit men started shooting.
Later, the
criminals realized their mistake and when they saw Esparza was seriously
injured, they told her husband to go. It was known later that the hit men’s Mitsubishi had
overturned and they escaped
aboard a stolen red Tahoe truck.
However, municipal police of Jocotepec managed
to capture them and confiscated two .45 caliber guns, a .9 mm gun and three
AR-15. At the scene of the crime 37 shell casings were found.
The commando
was formed of 10 individuals who said they were members of the CJNG, among them
five minors. They declared that that Saturday, they were patrolling the road to
Morelia and that in Tuxcueca, at the
junction to La Manzanilla, the gray recent model Nissan Frontier and no
license plates caught their attention.
The detainees
that were indicted to a criminal court by the Attorney General of Justice of
Jalisco and later sent to the penitentiary of Puente Grande are: Manuel
González Alonso, El Güero, 24 years old; Javier Ochoa Bautista, El Jaiba, of
30; Manuel Mercado Cruz, of 34; Francisco Ismael Grimaldo Mendoza, of 18; Pedro
Magallón Orozco, also of 18, and five teenagers between 15 and 17 years old.
 |
CJNG Thugs that Killed 22 year old mother Erika Esparza Mora;
the 5 turned away are juveniles, Mexico 'protects' their privacy. |
Sunday 6th,
at 8:45 am, the Rural Police was notified by Secretary of Public Safety of the
State about the discovery of seven corpses in Jilotlan de los Dolores, at the
height of Kilometer 17, over the road that takes to Tepalcatepec, Michoacán and
near the ranch El Terrero.
The victims
exhibited bullet wounds and were blindfolded, and gagged. The state and federal
authorities reinforced the surveillance in the limits of the two states and the
Public Ministry started the corresponding investigations.
At dawn of
the same Sunday, four men were riddled with bullets in a house in Ciudad Del Sol, in
Zapopan. One of the deceased was identified as David Alvarez Ayala, El R-4,
brother of two leaders of the CJNG: Ramon and Rafael, who was captured
September 9th of last year by the military in Napoles Street of Terranova
Development.
In Quitupan,
the state authorities picked up the corpses of three men executed in the square
of Montoso delegation. One of them was about 70 years old; another one was 50
and another one about 25. The three men were taken to Medical Forensic Service
for the autopsy and to try to identify them.
Monday 7th,
the director of Public Safety of San Miguel El Alto, Sara del Refugio Chavez
Rangel, was gunned down by sicarios using AK47s as she was exiting her home with her two bodyguards.
The body guards had no time to repel the attack. Despite the
immediate mobilization of the police, the aggressors managed to escape.
The director sustained 7 bullet rounds resulting in her transfer to a Guadalajara hospital. One of her body guards was also transferred having sustained serious injuries.
Chávez Rangel also had lead police corporations in
Guanajuato and in Ojuelos, Jalisco....continues on net page
