The Mexican state of Michoacán
is located in Western Mexico, with a population of about 4.6 million. The state
has an extensive coastline on the Pacific, and extends inland to the Tierra
Caliente and up over the Sierras to the capital city, Morelia.
It was in Michoacán
where President Felipe Calderón first militarized the war on drugs. Only days
into his administration, in December of 2006, he sent the army to his
home state. Twelve years
later, the army is still there, and Michoacán remains a hotbed of cartel activity.
From a political
perspective, the governor of Michoacán is a member of the left of center Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Two federal senators belong to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico for the better part of the 20th
century, and is also the party of the sitting president, Enrique Peña Nieto.
The state has not been
a stranger to violence during this election cycle.
In April a Green Party candidate for deputy, Maribel Barajas, was found
beaten to death on a ranch, only ten days after announcing her campaign. The
police claim that she was part of a love triangle, and that the murder was not politically
motivated.
In May, María de Lourdes Torres Díaz,
candidate for the Together We’ll Make History coalition for mayor of Álvaro
Obregón, was kidnapped from her campaign headquarters by two armed men. She was
subsequently rescued by police in Morelia, who killed one of her captors in a
gunfight.
On June 14 Alejandro Chávez Zavala, who was running for re-election as mayor of Taretan as part of a National Action Party (PAN) coalition with the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and Citizens' Movement (MC), was shot to death. State police showed up to investigate, as they were suspicious that the local cops were linked to organized crime. They were probably right, given that the municipal force greeted them with a hail of bullets. The state forces prevailed and the entire local force and the chief – 28 officers in total – were taken into custody. An arrest has since been made in the killing of Chávez Zavala.
On June 14 Alejandro Chávez Zavala, who was running for re-election as mayor of Taretan as part of a National Action Party (PAN) coalition with the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and Citizens' Movement (MC), was shot to death. State police showed up to investigate, as they were suspicious that the local cops were linked to organized crime. They were probably right, given that the municipal force greeted them with a hail of bullets. The state forces prevailed and the entire local force and the chief – 28 officers in total – were taken into custody. An arrest has since been made in the killing of Chávez Zavala.
Michoacán is bordered by the states of
Colima and Jalisco to the west and northwest. This an area that is seeing significant
conflict between warring cartels. In the middle of May this year 15 bodies were
found in a truck with fake insignia of the Mexican Navy at the side of federal
highway 200. The state Attorney General’s office said the men were killed by
gunfire in the municipality of Aquila, with the killings attributed to a
settling of scores between criminal gangs near the border with Colima.
The horrific violence between warring gangs
is one thing, but when the state dares assert itself it can also expect a
strong response. On March 1 an attempt to arrest the Viagras criminal gang’s
plaza chief, Gabino Sierra Santana, triggered over 10 hours of narco-blockades.
Though the arrest attempt in Apatzingán failed, apparently due to the “complex
geography”, Viagras members were so incensed by the effort that they set up 12
roadblocks and hijacked 29 vehicles, setting them on fire.
As well, on May 27 former self-defense leader Juan José Farías Álvarez, known as El Abuelo (The Grandfather), was detained by military personnel in the municipality of Tepalcatepec, Michoacan, for alleged links to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Residents from six communities in the Tierra Caliente, Sierra-Costa and Costa regions had a different view of him: they set up roadblocks and prevented military and police from entering their towns.
As well, on May 27 former self-defense leader Juan José Farías Álvarez, known as El Abuelo (The Grandfather), was detained by military personnel in the municipality of Tepalcatepec, Michoacan, for alleged links to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Residents from six communities in the Tierra Caliente, Sierra-Costa and Costa regions had a different view of him: they set up roadblocks and prevented military and police from entering their towns.
Another cause for concern is the intense pressure being brought to bear on the press in Michoacán. From the late 19th century until the beginning of the drug war in December, 2006, it is estimated that seven journalists were killed in the state. Now, in the past 12 years alone there have been 13 journalists murdered in Michoacán.
Is there any good news in Michoacán? Well,
at the end of February federal officials announced that they had successfully
concluded three highway upgrades and marine terminal construction, representing
a total investment of nearly 2.7 billion pesos (almost US $142 million).
But that’s about it. Meanwhile, at times
the insecurity has been so bad that criminal organizations have extorted from avocado
and lime producers, thus raising the prices in grocery stores in Canada and the
US. They are also engaged in illegal logging, which has even exacerbated the
threat to the habitat of the monarch butterflies.
Where, then, do voters place their X on the
July 1 election for president? Almost certainly not for Ricardo Anaya, who is leading
the cynical coalition of the right-of-center PAN and
the left-of-centre Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). This is not PAN
country, and the PRD, despite being the party of the sitting governor and one
senator, effectively signed its death warrant when it allied itself with the PAN.
The reason it did so was because Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) abandoned the
party to create the National Regeneration Movement, known as Morena, and
without AMLO the party support cratered.
Now AMLO is leading in the national polls.
He should also do well in Michoacán.
As for the PRI candidate, José Antonio
Meade, his patrician qualities won’t have much appeal in Michoacán, nor will
his association with the failed policies of Enrique Peña Nieto. That said, there are large sections of the state
where the PRI has a solid ground game – both for getting out the vote, and for
rigging the results.
Below are the links to the posts for each state:
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