Borderland Beat |  |
- In the Villa Purificacion confrontation there were 43 dead civilians not 8
- Shootouts in Aquila Leave 6 Dead, 4 Wounded
- Imprisoned autodefensa leader, Dr. Mireles confined to wheel chair, denied visitors
- Tijuana: Brother of 'El Melvin' Gutierrez executed
- Ostula Attacked: Autodefensa Leader Ambushed
| In the Villa Purificacion confrontation there were 43 dead civilians not 8 Posted: 28 May 2015 05:22 AM PDT Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Proceso Special Report [ Subject Matter: Civilian deaths at Villa Purificacion during Government on CJNG fighting. Recommendation: Read Lucio R post on the operation see link]
Villa Purificacion, Ecuanduero, Apatzingan.... catalogued by the Federal Government and State as " confrontations" with organized criminals, massacres like those recently perpetrated in the locations of Jalisco and Michoacan, have similarities: dark and distorted information on the part of the Forces or implicated authorities, more grave use of excessive force every time, typified by crimes against humanity, and systematic impunity. In that respect to Villa Purificacion, Jalisco, a Proceso investigation into the unofficial civilian death toll at 43, double those reported by Government Officials. In all cases the question is the same: were they combatants or executed? Today, Military troops fly over the area and patrol the streets, roads and breaches, also planting road blocks. The uniformed officers of the Fuerza Unica Rural (FUR) replaced the Municipal Police who were detained for alleged links with narco traffickers, who were then liberated on masse, one week later. Angered by the arrogance of the soldiers and officers of the FUR, traders closed the doors of businesses and homes. A Helicopter from the PGR manoeuvres in the air, sets down to pick up a suspect who has been arrested, wounded or deceased, then rise again into the air. The habitants of this village, almost planted in paradise for five centuries, they now live in anxiety, they have fear of other confrontations similar to Friday the 1st of May, when Sicarios of CJNG brought down an Army Cougar helicopter. 20 days after the confrontation, on the corner of City Hall, in the shade of a few trees in the main plaza, next to the Parish, a dozen people stand together. They are relatives of the dead and missing from Friday the 1st. Some come from far Jalisco Municipalities; others are from neighboring villages. It took them days to arrive. Then after hours of fruitless waiting, they decided to return and for no reason gave them authority over the 43 bodies to the experts of the Forensic Medical Services (Semefo), which were then taken to the Jalisco institute of Forensic Sciences (IJCF) of Guadalajara. They will be watching the results of Amparo 666/2015 filed by Lawyer Javier Diaz, promoted in the Fifth District Court of Criminal Matters to proceed with identification of the bodies, they say. Without doubt, the Institute assures that it can only do the identifications once they have received authorisation from SEIDO. For now they cannot even deliver the DNA results to find out the names of the dead. Original article in Spanish at Proceso  | ||||
| Shootouts in Aquila Leave 6 Dead, 4 Wounded Posted: 27 May 2015 08:37 PM PDT  By: Záyin Dáleth Villavicencio | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat Shootouts between the autodefensas of the Michoacán coast and armed gunmen, suspected of being members of the Caballeros Templarios, have left a total of six dead and four wounded, including two in serious condition. It was announced to Michoacán 3.0 that four of the dead belonged to members of organized crime while the other two were members of the autodefensas, as well as the four wounded. The shootouts occurred on Monday after the ambush that the autodefensas received along the coastal road known as "200", where the attack was aimed at the autodefensa leader, Semeí Verdía Zepeda. Members of the autodefensa movement have been carrying out various operations on the mountains to find the whereabouts of those responsible. This led to a series of confrontations that occurred in the mountain area in the community of Ostula, municipality of Aquila. "Members of the Mexican Army are on highway 200, but do not want to get in the fray, we need them to send in reinforcements and to support the community," the autodefensas reported to Michoacán 3.0. Source: Michoacán 3.0  | ||||
| Imprisoned autodefensa leader, Dr. Mireles confined to wheel chair, denied visitors Posted: 27 May 2015 07:42 PM PDT Lucio R. Borderland Beat  In the video, Axel Dames complains the courts should legally proceed for the immediate release of Dr. Mireles, because required urgent medical attention has not been provided, and is the being obligation of the State to guarantee the safety of their prisoners. Court rulings have been favorable to Mireles, but have acted dilatory in proceeding with other court procedures needed for his release. Aside from being denied proper medical care, in a letter cited by the website ''Sin Embargo", Mireles  "Magistrate of the first Unitary Tribunal of the 10th Circuit". Hereby I ask you for assistance to assure I am allowed visits and that my rights are respected, rights that every prisoner has. For 10 ½ months they have completely denied visits by anyone attempting to see me, including those who are assisting in the issues of my captivity (…)." Only his attorney has been allowed access to Dr. Mireles, no one on his list of visitors have been granted a visit. Including his advocates such as general José Francisco Gallardo or el padre Alejandro Solalinde, Dr. Mireles did not complete his rehabilitation for injuries he suffered in a plane crash. He left Mexico City to return to Michoacán because of the takeover of the autodefensa union by Estanislao Beltrán, who unilaterally, without benefit of a vote, ousted Dr. Mireles and took over as the AD spokesman. Beltran began working closely with Alfredo Castillo to oust Dr Mireles. Dr. Mireles had given candid interview with the publication El Pais of Spain. The El País interview incensed Alfredo Castillo, the federal appointed security chief in Michoacán, who seized the opportunity while Dr. Mireles was recuperating, to intensify his mission of disbandment of the autodefensa movement and rendering the popular and loved Dr. Mireles powerless. Castillo said in a recent interview that "Manuel Mireles not only wanted to control Mexico, but wanted to control all of Latin America". Castillo's threats did not quiet Dr. Mireles. With respect to dealing with "problems" such as the "genuine autodefensas" especially their leaders, the government has favored imprisonment. Others have been murdered. There is in fact but one original leader remaining free of the "coastal" autodefensas, considered the true self defense group and that is Semeí Verdía. Semei has suffered two assassination attempts on his life including one of this week. In the case of Dr. Mireles, his civil and human rights have not only been trampled upon, his rights have been shredded beginning with the arrest its self. In the arrest, he was blindfolded, hooded, cuffed in back, and flown around in a helicopter for hours. He later said it was terrifying as he thought he might have been shoved into the waters below. Dr. Mireles was taken to Morelia and transferred to the Federal Social Rehabilitation Center No. 11 in Hermosillo, Sonora. In Morelia he was then denied the right to call or meet with his attorney for hours. And denied food necessary for a diabetic diet, and not given his insulin which he injects three times daily. For further humiliation his famous mustache and white hair were shaven clean. But the worst was yet to come; he became ill, the result of improper diet and proper diabetic management. He has spent almost as much time in the hospital as in his cell. Hi Sister Virginia "Vicky" Mireles says his health has deteriorated to the point he may soon require amputation. He began using a wheelchair around the middle of this month when he fell and sustained an injury, some reports say it was a fracture of the spinal column. He is now non-ambulatory. His attorney Javier Livas, reported that the leader and founder of the AD lay in bed for three days before being given medical treatment. "My client is treated as a prisoner of war, as an enemy of the state, in the maximum security prison. We have a person that is a civil hero, one who the government had arrested to remove a problem." Immobility will compromise his circulation and may cause irrecoverable damage to his limbs and possible amputation. In a recent and rare communication, he sent a letter to his friend Jorge Vazquez. In the letter he stated that visitors are being blocked from visiting him. Axel Dames is not a name I have previously heard of in connection to Dr. Mireles.  | ||||
| Tijuana: Brother of 'El Melvin' Gutierrez executed Posted: 27 May 2015 07:29 PM PDT Benjamen Gutierrez Quiroz murdered in Tijuana In a continuation of the violence that is washing the streets of Tijuana with blood and narco mantas, a frenzied war of attrition and blood for blood, the brother of 'El Melvin' was murdered Saturday night in Tijuana. Melvin Gutierrez was captured just over 2 years ago, in Tijuana, by elements of the Army. He was found in a barren safe-house, with an AR-15, sent immediately to Mexico City, on firearm charges, he has been imprisoned ever since. Melvin is from Barrio Logan, San Diego, which carries a legacy with Tijuana, and the Arellano Felix family.  Barrio Logan is headed towards revitalization, the latest word which describes the gentrification of an area, mostly by wealthy white investors, but one hopes some local community business owners too. New restaurants, condo developments are repainting the area that for so long has been symbolic of gang violence, and desperate poverty.  It was different in the 90's, when Melvin began his career in the CAF. It was different when Spooky and Puma, and others trained in Tijuana under Ramon Arellano Felix, and Russian mercenaries in safe-houses, eventually killing a cardinal in 1993, at the Guadalajara airport, while Chapo Guzman escaped unharmed. It was a lifetime ago. 
Melvin began his career in similar ways, eventually working up to become a confidante of Fernando Sanchez Arellano, and one assumes, his uncles before him. It was said Melvin took over operations from Gustvao Riveria Martinez, a Bontita, San Diego native. However, this was also said about Manuel Ivvanovich Flores, 'El Jimmy', who was arrested in 2009, and released in 2013.  Melvin trafficked across the border, and allegedly conducted enforcement activities for Sanchez Arellano, including working directly with the Azarte Arteaga brothers, to send product, and collect taxes. After Melvin's capture it was said the relationship between the rival groups faltered, as Sanchez Arellano lost a key ally. Less is known about Benjamin, 'El Quecho', only that he was murdered at an OXXO, near his Tijuana home, in Zona Rio, he was driving a truck, and carrying luggage. Reports have indicated he was leaving Tijuana, that night. Of course, he could have been arriving also. Neighbors said they did not know him, and he had not lived there for long. His girlfriend and relatives argued with investigators who took pictures of his body. Police and official statements offer conflicting reports, some say he was continuing his brother's business affairs, and some indicate he worked in a mechanics shop in Colonia Libertad. It seems the fight in Tijuana is just beginning. Sources: AFN Tijuana  | ||||
| Ostula Attacked: Autodefensa Leader Ambushed Posted: 27 May 2015 07:32 PM PDT
By: Heriberto Paredes | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat On the morning of May 25, 2015, the leader of the Community Police of Aquila, Michoacán, Semeí Verdía, along with Juan Manuel Satién Cándido, his bodyguard, were ambushed. The incident occurred on the road from the municipal capital of Santa María Ostula to the federal highway 200, in the area known as Los Otates, next to La Cobanera. At the site, various heavy caliber cartridges were found but no vehicle tracks were able to be found; this confirmed that it was a previously planned ambush and not a spontaneous confrontation. The bodyguard was the only one reported as being injured but not life threatening and is currently out of danger. The community members of Ostula, and the authorities are concerned about the safety of their commander and his bodyguard. They strongly denounce what has happened, especially the current setting that is lived along the coastal region and throughout the state, that is, the elections for the office of governor, the mayor and the renewal of the state congress. It is worth mentioning that the attacks against the Nahua community have not ceased since they've reclaimed their land on June 2009. So far, there have been 32 murders and six forced disappearances at the hands of organized crime, which is linked with the Caballeros Templarios and the local PRI power. This attack marks two assassination attempts against the autodefensa leader, Semeí Verdía, since the recovery of the territory at the hands of the new community police in February 2014.
In addition to this physical aggression, which is already being evaluated by human rights organizations, on Saturday May 23, the president of the Commissariat of Communal Goods was notified of a lawsuit that puts at risk the alleged property, through a front man, the 36 hectares that correspond to the communal lands of Ostula, specifically the adjoin land that is exploited by the mining company Ternium. The documents were received, coincidentally, right at the moment when the first distribution of the land was taking place by the agrarian authorities of the community. After a long measuring process of the land, and after the general assembly (the maximum authority), this important process will take place. Michoacán lives in a setting of the realignment of political power at the state level ahead of the June 7 elections. In this sense, both candidates and political parties like remnants of organized crime, look for any price, creating conditions in order to regain full control of the economy and politics. Isolated incidents, killings of candidates, or mass massacres are not what have been in the news in the previous weeks; everything responds to a capitalist logic in which cartels and political parties are already the same force. In the specific case of the coastal area, the existence of one of the most important iron mines in the world cannot be forgotten, located specifically in the municipality of Aquila, next to the communal lands of Ostula; despite the fact that official, the land of this community is already being permitted to continue mining and to develop an industrial zone that would facilitate the output of iron to other nations and to transport it to other national ports. The organized resistance of the population has prevented these economic projects from being carried out. The greed of businessmen, politicians, and criminals has not ceased, proof of this are the constant attacks that Ostula receives in order to loot the lands. So far, after a long history of community organization, the Nahua population that inhabit these lands have stated that they will not stop fighting and that they are going to defend their territory by any means necessary. Source: SubVersiones  |
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