jornada.unam.mx/2014/01/20/opinion/022a1pol POPULAR SELF-DEFENSE The armed uprising of the self-defenders in Michoacán demonstrates yet again that forceful collective actions from civil society are the only way to really move Mexico. Some discredit the new rebels as a supposed creation of Enrique Peña Nieto and his adviser Oscar Naranjo in their urge to reproduce the Colombian model in our country. If this were the case, it has literally backfired on the leaders. The support that the common people have given to the new armed groups demonstrates that they are not simple white guards at the service of power and money. And the profound contradictions that have characterized the reaction of the governmental authorities, both national and international, prove that the situation has taken them completely by surprise. Mexico is not Colombia and here narcotrafficking is not on the side of the guerilla, but of the government. The actions of the self-defenders have shown the complicity of the 3 levels of government and of the 3 principal political parties with the Knights Templar and other organized crime groups. How else to explain the fact that the government just started to act today, although in a feigned manner, against the heads of narcotrafficking in Michoacán. Why did more than 6 years have to pass from the start of Operation United Michoacán for Monte Alejandro Rubido, secretary of security with both Felipe Calderon and Peña Nieto, to announce that the margin of operations of the delinquents is practically reduced to zero? The fluctuations between negotiation, repression, protection, and reprimand of the government towards the self-defenders demonstrates that the uprising has put the regime in check. Miguel Osorio never tires of saying that the carrying of arms meant exclusively for the use of the Army by civilians will be punished with strict adherence to the law. Nevertheless, the authorities simultaneously meet with armed civil leaders like Jose Manuel Mireles and Estanislao Beltran and work hand in hand with them, including facilitating access to high-quality medical attention for both. And this past Friday, barely 2 days after the appointment of Alfredo Castillo, 80 armed members of self-defense groups were accompanied by a contingent of federal police in their taking of the municipality La Huerta. The government, the soldiers are worthless. They just want to disarm all the guys, because they (the soldiers) havent done it, denounces Maria Ibarra Ramirez, member of the self-defense group. They dont want to see us in Buenavista nor in all of Michoacán, she added, and later said that they would not take even one step back, says La Jornada. This attitude, and not the actions of narcotrafficking, is what generates the extreme preoccupation of the government of Barack Obama and his intention to expand his intervention into Mexico. The novelty in Michoacán isnt the lamentable level of violence, nor the unacceptable quantity of deaths in the entity. Throughout the last 6 years weve all witnessed an infinity of scenes more bloody, more chaotic and more violent, that didnt generate the same level of international consternation or increase in commissions and national spokespersons, as the current situation does. What makes the difference today is the surge of positive synergy between civil society and the self-defenders who fertilize the ground for the strength of popular power. There wouldnt exist such an ample distance as some imagine between the new self-defenders and other community groups with a long trajectory in defense of their towns and their lands, like the Purepecha community members of Cheran and the Nahuas of the Sierra of Manatlan. If many leaders of the self-defenders have expressed a questionable confidence towards the corrupt and useless state and federal leaders, both types of movements share the same social base of dignified Mexicans prepared to defend their patrimony and their nation. For example, the recent return of lands that had been expropriated by narcotraffickers to their rightful owners constitutes a very positive signal from the self-defenders to expand their intervention further than exclusively topics of public security. The possibility of a general social uprising in Michoacán, which also could spread to other areas of the country, is real. It is precisely because of this that the Army cowardly assassinated at least 3 people, including an 11 year old girl, in their action of disarmament last week. Its noteworthy that the fallen citizens were not self-defenders, and didnt even carry arms, but were completely peaceful civilians expressing their solidarity with the citizen group. The message is clear: the self-defenders and their leaders will be tolerated only when they dont mobilize or empower the citizenry in general. Its the typical logic of authoritarian power that looks to co-opt the leaders and separate them from their bases. Its very revealing, for example, that an analyst like Eduardo Guerrero, someone close to the state security apparatus, indicates in Reforma that the key strategy for the government should be to channel and contain the excesses of the leadership of the self-defenders. But we, the conscious citizens who want something new and positive to come from the current critical moment, have to bet that precisely the opposite will occur. Instead of making a deal with corrupt power, the dignified rebel voices of Michoacán should reinforce their alliance with the people who have been victimized by the collusion of the political class with the narcotraffickers. They would have to unite with their indigenous brothers in their state, and with indigenous society in the whole country, so that together they can protect the nation and the Constitution from the disproportionate greed of the traitors and oligarchs. Column by John M. Ackerman #YosoyMigrante Pictures taken in Chicago, IL Jan 18 2014
Posted on: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 00:46:50 +0000