Templarios

José Trinidad Martínez Pasalagua has been arrested again. The former Michoacan transportation official was initially arrested after a video of him meeting with Templarios' jefe La Tuta surfaced on Youtube. He was shortly released by the courts due to lack of evidence. However, following a continuing investigation, he is back in the slammer. From El Universal...

Martínez Pasalagua is a Templar: PGR

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/in-english/2014/jose-trinidad-martinez-pasalagua-michoacan-servando-martinez-la-tuta-arrest-91907.html

And the hits keep on coming. Juan Carlos Almazan Mendoza, who is identified as a Templario lieutenant, was arrested in Tijuana on Monday. From Borderland Beat...

La Tuta's lieutenant arrested in BC served as police chief in Michoacan

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2014/07/la-tutas-lieutenant-arrested-in-bc.html

Mr. Mireles' supporters here are pathetically inept in making a case for their man. So let's take a look at what prominent Mexican poet and peace activist Javier Sicilia has to say on his behalf. Here's a Borderland Beat translation of an opinion piece from Proceso...

Federal Commissioner Alfredo Castillo, An Anachronism and Horror

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2014/07/federal-commissioner-alfredo-castillo.html

Alex, forgetting about the man (Mireles), what do you see wrong with the message?

That is the only way to explain such things as Hipólito Mora’s liberation, the lack of investigation against former governor [Fausto] Vallejo despite the serious suspicions of his links with The Knights Templars, and against other public figures. That is the only way to explain that, despite all the *military intelligence* resources available to Castillo, La Tuta [head of The Knights Templar cartel] remains at large and Mireles is in jail.

*Oxymoron

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2014/07/federal-commissioner-alfredo-castillo.html

Playaboy wrote:Alex, forgetting about the man (Mireles), what do you see wrong with the message?

What do you see as the message? The vast majority of the vigilantes have agreed to lay down their arms and assist the federal authorities in restoring the rule of law and faith in government in Michoacan. I'm in favor of that.

Today is the six-month anniversary of the OP. There have been 17035 views of the thread and 732 posts on it. Readers are interested in something here or this thread would have died out months ago.

Smartalex wrote:

Playaboy wrote:Alex, forgetting about the man (Mireles), what do you see wrong with the message?

What do you see as the message? The vast majority of the vigilantes have agreed to lay down their arms and assist the federal authorities in restoring the rule of law and faith in government in Michoacan. I'm in favor of that.

The message is about rule of law and faith in government.  

No Michoacano's living today have ever had any faith in their governments, local, state, and federal, and have never lived under the rule of law.  The don't want to restore what was.

The autodefensas members are not suicidal.  They had to comply with the federal governments DEMANDS.   They are willing to fight the local criminals.  They might go after their corrupt local police.  They are not going to take on the Mexican military, yet.

Here is an interesting article about the rule of law in michoacan:

Mexico Drug War-Michoacán: Federal Commissioner Alfredo Castillo, An Anachronism and Horror
Proceso: Javier Sicilia*
Translated by Jorge A. Borrel-Guzman

In The Communicating Vessels of Tradition and the Return of the Sinister (Los vasos comunicantes de la tradición y el retorno de lo siniestro, Sin embargo magazine, July 9th, 2014), Tomás Calvillo makes an important and accurate determination regarding the presence and conduct in Michoacán of federal commissioner Alfredo Castillo:
“More than a figure of the republic, the commissioner resembles a royal visitor [agent] of the colonial period,” specifically “José Gálvez.”
Although he doesn't go into it further, his accuracy is important because it reminds us of the resemblance between the current political rearrangement of the Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI) and a past that relied on exploitation, injustices, and authoritarian power.

Similarly to visitor Gálvez, who was sent in 1767 by King Carlos III to Michoacán to re-establish his authority, commissioner Alfredo Castillo was instructed by Enrique Peña Nieto, in January 2014, to fulfill the same purpose. Just like Gálvez, Castillo also intends to control the rebellions that erupted in that state. While Gálvez tried to control the rebellions derived from the expulsion of Jesuits, Castillo tries to control those derived from the atrocities of organized crime. Just like the royal visitor, Castillo uses jail and summary judgment. Unlike Gálvez–because today it is politically incorrect–, he doesn’t apply the gallows, lashes, or exile. Instead, he applies pressure, intimidation, falsification of evidence, and authoritarianism as a mark of government.

But although Gálvez’ conduct was comprehensible –he lived in the 18th Century, the epoch of absolutist States and the absence of human rights–, Castillo’s conduct is not. His conduct, apart from being anachronistic and contrary to all republicanism, is, consequently, atrocious. During his nearly seven months on duty, he has not been able to re-establish the authority of the republic. On the contrary, he has made an unlawful and perverse use of it. His appointment has resulted in an authoritarian and criminal use of power, or as defined by Tomás Calvillo, sinister.

This word is accurate. It expresses the obscure, the dark, and the atrocious. The most recent evidence of this repeated behavior is the incarceration of José Manuel Mireles. Dr. Mireles, just like Hipólito Mora, was incarcerated, not because of the crimes attributed to him, which, based on the proofs provided by Mireles’ defense, are fabricated, but because of his unwillingness to align himself with such an obscure abstraction that asserts that the legitimate use of force is exclusively exercised by and under the control of the State. For commissioner Castillo, that’s what is important–as he appears to reduce the existence of the State to such an idea–and not the crime per se.

That is the only way to explain such things as Hipólito Mora’s liberation, the lack of investigation against former governor [Fausto] Vallejo despite the serious suspicions of his links with The Knights Templars, and against other public figures. That is the only way to explain that, despite all the military intelligence resources available to Castillo, La Tuta [head of The Knights Templar cartel] remains at large and Mireles is in jail. Mireles’ crime is his refusal to agree with a corrupted State that has failed to re-establish the true rule of law, a failure that he has put in the public spotlight.

We don’t know if the weapons carried by Mireles’ self-defense groups–the only real crime for which he’s being charged–were provided by some drug cartel. Nobody has proved it so far. However, we know that his fight, considering the conditions of violence and corruption of the government of Michoacán, thus far is legitimate and with deep ethical grounds. There is a fine congruence between his words and his actions.

On the contrary, the commissioner, under the cover of the impunity of the State, keeps betraying his word, fabricating crimes against Mireles–weeks before his arrest, Castillo accused him of showing off with the head of a human being–, of imposing, just like a royal visitor in colonial times, an authoritarian order, of violating Michoacán’s sovereignty, and of making policy under the rule of submission or the club. His conduct, as a representative of a government that intends to restore its authority, is disgraceful.

There is no possibility of reaching agreements when political confidence and the ethics on which they should rely are built on defamation, a wrong interpretation of the purpose of the State, and the incarceration and humiliation of the moral leader of the self-defense groups. Because of this, we should ask ourselves if Peña Nieto is, in reality, an authoritarian ruler who, just like Carlos III, sent his agent to serve interests different from security, peace and justice, or if he is a president who, deceived by his government machinery, is being used against the republic. Whichever it is, the conduct of commissioner Castillo raises doubts about the federal government and exalts the figure of Mireles. While Mireles, incarcerated and treated as a criminal, grows as a champion of the rule of law, the government becomes undermined as a simple manager of sinister interests and a transgressor of dignity. Is there any way out?

Of course: replacing the commissioner and releasing Mireles. Castillo said it himself on July 11th before the Mexican Employers’ Association (Coparmex):
“Michoacán doesn't need caudillos [political strongmen]. It needs sound and strong institutions, led by peoples with ideas and thoughts.”
He’s right, but such institutions will not be built without Mireles and without the dismissal of the commissioner who has become something worse than a caudillo; he has become a colonial agent during times that are in need of republicanism and all the civic morality that still remains inside us.
http://mexicovoices.blogspot.mx/2014/07/mexico-drug-war-michoacan-federal.html

I just got back from visiting friends and family in Michoacan and Guanajuato,my friends in Michoacan expressed in no uncertain terms their skepticism of both the leaders and the rank and file of the autodefenses,of course they're even more skeptical of the government and have been for years.

So they are between a rock and a hard place......

Gotta love that Guanajuato. Beautiful city.

CanuckBob wrote:So they are between a rock and a hard place......

Yes they are,my compadre and his three brothers are smart successful small business owners and I respect their opinions on the subject.They did say that the publicity that the autodefenses have generated could possibly be a good thing in the long run.

Well now...is she is or is she ain't his lawyer? The feud between Mr. Mireles' estranged wife, Ana Valencia, and lawyer Talia Vazquez continues. From SDPnoticias...

Talía Vázquez no es abogada de Mireles, señala esposa

http://www.sdpnoticias.com/estados/2014/07/24/talia-vazquez-no-es-abogada-de-mireles-senala-esposa

Yo soy abogada de Mireles, afirma Talía Vázquez

http://www.sdpnoticias.com/estados/2014/07/24/yo-soy-abogada-de-mireles-afirma-talia-vazquez

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sdpnoticias.com%2Festados%2F2014%2F07%2F24%2Ftalia-vazquez-no-es-abogada-de-mireles-senala-esposa

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sdpnoticias.com%2Festados%2F2014%2F07%2F24%2Fyo-soy-abogada-de-mireles-afirma-talia-vazquez

Mr. Mireles' estranged wife, Ana Valencia, gave Radio Formula an interview in order to announce that she will not be giving any more interviews. This is probably a good idea. One of the many interviews she has given of late is so over the top that Ms. Valencia now claims it is a hoax and denies it is her voice in the recording. Apparently, this is the offending interview. It is subtitled in Spanish. Ms. Valencia is heard beginning at 2:20. If this is a hoax...it is a wonderful hoax. If this is real...it is an amazing slice of reality. Once again, the commentaries are well worth the read. From Grillonautas...

instead of the little snippets above i suggest that if you are interested in the latest state of affairs regarding doctor mireles in far more detail,that you check out borderland beat where there is an extensive interview with his LAWYER about the matter and translated to english [not google translate].
hell hath no fury like a woman scorned-eh!

Yes, Alex. Get real. When you want an honest, truthful, unbiased view, always look to what a LAWYER says about her own client.   

if you actually took the trouble to read it,she is the lead in a team of some of mexico's top lawyers who are all working pro bono. in case you don't know what that means- they aren't charging doctor mireles any fees.
if you should happen to ever get thrown in jail here lady,will you insult your lawyers veracity?-SNORK!  

i would suggest that the integration was ineffectual and merely a political move to get rid of the autodefensas who have clearly become an embarrassment to various levels of gummint involved, so there is nothing for the media to write about that.
smurf and mora have become nonentities and la tuta and a lot of his templarios are still at large.

Get real. A lawyer is a lawyer is a lawyer. Her job, paid or unpaid is to defend him. What she says is colored by that.

As for this thread, it has always been dominated by Alex and his point of view. It has drifted the way all threads do, especially one this long lived. Mods have not yet locked it, so it goes on.

so the rejected wife is more credible then the lead lawyer for doctor mireles?
a lot of us reject alex's point of view and that has also been a large part of this thread. repetition does not equate to domination nor veracity. the thread has not drifted except for the odd irrelevant post to the actual topic about the templarios and the fight to free the michoacan people from under their yoke.

I did not say the ex-wife was any more or less credible than the defense lawyer. Actually, the truth usually lies somewhere in between two biased viewpoints.
I have no dog in this fight. If no one was reading or commenting on what Alex posts, this thread would have died off a long time ago. Yet, here we still are.

La Tuta resurfaced in a video being circulated on the Internet. In the video, he complains that some of the Autodefensas leaders still owe his "company" for drugs they bought and never paid for and loans they never repaid. I guess this is La Tuta's idea of character assassination. From Proceso...

Reaparece “La Tuta” y acusa a comunitarios de deber “mucho dinero” a los Templarios

http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=378220

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.proceso.com.mx%2F%3Fp%3D378220

good guess

Must be the season for character assassination. In a letter read by attorney Talia Vazquez, Mr. Mireles called federal commissioner Alfredo Castillo a liar who has betrayed the people of Michoacan and all of Mexico. He went on to exhort the people of Michoacan to refuse to even speak to Mr. Castillo. With military and federal police operations still in progress, and with a massive amount of federal development funds still pending, this may prove to be a tough sell. From Informador...

Mireles pide no entablar más diálogo con Castillo

http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2014/540603/6/mireles-pide-no-entablar-mas-dialogo-con-castillo.htm

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.informador.com.mx%2Fmexico%2F2014%2F540603%2F6%2Fmireles-pide-no-entablar-mas-dialogo-con-castillo.htm

Here's a video of Rodrigo Vallejo, son of former Michoacan governor Fausto Vallejo, meeting with La Tuta. A transcript of the video, in Spanish, indicates they are mostly engaged in small talk, some of it concerning the ex-governor's medical status and who will run the government during his leave of absence for organ transplant surgery in the U.S. From El Imparcial...

Revelan nuevo video de hijo de Vallejo con 'La Tuta'

http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/28072014/868672-Revelan-nuevo-video-de-hijo-de-Vallejo-con-La-Tuta.html

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elimparcial.com%2FEdicionEnLinea%2FNotas%2FNacional%2F28072014%2F868672-Revelan-nuevo-video-de-hijo-de-Vallejo-con-La-Tuta.html

Smartalex wrote:Here's a video of Rodrigo Vallejo, son of former Michoacan governor Fausto Vallejo, meeting with La Tuta. A transcript of the video, in Spanish, indicates they are mostly engaged in small talk, some of it concerning the ex-governor's medical status and who will run the government during his leave of absence for organ transplant surgery in the U.S. From El Imparcial...

Revelan nuevo video de hijo de Vallejo con 'La Tuta'

http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/28072014/868672-Revelan-nuevo-video-de-hijo-de-Vallejo-con-La-Tuta.html

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elimparcial.com%2FEdicionEnLinea%2FNotas%2FNacional%2F28072014%2F868672-Revelan-nuevo-video-de-hijo-de-Vallejo-con-La-Tuta.html

?
Small talk. Hmmm. Just bumped into La Tuta? Jest walking by his front porch and sat down for a visit? Do you think he should have been having any kind of talk with a leader of an Organized crime group? You make it sound like neighbors having tea.

Looks like a bunch of interviews are being released this week, as well as videos and photos with some of the well known actors in Michoacán... Seems like someone took the opportunity to record some insurance.

It will be an interesting week. I wonder what fall=out we will see.