Mexican vigilantes

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/02/09/mexican-vigilante-group-says-it-has-entered-city-controlled-by-knights-templar-cartel/

And now, for the rest of the story...

The Mexican press is abuzz with the revelation that Juan Jose Farias is one of the founders and leaders of the Autodefensas and that he has been negotiating with the government on their behalf. Who is Juan Jose Farias? "El Abuelo," as he is known, is a well-known criminal who has deep ties to the New Generation cartel. Here's a link to one of the news stories.

Spanish:
http://www.sinembargo.mx/08-02-2014/898165

Google translation:
http://translate.google.com.mx/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=es-419&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sinembargo.mx%2F08-02-2014%2F898165

In an interview with Carmen Aristegui, AUS leader Hipolito Mora admitted to Farias' long-term involvement with the Autodefensas.

Spanish:
http://aristeguinoticias.com/1002/mexico/el-abuelo-es-persona-seria-se-unio-a-las-autodefensas-hace-tiempo-hipolito-mora/

Google translation:
http://translate.google.com.mx/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=es-419&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Faristeguinoticias.com%2F1002%2Fmexico%2Fel-abuelo-es-persona-seria-se-unio-a-las-autodefensas-hace-tiempo-hipolito-mora%2F

You're going to need a cast of characters. So I lifted some bios from Redgrillo.com. to bring you up speed.

JUAN JOSE FARIAS ALVAREZ alias "Grandpa" (TEPALCATEPEC) Along with his brother Uriel, organized the coup against the PRI municipal government to take control of the Municipality of Tepalcatepec. This guy's been a drug dealer his entire life, has been arrested and even was imprisoned several years, is lieutenant to Mencho, New Generation Jalisco Cartel leader. This consummate offender is responsible for the production of drugs and also to lead a group of assassins of Jalisco New Generation cartel in the region of Tepalcatepec. He moves through the city with the protection of the people, business and federal police and the Mexican army.

URIEL ALVAREZ FARIAS (TEPALCATEPEC) Brother of "Grandpa" and former PRD mayor. This politician has always been linked to organized crime and, along his brother, orchestrated the movement to seize the town of Tepalcatepec, He is the political representative of Jalisco New Generation and, with Dr. Jose Manuel Mireles, he intends to participate again as a candidate in the next election as mayoral candidate or the local council for the town of Tepalcatepec, sharing nominations with Dr. Mireles.

HIPOLITO MORA ( RUANA ) Compadre of Chango Mendez, drug dealer for 25 years, originally was part of Family Michoacana, but betrays them and joins Knights Templar. then he joined Jalisco New Generation, precisely because of his debts to members of the Knights Templar, and the way he found to not pay his debts was betraying them and switch sides, now wants to be seen as a hero fighting for social causes, when in fact his only intention is personal gain

DR . JOSE MANUEL MIRELES VALVERDE ( TEPALCATEPEC ) PRD leader who has a criminal record as a narcotics trafficker, Mireles was arrested on November 10, 1988 in the community of Agua Nueva, municipality Tepalcatepec , He was convicted of drug crimes and transferred to the prison of Uruapan. The Federal Judicial Police ( PJF ) also found a radio communication network through which he alerted growers of marijuana, which was operated by Dr. Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde, in whose office was found "radio equipment and ten sacks of marijuana," The police report says that Dr. Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde  "engaged to provide technical advice, to provide pumping equipment and supply fertilizer to growers of the region, who repaid his services with a portion of the drug they produced."  On leaving prison in 1992, Mireles left the country. In 2006 he appeared as candidate for Senate, occupying 25th place on the national list submitted by the Coalition for the Good of All. This character is the spokesman for the Community Police in the town of Tepalcatepec and is a political criminal who uses the population for his own personal benefits.

Wait a minute...I'll fix the links.

the links don't work

I think the links are working now.

yup. very interesting.

if you were a government that had to deal with extremely popular civilians that have taken up arms,would it be advantageous to try to discredit them , since prosecuting them would do you more harm than good. hmmmm!

Pedro wrote:if you were a government that had to deal with extremely popular civilians that have taken up arms,would it be advantageous to try to discredit them , since prosecuting them would do you more harm than good. hmmmm!

Very good point. Lets see some mugshots that the government must have of the peopl being accused of crimes.

Here you go...

http://www.cbtelevision.com.mx/noticia/juan-jose-farias-alvarez-alias--el-abuelo----sabes

i always understood a mug shot to be something official front and side. and not a media foto op of a suspect of something.
tell us about the docs"drug" conviction as well, other than this latest spin doctoring[pun intended].

Here you go...

Mireles, paramilitary leader, was imprisoned
for drug trafficking

Excelsior had access to the file where it states that the surgeon was arrested in 1988 for growing and selling marijuana, yet he became a senatorial candidate for the PRD

(Here are some excerpts from the Excelsior news story published on January 17 of this year:)

MEXICO CITY, Jan. 17 -. José Manuel Mireles Valverde, who rose to public fame almost eleven months ago as leader of a group of civilians in Michoacan Tepalcatepec that was put together to defend against kidnappings, extortion and killings by drug traffickers The Knights Templar cartel, 26 years ago was part of that world to combat today Mireles says, according to federal court documents.

On November 8, 1988 Mireles Valverde was arrested at the gates of his home in the Michoacan town of Tepalcatepec by members of the defunct Federal Judicial Police (PJF) in possession of 86 kilos of marijuana, packaged in ten sacks.

On these facts, Mireles was sentenced to seven years and three months and a fine of 50 thousand dollars could have paid for six days of work for the community. Although his time in prison was three years and eight months.

Former state police chief says that the arrival of José Manuel Mireles Valverde on the national scene since February last year has two readings: He is redeemed, because he withdrew from the criminal activities in which he participated in the past and is sorry; or he is doing the dirty work of the criminal group Los Farías, who are claimed by local authorities for years to be part of the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

Here's the link to the original Excelsior article.
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/01/17/938829

Pedro...Let me know if you need to see Mireles' interview with Carmen Aristegui, in which he admits to his criminal background.

Thank you for the links, Alex. This is a difficult story to suss out.

Jeff...The government actually got blindsided in this instance. The government's security chief for Michoacan met with AUS leaders to plan the occupation of Apatzingan. The meeting was videotaped and later broadcast on Televisa. That's when Farias was identified.

I fixed the link to the Excelsior article.

Smartalex wrote:Here you go...

http://www.cbtelevision.com.mx/noticia/juan-jose-farias-alvarez-alias--el-abuelo----sabes

El abuelo tiene cara de pocos amigos.

None of it is good news.

Welcome to the House of Mirrors, where nothing is what it appears to be.

viajero wrote:

Smartalex wrote:Here you go...

http://www.cbtelevision.com.mx/noticia/juan-jose-farias-alvarez-alias--el-abuelo----sabes

El abuelo tiene cara de pocos amigos.

Under similar circumstances, you wouldn't be sporting much of a cara feliz yourself.

Here's an update and analysis from Insight Crime...

http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/new-narco-scandal-hits-mexico-vigilantes

Does it matter if they are or were in the drug business? What matters is if they end extortion, rape and kidnapping. You do not hear, from the Citizens that the goal of the AD is to stop the drug buisiness. Its about security. We have pleanty of MJ and Meth being grown-produced in Canada and the US without widespread violence against citizens. Why is it not credible that these actors are sincere about ending extortion and kidnapping. After all, someone who once made their money in the drug business eventually may want to retire to grow avacodos or lemons. Should not they be allowed to? I think so. I think that this is the story for some of these guys. Not all of them.

Especially I do not think being arrested for growing MJ makes you a bad guy, even if it is ilegal. You can still want to live in a safe community.

confused wrote:  After all, someone who once made their money in the drug business eventually may want to retire to grow avacodos or lemons.  Should not they be allowed to?  I think so.

DELETED.

The Farias story certainly has legs. According to Tepalcatepec mayor Guillermo Valencia, "El Abuelo" is the brains of the Autodefensas Michoacana, a drug trafficker and a murderer. He went on to claim that the AUS movement was created by the government. In a rebuttal, AUS spokesman Estanislao Beltran denied the accusations but went on to admit to the importance of Farias to the Autodefensas movement. Here are some links.

Spanish:
http://noticias.terra.com.mx/mexico/estados/el-abuelo-es-traficante-y-homicida-alcalde-de-tepalcatepec,6bff5747d7a44410VgnVCM5000009ccceb0aRCRD.html

http://noticias.terra.com.mx/mexico/el-pueblo-apoya-a-el-abuelo-estanislao-beltran,209a0a0813b44410VgnVCM10000098cceb0aRCRD.html

Google translation:
http://translate.google.com.mx/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=es-419&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnoticias.terra.com.mx%2Fmexico%2Festados%2Fel-abuelo-es-traficante-y-homicida-alcalde-de-tepalcatepec%2C6bff5747d7a44410VgnVCM5000009ccceb0aRCRD.html

http://translate.google.com.mx/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=es-419&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnoticias.terra.com.mx%2Fmexico%2Fel-pueblo-apoya-a-el-abuelo-estanislao-beltran%2C209a0a0813b44410VgnVCM10000098cceb0aRCRD.html

The prevailing story line has been that virtually all of this activity has been in the Tierra Caliente. As of yesterday, the defense forces have now moved into Patzcuaro and Santa Clara del Cobre according to the following article from INFORMADOR:
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dinformador%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DOFN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Dsb&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=es&u=http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2014/515243/6/las-autodefensas-toman-patzcuaro.htm&usg=ALkJrhjX13jMIk98R1M5SLR1mbeCqyr5xg

There was plenty of chatter about them being in Patzcuaro on the Yahoo Michoacan board but not much in the way of detail as to exactly what was going on.

500,000??? Must be a misprint?