5 Dead In Michoacán As Self-Defense Militias Clash

Five people were killed, two wounded and 10 others arrested on Sunday in the Mexican state of Michoacán when two self-defense militias clashed in a town near the Pacific port of Lázaro Cárdenas. El Cambio de Michoacán reported that a militia from the nearby town of Caleta de Campos arrived in the municipality of Chuquiapan in search of alleged members of the Knights Templar drug cartel. The standoff ensued when a local militia – whom the group from Caleta de Campos derided as “fake autodefensas” after the fact – opposed their entry.

Excelsior reports that the visiting militia said that their side had seen one of its members injured, while they had detained 10 members of the local group. Four people were killed on the scene of the shootout and another en route to the hospital. Lázaro Cárdenas, which is located about 25 miles from the town where the events transpired, is a much-prized piece of territory for the Knights Templar – as well as for the federal forces and militias who are trying to clamp down on their influence in the Tierra Caliente. In January, Reuters reported that the gang had muscled into control over much of the region’s iron mines, and that it had been using the port to trade with Chinese firms.

Mexico’s security commissioner announced on Monday that the port town’s mayor had been arrested for alleged links with the area’s drug cartels, though there does not appear to be any direct connection between that arrest and the incident on Sunday. Monday also marked the first step of a transition in which militiamen who register their arms with the government can join a newly established rural defense corps to continue their fight against drug cartels operating in the region.