Mexican Militias Sign Agreement With Government To ‘Put Away’ Weapons

José Manuel Mireles, spokesman for a coalition of self-defense militias which took up arms across the Mexican state of Michoacán, announced on Monday that the groups will “put away” their weapons after signing an agreement with the federal government. He and other militia leaders hailed it as a victory in negotiations. “We are not going to hand in our arms, we’re going to put them away,” said Mireles after meeting with federal security officials, calling the agreement a “very good” one. “It’s what we’ve been fighting for these past 13 months.”

Federal forces and militia groups will have until May 10^th to continue working together against drug cartels in Michoacán, according to Excelsior. In order for the militias to be disbanded, according to the agreement, Servando “La Tuta” Gómez Martínez – a leader of the Knights Templar cartel and top prize in the Mexican government’s anti-organized crime efforts – must also be apprehended. Two of the cartel’s other top leaders, Nazario Moreno González and Enrique Plancarte Solis, were killed in February and March, respectively, during shootouts with federal authorities.

Militias had staged protests last week after government forces attempted to disarm some members, saying that as many as five of the eight tenets of an earlier accord – most crucially, the registering of militiamen’s firearms, many of which are only legally carried by the military, which would be the first step toward incorporating the militias into a Rural Defense Corps. Members would have to declare themselves and submit to a government training, among other requirements. “This isn’t a disarmament, it’s a legalization,” said Estanislao Beltrán, another militia head.