Michoacán News: Mexican Government Begins ‘Disarmament’ Of Militias

The Mexican government began its “disarmament” of self-defense militias in the state of Michoacán on Monday, marking the first step of a planned transition which will allow militia members to keep their weapons as long as they join a new Rural Guard security corps designed to clamp down on drug cartels operating in the state. Militia members in three towns started handing over their weapons to federal forces, who between April 28 and May 10 will perform tests of the firearms’ capacity and award carrying licenses to the 516 former militiamen who have signed up for the Rural Guard, according to Aristegui Noticias.

El Cambio de Michoacán notes that the process of registering militia members’ firearms – a maximum of one low-caliber and one high-caliber weapon – and incorporating them into the Rural Guard, where they will receive training from federal authorities has been ongoing since late January. But militia members have resisted a full-scale disarmament, saying it would leave them defenseless against the powerful Knights Templar drug cartel. On April 14, a breakthrough came in the form of an announcement that the federal government and military leaders had signed an agreement which would effectively legitimize the militias, and stipulate that for the groups to be fully disbanded, top Knights Templar leader Servando “La Tuta” Gómez Martínez must be apprehended by May 10.

Reuters reports that grenade launchers and rocket launchers will not be included on the list of weapons which former militiamen will be allowed to possess. But military-grade assault rifles like R-15s and AK-47s will be permissible after authorities perform a registry which would allow them to trace the weapon to the owner. Militia spokesmen have hailed the agreement. One, Dr. Juan Manuel Mireles, is reportedly appealing to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights in a bid to secure armed escorts from the Mexican department of justice or armed forces due to threats against him.