Michoacán News: Militias Still Patrolling In 8 Towns After Deadline To Dissolve

By May 10, militia groups operating in the Mexican state of Michoacán were supposed to have signed up for the newly created Rural Defense Corps and turned in their weapons to be registered by the government before being given back -- or leave their 15-month-long fight against the Knights Templar to be carried on by someone else. When the accord establishing the May 10 deadline was struck between the militias and federal government, militia leaders hailed it, and as of last Friday, over 3,000 former members had signed up to join the new force.

But in some municipalities, little has changed since the deadline passed. Animal Politico reported on Monday that in at least 8 towns in the Tierra Caliente, autodefensas or self-defense militias were still manning checkpoints at the main roads of access into town, carrying out inspections of vehicles for weapons. The state security commissioner, Alfredo Castillo, told Radio Formula on Monday that the withdrawal of militias would be gradual. “We hope that in three weeks we can have the business perfectly wrapped up,” he said, adding that the government aimed to complete the transition in three important towns in the Tierra Caliente this week.

At a swearing-in ceremony in Michoacán on Sunday for newly minted Rural Defense Corps members which was to kick off their training, Castillo attended to swear many of the 450 new guardsmen himself. “Today, those who represent the State are you,” he told them, according to EFE, “and it’s up to you that in the future we don’t have other people soliciting the presence of the State because they believe that you all are not representing your communities and families.”