Secretary of Government Relations Announces Accords with Self-Defense Groups in Guerrero CNN Mexico
go to original February 7, 2013

Residents have armed themselves against crime that exists in the region. (Cuartoscuro)

The Secretary of Government Relations, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, met behind closed doors Wednesday with the governor of Guerrero, Angel Aguirre Rivero, and with members of the so-called self-defense groups that have been organized in the state.

The federal official tweeted: "With the governor and Bruno Placido, UPOEG leader, we established agreements to restore order" in the communities of Guerrero where they have formed self-defense groups.

Aguirre Rivero confirmed that there were agreements with the members of the Union of Peoples and Organizations of the State of Guerrero (UPOEG) and the Movement for Social Development and Peace, which will be transferred to the Commission for Harmony and Development of Indigenous Peoples .

The UPOEG emerged on January 5 as a group for self-defense against crime, but it had been established in 2010 as a group to fight against high electricity rates for indigenous people, and it now has a presence in 41 municipalities of Guerrero. The governor announced: "We are in the process; I think today that the comrades of UPOEG sent a message of much willingness; they have pledged not to use hoods or masks and to use legal channels for their participation. ... Also, we have initiated protocols for the handing over of those detained," he explained.

Bruno Plácido, leader of the Union of Peoples, said that it was agreed that the community police will remove their hoods, and they will evaluate the possibility of freeing the 54 people detained in Ayutla de los Libres.

In the first meeting held behind closed doors at the [Secretriat] offices in Polanco [in Mexico City], the head of the Secretariat of Government Relations asked the self-defense groups to restore the rule of law in these areas, Plácido said. The community leader added that, "He did not asked us to hand over the detainees; he asked that we discuss establishing the rule of law."

Plácido, who is also the promoter of Community Development of Guerrero, denied that efforts to give more security to their communities violates the rule of law or seeks to do vigilante justice, because the goal is to restore harmony in the area and avoid the continuation of the poverty rates and neglect.

As for the possibility of handing over the 54 people who have been detained, he said that they will go to the communities to assess the measure, "if we agree, something will be published in the media, and we will tell them why that action was determined."

For his part, Governor Aguirre reported that, on Tuesday night, the general secretary of the Government of Guerrero, the president of the State Commission of Human Rights (CEDH) and the president of the local court visited the people held in Ayutla.

On leaving today's meeting, the governor said that these community actions did not mean confronting the federal and state governments, but contributing through participation in their communities to improve public safety and benefit the indigenous peoples and Afro-Mexicans.

"Regarding the masks an agreement was made, and we are in a process regarding the delivery of the prisoners," explained Aguirre Rivero, who noted that community policing has been active for many years in the state.

"Let's show the nation that community policing can be a role model for participation in the framework of the law, in which its assistance - as it has demonstrated - will reduce the crime rate," said the governor.

Regarding another angle on the same item, the head of the Commission for Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples of Mexico, Jaime Martinez Veloz, said that engagement with these communities is to build a strategy based on their needs.

He expressed that it is necessary to understand what is behind the emergence of such actions, such as  profound social inequality, lack of attention and proper administration of justice, which on many occasions includes having the law fall flat on its back.

See Spanish original

Posted by Reed Brundage at Mexico Voices

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