Last May, I wrote about the inspirational story of the grassroots militia movement in Mexico, that had managed to free their communities from the Knights Templar cartel. After thoroughly driving away the extortionist gang, something the corrupt Mexican government had failed to do after many years, the government decided to make the militias “official” by registering their weapons and recruiting them into a new rural police force. This was merely a ploy to keep themselves from losing face over a situation they had long failed to control. The government could not stand to see ordinary people protecting themselves without the state's "help". Not everyone would go quietly though.
Dr. Jose Mireles was one of the founding members of the movement, and refused to comply with the government orders. After all, it is the corruption of police and military that has played a large part in preserving the cartels. Asking these people to then join with the government forces and register their weapons would be tantamount to lunacy, and probably suicide if those weapons were later confiscated. It would leave the people defenseless against the cartel they had just driven away.
Mireles decided to go the opposite route, and continued to recruit new members into his unsanctioned militia. He agreed to lay down his weapons and stop these pursuits, only if the leader of the Knights Templar cartel was captured. This isn't an unreasonable demand, as officials of the state of Michoacan have been accused of colluding with the Templar Cartel. Capturing their leader would show that it was finally safe to trust the local police with the safety and defense of their communities.
Instead, Jose Mireles was arrested on Tuesday by the authorities, as he was attempting to start a new chapter of his militia in a town that was a known hub of Knights Templar activity. He was found to be carrying over a dozen firearms and a stockpile of drugs and ammunition. Mireles and his lawyer are claiming that the drugs were planted on him. This wouldn't be an outlandish claim.
The fears that the Michoacan authorities were in bed with the Cartels where affirmed when several photos of Governor Fausto Vallejo's son were leaked. The picture shows him meeting with the Knights Templar leader, Servando Gomez (the Governor has since resigned). Combine this with the fact that Mexico's police forces have completely sold themselves out to the cartels, and that the military has been infiltrated from the bottom up, a "set up" then becomes very believable. Orchestrating this would be well within the means of the police.
Make no mistake, Dr. Jose Mireles is probably the enemy of every powerful faction within Mexican society. With multiple criminal groups bribing and infiltrating the police, the military, the courts, and who knows how many political offices, it isn't clear where the line lies between the authorities and the drug gangs. By standing up to the government, he was also standing up to the cartels. By refusing to enlist in the “rural police” he was refusing to become a gangster. And for that, he has likely been set up, and thrown in jail.
What happens to him now is anyone's guess. I have my doubts that he'll make it out of prison alive. It would be convenient to have him killed in the yard rather than the moment of arrest. After all, people die in prison all the time. In the end though, I think most people will see right through it. It would be nothing more than a vengeful token gesture. Mireles showed the people of Mexico, and the World, that deep down the government and the drug cartels are pushovers. His militia, armed with nothing but hunting rifles and severely lacking in funds and training, managed to uproot one of the most terrifying drug gangs in Mexico's history. Bold stories like that aren't easily forgotten by the oppressed.
Delivered By The Daily Sheeple
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