Mexican authorities reported this morning that at least 14 people died in a confrontation between residents of a rural municipality in the center of the country and alleged members of a criminal group who intended to extort them.
“There are reports of 14 deceased people, of which 11 are possible members of a criminal group and three are residents of the area,” the Secretary of Security of the State of Mexico reported in a statement.
In the confrontation, which occurred in the municipality of Texcaltitlán, four other people were wounded by gunshots, while two others are missing, the agency added, as reported by the AFP news agency.
According to the Mexican press, the criminals belong to the criminal group La Familia Michoacana, who went to the town of Texcaltitlán to collect an extortion known as the right of floor from its inhabitants, who would have organized to receive them and confront them.
A video broadcast by various local media shows the moment before the confrontation. About fifty local residents are gathered on a sports field and shouting at the criminals – about 10 people – armed with assault rifles.
Suddenly bursts of gunshots begin to be heard, some people fall and the residents pounce on the menacers, hitting them with punches, sticks, knives and machetes.
Another video spread on social networks shows the burning remains of a truck that the alleged criminals allegedly used to reach the municipality. The bodies of three of them, dressed in commando uniforms, are seen around the vehicle. One of them is completely burned.
Extortion by criminal groups against farmers and merchants is a common practice in Mexico, but reaches worrying levels in states such as western Michoacán and southern Guerrero.
Overwhelmed by threats and violence, residents of these areas organize and arm themselves to defend themselves by forming the so-called “self-defense groups” or “community police forces”, a phenomenon that worsened a decade ago and is rejected by the Government of President Andrés Manuel. Lopez Obrador.
After the confrontation in Texcaltitlán, agents from the state police, the National Guard and the local prosecutor’s office went to the scene, the Ministry of Security reported in the statement.
“The secretariat personnel in the region are providing support in the area, in order to maintain control after the emergency,” he added.
On November 20, another nine people died in a gun battle between police and criminals in the city of Cuernavaca, the capital of the state of Morelos, near the capital.
Mexico registers a rate of 25 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, three times higher than that registered in 2006, when the Government of the time declared war on drugs, with military participation.
Although López Obrador rejected this policy of open belligerence and is committed to addressing the structural causes of violence, such as poverty and unemployment, he has kept the armed forces deployed in the country and in charge of combating crime.
Since December 2006, when the military offensive began, more than 420,000 murders have been recorded in the country.
Source: Ambito
