Last June, I warned in this space that the departure of General José Alfredo Ortega Reyes, who served as Secretary of Public Security of Michoacán, was bad news. Michoacán lives under constant siege by mafias dedicated to the extortion of the agricultural sector – avocado, lemon and berries – and the buoyant production of synthetic drugs. The roots of criminal violence in Michoacán are deep, and are fueled by the complicity of certain local authorities. Even so, during Ortega Reyes’ administration, the state gradually moved towards pacification. In 2021, organized crime murdered 2,047 people in Michoacán. The number was reduced to 1,805 in 2022 and to 1,336 in 2023. This downward trend continued in the first half of this year.
During his administration, Ortega Reyes dared to make difficult decisions. One of the most important was the removal of commanders of the Civil Guard (the Michoacan state police) who were in collusion with criminal groups. This purge, which was necessary, made noise and ended up costing dearly. The corrupt commanders, and their criminal accomplices, sought in a thousand and one ways to get rid of the uncomfortable secretary, and last June they even threatened to have the Civil Guard strike. Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla gave in, and in June he dismissed General Ortega Reyes (who was not always part of his inner circle) and in his place appointed an unconditional supporter, with no experience in security matters. The person who has really taken the reins of the state police in recent months is an undersecretary. The corrupt commanders who had been dismissed were reinstated, and the relationship of trust and coordination that Ortega Reyes had cultivated between the Civil Guard and the Armed Forces (Sedena, Semar and the GN) was broken.
However, the most serious thing is that with the departure of General Ortega, the CJNG saw an opportunity. The cartel headed by El Mencho formed an alliance with its former rivals, Los Viagras, the organization of the Sierra Santana brothers, who now operate as the Michoacán Nueva Generación Cartel. It is a watershed. Until now, the criminal landscape in Michoacán had always been dominated by local organizations: La Familia, Los Caballeros Templarios, more recently the coalition known as Guerreros Unidos. The alliance with Los Viagras opens the door for the CJNG to consolidate itself as the dominant organization in the state. Most likely, it will burst in with a much more aggressive strategy to annihilate its rivals, enter into new criminal businesses and extend extortion in the urban area, as has happened since it settled in Guanajuato.
The Michoacán Nueva Generación Cartel started with new pressures on the lemon producers of Tierra Caliente. In September, José Luis Aguiñaga, one of the main leaders of the lemon producers in the region, was murdered. The murder and the constant extortions led to a suspension of work among producers and an increase in the price of citrus. The new criminal alliance operating in Michoacán is indiscriminately using high-caliber weapons. Attacks with drones loaded with explosives – the unmistakable hallmark of the CJNG – have been the order of the day. At the end of August, after the first wave of attacks by the CJNG-Los Viagras alliance, an observer wrote that ‘the authorities simply stayed on the sidelines’. With the departure of Ortega Reyes, it seems that indolence has taken hold in the spirit of the Michoacán police: they do not allocate gasoline and do not go out, they do not go out and do not endanger themselves; they do not endanger themselves because they are allowed to, etc.
With the emergence of the Michoacán Nueva Generación Cartel, the medium-term scenario is worrying. Without a decisive response from the authorities, the oppression of the population, and in particular of agricultural producers, will become unbearable. Producers will follow the path that was already marked out 10 years ago, during the rise of Los Caballeros Templarios: the reactivation of paramilitary or ‘self-defense’ groups, with a much higher risk for the communities. Back then, the worst could have been avoided through a virtual occupation of Michoacán territory by the Armed Forces, and a kind of federal tutelage over the state government.
Unfortunately, this new crisis in Michoacán comes at a bad time. There are too many fires in the country: Chiapas, the war between the Mayo people and Los Chapitos (who have also just sealed an alliance with Mencho Oseguera), and the paralysis in the Judiciary. President Sheinbaum, General Trevilla Trejo and Secretary García Harfuch will be overwhelmed by the whirlwind of the start of the six-year term. Perhaps now Governor Ramírez Bedolla will have to deal with the consequences of his irresponsibility on his own.
Source: elfinanciero
