“The government protects criminals, not the people,” said the brother of Hipólito Mora, speaking on the third anniversary of the death of the man who founded the self-defense groups in Michoacán.
According to Lupe Mora, who serves as the local authority leader (jefe de tenencia) in La Ruana, the criminal group known as Los Viagra continues to extort fees from those who produce, pack, and transport limes across all the municipalities of the Tierra Caliente region.
However, according to the late Hipólito’s brother, this extortion is not limited to citrus growers but extends to all merchants in the area.
He cited the price of meat as an example—”we used to pay 240 pesos per kilo for beef, and now we pay 280″—adding that “the people remain the ones most affected.”
Mora Chávez spoke at the third-anniversary commemoration for his brother, held at the PRI State Steering Committee headquarters in Michoacán. There, he also complained of being “abandoned by the federal government,” despite the constant threat he faces from the same criminal group that killed his brother three years ago.
Hipólito Mora, a former leader of the self-defense groups in Michoacán, was killed on June 29, 2023, following an attack in the community of La Ruana, in the municipality of Buenavista; two of his bodyguards also lost their lives in the incident.
Source: excelsior
