Sasha
14th November 2010, 14:18
Mobilization in Tepoztln Expels Local Police Chief
The Case is Part of a Recent Wave of Mobilizations Against Police in Mexico
By Fernando Len
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
November 11, 2010
On the last week of October the Mexican people of Tepoztln, Morelos expelled the local police chief from the area after an increase of violence in the city. The local mayor of the town, which is located 80 kilometers south of Mexico City, removed the police commander and seven of his subordinates after a mobilization from residents. Now the security of Tepoztln is in the hands of citizen brigades, bringing back a period from the 1990s when the crime rate was lowered dramatically due to the departure of the police.
Throughout the last year insecurity has increased in many parts of the town, according to the people of Tepoztln. The rise in crime occurred during the administration of Lucino Fuentes Bahena as head of the Tepoztln police. There was the robbery of a residence (http://www.launion.com.mx/morelos/secciones/justicia/item/12862-se-increment%C3%B3-en-robo-a-casa-habitaci%C3%B3n-en-tepoztl%C3%A1n.html), and then there were assaults against taxi driverseven the murder of two of themwhich have been constant over the last few months. To the residents of Tepoztln this was a product of a safety net the police chief had given the assailants.
http://www.narconews.com/images/policiatepoz.jpg
Lucino Fuentes Bahena, ex-Tepoztln police chief.
Foto DR 2010 La Unin de Morelos.Fuentes Bahena is no stranger to controversy. At the end of 2008 he was dismissed from his position as police chief of Jiutepec, Morelos. During his administration there he commanded at least five police officers who were accused of auto theft, while other officers had criminal records (http://www.oem.com.mx/esto/notas/n1067377.htm). Despite efforts from citizens to remove the traffic police and the accused officers, Fuentes Bahena and Rabindranath Salazar, the mayor of Jiutepec, did nothing. The officers kept their positions.
Later, Fuentes Bahena was removed from his position in Jiutepec after a protest from subordinate police officers. The police protest was held over their chiefs alleged link (http://www.oem.com.mx/esto/notas/n1067377.htm) to drug trafficking groups that he was supposedly protecting. His dismissal as chief of police in Jiutepec occurred in September 2008, and now a little more than a year later he is again being fired from his position, this time in the town of Tepoztln.
However, the people of Tepoztln know how to manage their own security. Between 1995 and 1999 the town was governed by the customs of the people. During those four years Tepoztln declared itself an autonomous municipality and expelled all the authoritiesincluding the policeafter they joined forces with real estate companies to try and build a golf course in the town. At that time the security of the town was dependent upon the residents, and according to some of them, there has never been a safer period.
This time, on October 30, the people mobilized to close the highway to Cuernavaca and all of the entrances to the town in response to the police corruption. During the mobilization they forced the Institutional Revolutionary Party (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_Revolutionary_Party) mayor, Gabino Ros Cedillo, to fire Fuentes Bahena and his subordinates, many of whom were ex-police from Jiutepec. Tepoztln will continue to have some police officers, but they are subject to supervision by the residents themselves.
The mobilization against the Tepoztln police is happening as other places in the country (http://www.narconews.com/Issue67/articulo4222.html) are organizing for similar reasons. Perhaps now the people will relive Tepoztlns golden years when there were no crimes because there were no police to cover up or defend the crimes.
Click here for more Narco News coverage of Mexico (http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo/en.html)
earlier that month:
The Mexican Fuenteovejuna
Residents of Ascensin, Chihuahua Expel the Local Police
By Fernando Len
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
October 2, 2010
On Thursday, September 22, the Mexican press reported on an event that could show a little of the future that awaits many cities overwhelmed by the violence generated by president Felipe Calderns drug war. Residents of the town of Ascensin, Chihuahua decided they had enough with the lack of governmental response to the security problems that they have been facing for several months, along with the constant threat of the military and the impunity it enjoys. The residents organized themselves and decided that from now on their security would depend on themselves.
The town of Ascensin, Chihuahua, based in the municipality of the same name and located 192 kilometers south east of Ciudad Jurez, has been hit by a wave of kidnappings in the last few months. Last week, the last one ended with the death of two kidnappers at the hands of the people. Before the kidnapping of a 17 year old, the residents overtook the agressors and managed to free the young man while making a citizens arrest of five of the eight alledged kidnappers. Three of the kidnappers were later arrested by military personnel. However, the other two became the target of the residents helplessness with the constant threat that they face. The two kidnappers died in the custody of the Federal Police, as they were prevented from receiving medical attention after the people tried to lynch them.
The case is relevant in that the Mexican population suffers mainly in the northern border region of the countryalthough that is not to say that the violence from Calderns war has not affected other regions and states in the country. And thats why, with the collusion of the authorities with criminal organizationswhich is the same but not equal to that in the Northopting for community autonomy does not seem so outlandish. The war that the country suffers from doesnt have support from anyone other than the governmental class, big business, and the criminal groups benefiting from it. And this is demonstrated when cases like Ascensin explode.
Similarly, the drug war that has engulfed the country since 2006 has served as a pretext for military incursions in different parts of the country. The impunity for military and human rights abuses has turned the military into another one of the cartels that exist in the country. And the town of Ascension is no exception.
Emilio Gutirrez Soto, a native journalist of Ascensin was recently exiled to the United States (http://www.narconews.com/Issue67/articulo4214.html) due to death threats from military personnel in the region. For a long time Emilio had reported on military abuses of the local population. In his hometown there have been frequent abuses committed by the military since they participated in Joint Operation Chihuahua in 2008. The presence of at least 10,000 soldiers (http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2010/03/28/index.php?section=politica&article=007n1pol) in the streets of the region, walking with impunity, has created more fear in the population.
In June 2008, Alma, a friend of Gutirrez Soto, personally suffered from Calderns drug war. Alma, a 16 year old single mother at the time, received a visit at her home by military personnel from the Puerto Palomas de Villa detachment. The honorable and intoxicated Mexican soldiers were looking for drugs that Alma hid in her four meter by four meter room, where there was only a table, two chairs, a bed, a storage room, and scarce supplies, Gutirrez Soto reported. When a higher-ranking officer entered the room and ordered the withdrawal of his subordinates, Alma was rapeda recurring event in this bicentennial war of the Caldern administration. Gutirrez Soto himself had experienced a visit by the military (http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2008/10412/1/acusan-al-ejercito-de-hacer-cateos-sin-orden-judicial.htm) due to his reports. The constant threat finally made him flee his home town. However, the stories of these military visits do not always reach the media, and hundreds of cases have stayed in the nightmares of the residents who have suffered them.
Faced with the violence and impunity of the military and criminal organizations, the people of Ascension demonstrated that they didnt have to keep depending on the authorities to offer them security. When Ascensin residents asked the authorities for help they didnt get it. However, when they decided to take justice into their own hands they received a visit from hundreds of soldiers and federal police. What is clear here is that the recent lynching was just an expression of what happened later. They dont trust the authorities anymore, and from now on, the town is without any official police. Neighbors take care of themselves without intermediaries.
Now their security depends on them, as demonstrated in Tepoztln, Morelos between 1995-1999, in Tlalnepantla , Morelos in 2004, in Juchitn, Oaxaca in 1982, in San Juan Copala, Oaxaca since 2006, in San Luis Acatln, Guerrero with community police since 1995, and in the autonomous municipalities of Chiapas since 1994, which have a population of more than 400,000 people. Organized citizens can be much more effective than imposed police authorities who are oblivious to the needs of the local people.
Despite there being so many different cases in very distinct contexts, the recent case of autonomous security in Ascensin is an expression of what the Calderns war violence can create. With the vulnerability of the citizens to the abuses by criminal groups, police, and the military, they organized among themselves to decided what is best for themselves.
Who kicked out the police of Ascension?
Ascension
Who is Ascension?
Everyone, Seor.
The Case is Part of a Recent Wave of Mobilizations Against Police in Mexico
By Fernando Len
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
November 11, 2010
On the last week of October the Mexican people of Tepoztln, Morelos expelled the local police chief from the area after an increase of violence in the city. The local mayor of the town, which is located 80 kilometers south of Mexico City, removed the police commander and seven of his subordinates after a mobilization from residents. Now the security of Tepoztln is in the hands of citizen brigades, bringing back a period from the 1990s when the crime rate was lowered dramatically due to the departure of the police.
Throughout the last year insecurity has increased in many parts of the town, according to the people of Tepoztln. The rise in crime occurred during the administration of Lucino Fuentes Bahena as head of the Tepoztln police. There was the robbery of a residence (http://www.launion.com.mx/morelos/secciones/justicia/item/12862-se-increment%C3%B3-en-robo-a-casa-habitaci%C3%B3n-en-tepoztl%C3%A1n.html), and then there were assaults against taxi driverseven the murder of two of themwhich have been constant over the last few months. To the residents of Tepoztln this was a product of a safety net the police chief had given the assailants.
http://www.narconews.com/images/policiatepoz.jpg
Lucino Fuentes Bahena, ex-Tepoztln police chief.
Foto DR 2010 La Unin de Morelos.Fuentes Bahena is no stranger to controversy. At the end of 2008 he was dismissed from his position as police chief of Jiutepec, Morelos. During his administration there he commanded at least five police officers who were accused of auto theft, while other officers had criminal records (http://www.oem.com.mx/esto/notas/n1067377.htm). Despite efforts from citizens to remove the traffic police and the accused officers, Fuentes Bahena and Rabindranath Salazar, the mayor of Jiutepec, did nothing. The officers kept their positions.
Later, Fuentes Bahena was removed from his position in Jiutepec after a protest from subordinate police officers. The police protest was held over their chiefs alleged link (http://www.oem.com.mx/esto/notas/n1067377.htm) to drug trafficking groups that he was supposedly protecting. His dismissal as chief of police in Jiutepec occurred in September 2008, and now a little more than a year later he is again being fired from his position, this time in the town of Tepoztln.
However, the people of Tepoztln know how to manage their own security. Between 1995 and 1999 the town was governed by the customs of the people. During those four years Tepoztln declared itself an autonomous municipality and expelled all the authoritiesincluding the policeafter they joined forces with real estate companies to try and build a golf course in the town. At that time the security of the town was dependent upon the residents, and according to some of them, there has never been a safer period.
This time, on October 30, the people mobilized to close the highway to Cuernavaca and all of the entrances to the town in response to the police corruption. During the mobilization they forced the Institutional Revolutionary Party (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_Revolutionary_Party) mayor, Gabino Ros Cedillo, to fire Fuentes Bahena and his subordinates, many of whom were ex-police from Jiutepec. Tepoztln will continue to have some police officers, but they are subject to supervision by the residents themselves.
The mobilization against the Tepoztln police is happening as other places in the country (http://www.narconews.com/Issue67/articulo4222.html) are organizing for similar reasons. Perhaps now the people will relive Tepoztlns golden years when there were no crimes because there were no police to cover up or defend the crimes.
Click here for more Narco News coverage of Mexico (http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo/en.html)
earlier that month:
The Mexican Fuenteovejuna
Residents of Ascensin, Chihuahua Expel the Local Police
By Fernando Len
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
October 2, 2010
On Thursday, September 22, the Mexican press reported on an event that could show a little of the future that awaits many cities overwhelmed by the violence generated by president Felipe Calderns drug war. Residents of the town of Ascensin, Chihuahua decided they had enough with the lack of governmental response to the security problems that they have been facing for several months, along with the constant threat of the military and the impunity it enjoys. The residents organized themselves and decided that from now on their security would depend on themselves.
The town of Ascensin, Chihuahua, based in the municipality of the same name and located 192 kilometers south east of Ciudad Jurez, has been hit by a wave of kidnappings in the last few months. Last week, the last one ended with the death of two kidnappers at the hands of the people. Before the kidnapping of a 17 year old, the residents overtook the agressors and managed to free the young man while making a citizens arrest of five of the eight alledged kidnappers. Three of the kidnappers were later arrested by military personnel. However, the other two became the target of the residents helplessness with the constant threat that they face. The two kidnappers died in the custody of the Federal Police, as they were prevented from receiving medical attention after the people tried to lynch them.
The case is relevant in that the Mexican population suffers mainly in the northern border region of the countryalthough that is not to say that the violence from Calderns war has not affected other regions and states in the country. And thats why, with the collusion of the authorities with criminal organizationswhich is the same but not equal to that in the Northopting for community autonomy does not seem so outlandish. The war that the country suffers from doesnt have support from anyone other than the governmental class, big business, and the criminal groups benefiting from it. And this is demonstrated when cases like Ascensin explode.
Similarly, the drug war that has engulfed the country since 2006 has served as a pretext for military incursions in different parts of the country. The impunity for military and human rights abuses has turned the military into another one of the cartels that exist in the country. And the town of Ascension is no exception.
Emilio Gutirrez Soto, a native journalist of Ascensin was recently exiled to the United States (http://www.narconews.com/Issue67/articulo4214.html) due to death threats from military personnel in the region. For a long time Emilio had reported on military abuses of the local population. In his hometown there have been frequent abuses committed by the military since they participated in Joint Operation Chihuahua in 2008. The presence of at least 10,000 soldiers (http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2010/03/28/index.php?section=politica&article=007n1pol) in the streets of the region, walking with impunity, has created more fear in the population.
In June 2008, Alma, a friend of Gutirrez Soto, personally suffered from Calderns drug war. Alma, a 16 year old single mother at the time, received a visit at her home by military personnel from the Puerto Palomas de Villa detachment. The honorable and intoxicated Mexican soldiers were looking for drugs that Alma hid in her four meter by four meter room, where there was only a table, two chairs, a bed, a storage room, and scarce supplies, Gutirrez Soto reported. When a higher-ranking officer entered the room and ordered the withdrawal of his subordinates, Alma was rapeda recurring event in this bicentennial war of the Caldern administration. Gutirrez Soto himself had experienced a visit by the military (http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2008/10412/1/acusan-al-ejercito-de-hacer-cateos-sin-orden-judicial.htm) due to his reports. The constant threat finally made him flee his home town. However, the stories of these military visits do not always reach the media, and hundreds of cases have stayed in the nightmares of the residents who have suffered them.
Faced with the violence and impunity of the military and criminal organizations, the people of Ascension demonstrated that they didnt have to keep depending on the authorities to offer them security. When Ascensin residents asked the authorities for help they didnt get it. However, when they decided to take justice into their own hands they received a visit from hundreds of soldiers and federal police. What is clear here is that the recent lynching was just an expression of what happened later. They dont trust the authorities anymore, and from now on, the town is without any official police. Neighbors take care of themselves without intermediaries.
Now their security depends on them, as demonstrated in Tepoztln, Morelos between 1995-1999, in Tlalnepantla , Morelos in 2004, in Juchitn, Oaxaca in 1982, in San Juan Copala, Oaxaca since 2006, in San Luis Acatln, Guerrero with community police since 1995, and in the autonomous municipalities of Chiapas since 1994, which have a population of more than 400,000 people. Organized citizens can be much more effective than imposed police authorities who are oblivious to the needs of the local people.
Despite there being so many different cases in very distinct contexts, the recent case of autonomous security in Ascensin is an expression of what the Calderns war violence can create. With the vulnerability of the citizens to the abuses by criminal groups, police, and the military, they organized among themselves to decided what is best for themselves.
Who kicked out the police of Ascension?
Ascension
Who is Ascension?
Everyone, Seor.