Increased Military Presence in Michoacán, Mexico
Last week, 2,500 additional troops were deployed to Michoacán, a state in western Mexico, after twenty Federal Police were killed and eighteen wounded by organized crime groups between July 11 and July 15. This deployment brings the total number of troops in Michoacán to 5,500. One week has passed, however an article in Mexico's Proceso argues that the deployment and the "tough talk" by the Minister of the Interior merely served as propaganda, and that "not one police squad or military convoy was found" during a tour of over 1000 km in Michoacán. The article credits part of the problem to the lack of coordination between the police and the armed forces. While another Proceso article from last Saturday reports that 11 members of La Familia have been Proceso, between Monday, July 20 and Friday, July 24, through Tierra Calienta and la Costa - zones under the control of La Familia - not one police squad or military convoy was found. The day after the dramatic military deployment, Gómez Mont met with the governor of Michoacán, Leonel Godoy, at the Ministry of the Interior. Later, he emerged to challenge the narcos: "Your primary logic was not to confront the State, but you are doing it directly: gentlemen, we are waiting for you. Meddle with the authorities, not with citizens. We are waiting for you, that is an invitation from us to you." Four days after the deployment, the Ministry of Defense admitted to the lack of coordination. Friday, July 24, the newspaper ReformaProceso proved that these forces are only carrying out coordinated patrols in Morelia, as each one arrived in Michoacán with their own strategy.