Blog del Narco: Mayors Propose 'Village Defense Squads' Against Cartels Hispanically Speaking News
go to original January 8, 2013

The mayors of Mazatlan and Concordia proposed delivering weapons to the residents of the mountainous area of the state, with training from the Mexican Army to defend their communities from cartels linked to drug trafficking.

The mayor of Mazatlan, PAN Alejandro Higuera Osuna said he is in favor of residents of rural mountain communities carry weapons. He believes that arming the villagers to protect their communities “would bring calm and confidence to the people.”

His counterpart from Concordia, the PRI Eligio Medina Rivers, agreed that it would be good to arm the inhabitants of rural communities, especially those in the mountains, to fend of the cartels.

The mayor argued that it is not possible to have a soldier or policeman in every home, but a weapon to prevent its people from those who perpetrate massacres in El Alto region of Sinaloa is possible.

He set out to create “a kind of village defense squads” with military training and support from federal, state and municipal.

On December 24, a command associated with drug trafficking apparently killed nine people in the community of El Platanar Ontiveros, in Concordia. In several villages in this area there are many families displaced by violence.

Twelve of the 18 municipalities in the state have ghosts communities whose residents have fled due to harassment and attacks by armed groups.

From 24 to 31 December, there were three attacks in Sinaloa, killing 19 people.

Read more at HS News Blog del Narco in English

Read more in Spanish at Blog del Narco

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