A Dubious 'Disarmament' in Michoacan

The Mexican government claims to have reached a breakthrough agreement to “disarm” the vigilante militias of Michoacan state, but the pact still leaves them with considerable degree of influence and firepower.

Yesterday, 34 different “autodefensa” heads met with Alfredo Castillo, the federal government's commissioner in Michoacan, to sign a treaty outlining their organizations’ future. The pact effectively ends a tense standoff between officials and vigilante leaders, many of whom had refused a government order to disarm and incorporate themselves into the military’s “rural defense forces.”  

El Universal has a copy of the agreement, which stipulates that autodefensas must register their firearms with the state by May 10, and incorporate by the following day into either the rural defense forces or a newly-created Michoacan police unit, to be called the “rural state police.”

While this is a victory for the federal government, in reality it is far from a disarmament. As vigilante leader Jose Manuel Mireles told newspaper Milenio yesterday, the groups will only surrender their heavier weapons (the paper claims this includes heavy machine guns, rocket launchers and surface-to-air missiles), whereas the AK-47  and AR-15 assault rifles carried by many members will remain in use so long as they are registered. Translated from Milenio:

[The autodefensas] also agreed to register the heavy and smaller caliber weapons that have not been accounted for by the federal government; they will be put away and not be carried around in Michoacan territory or used to advance on to other municipalities.

Also, they will "institutionalize," or rather, their members will form part of the police or military state rural defense groups. Those who do not enter groups recognized by the federal and state governments "will hold onto" their weapons in communities or homes. Whoever fails to comply with these guidelines will be detained starting May 11.

Regardless of whether they are incorporated into legal police structures or not, any agreement that allows members to retain weapons in safehouses seems bound to encourage abuses like the torture and extrajudicial executions that rights activists have repeatedly criticized in recent years.

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