This Monday, November 3, Michoacán experienced a day of mobilizations demanding justice for the murder of the mayor of UruapanCarlos Manzo Rodríguez, which occurred on the night of Saturday, November 1 in the center of the city.
In Morelia, about 3,000 university students gathered at two points – Las Tarascas and the monument to Lázaro Cárdenas – to march towards the government palace. One of the contingents made a stop at the headquarters of the Legislative Branch, where the protesters expressed their indignation and demanded that violence not be normalized. “We raise our voices for Carlos Manzo, for Bernardo Bravo and for the thousands of victims who did not have a microphone or public office,” said a young woman in front of the state Congress.
During the demonstration, some normalistas and members of the National Front for the Struggle for Socialism (FNLS) broke fences and threw stones, pipes and rockets at the windows of the building, which led to clashes with the Civil Guard. Authorities arrested four young people. The protest, which began at 12:30 p.m., ended around six in the afternoon after the use of tear gas and paint bullets to disperse the attackers.
At the same time, in Pátzcuaro, more than a hundred people walked the streets in tribute to Manzo, known as “El Señor del Sombrero,” and held a rally in the main square. José Antonio Arreola, leader of the contingent, warned: “We are not going to remain silent, we are going to continue his legacy.”
In Uruapan, hundreds of residents took to the streets again to demand security and justice, while in Apatzinganresidents and farmers organized similar demonstrations, also remembering Bernardo Bravo, a lemon leader murdered on October 20.
The protests reflect social discontent and the demand that the authorities guarantee security and effective sanctions in the face of recent acts of violence in the region.
Four six-year terms, four security plans
Felipe Calderón and the war against drugs
During his six-year term, former President Felipe Calderón implemented the “Michoacán Joint Operation”, which marked the beginning of the “War on Drug Trafficking” and which had the purpose of reducing the levels of violence in the entity.
Days after Calderón arrived at the presidential chair, he ordered the deployment of the Army in Michoacán, hit at that time by the criminal group “La Familia Michoacana.”
In 2007, the then president went to the hot land of Michoacán dressed as a soldier, as a challenge to organized crime.
Peña Nieto’s Plan
After the failure of the security strategy for Michoacán by his predecessor, the now former president Enrique Peña Nieto, he presented, in 2014, the “Michoacán Plan”, this differed from the previous plan presented by Calderón, since it had as its premise that “violence is not fought with more violence” and its purpose was to prevent.
The program was implemented in four municipalities in Tierra Caliente: Morelia, Apatzingán, Uruapan and Lázaro Cárdenas, and aimed to prevent violence with social actions “and the reconstruction of the social fabric in the state.”
AMLO’s support
In 2021, after two failed strategies for the land of Michoacán and with the levels of violence not decreasing, almost at the end of Silvano Aureoles’ government, the then president Andrés Manuel López Obrador presented the “Michoacán Support Plan”, which provided for a reinforcement of security, social programs, improvement of hospital infrastructure and the federalization of the teachers’ payroll.
“Express very clearly our support for the people of Michoacan, we are going to continue supporting and we are going to have more action for the benefit of the people, more actions for the well-being of the people of Michoacan,” highlighted the former head of the federal Executive during the presentation.
CT