Hipólito Mora, in the municipality of Los Reyes de Salgado in Michoacan, on February 24th. Juan José Estrada Serafín (Cuartoscuro)
Hipólito Mora, a former leader of the Michoacán Self-Defense Groups, was assassinated this Thursday in La Ruana, a small town in the municipality of Buenavista in the same state of Michoacán. The farmer, who in 2013 took up arms against the criminal groups that were killing people in his region, died this morning at the hands of an armed commando who started shooting at him from his armored vehicle. The threats he had long faced prompted the Minister for Citizen Security to take responsibility for his safety. According to Guillermo Valencia, a former mayor of Tepalcatepec and a friend of the victim, he was traveling in a huge armored truck and with two bodyguards, who were also killed in the attack.
In videos taken from the attack, a large-caliber weapon fired at the vehicle can be heard. “Then they set fire to his truck,” Valencia said, before lamenting the violence raging in his region: “We live in this Michoacán, but the authorities insist on denying the situation.” The region is one of the most violent areas in Mexico , where drug dealers from the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel and the United Cartels have been fighting over territory for years, putting a price on the old lemon farmer’s head.
You just confirmed that my friend was murdered in an attack #HipolitoMoraIn doing so, they set fire to his armored truck and murdered all his escorts #Michoacan We are alive and the authorities insisted on denying the situation. What will they say now?
— Guillermo Valencia (@MemoValenciaR) June 29, 2023
Mora’s life was marked by threats from organized crime. Shortly before the attack, which cost him his life, his house was shot at. On May 14 last year, his bodyguard Jorge Alberto Correa was killed in Uruapan and the former leader of self-defense groups expressed regret for the crime against someone who had become his “friend”. Mora received daily threats from the drug dealers via phone, text messages and even videos on social media.
Reactions to the death of this historical figure, who at times even went into politics, vary and vary. Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico from 2006 to 2012 that started the war on drugs that turned Michoacán into a powder keg, dedicated a small message on Twitter to the community leader. “It is with deep sadness that I learn of the cowardly murder of Hipólito Mora. My condolences to the family. I join in the calls for justice from those who knew him. Rest in peace,” the former president wrote. The former governor of Michoacán, Silvano Aureoles, also commented on Mora’s death: “Hipólito Mora was riddled with bullets and his body was burned.” Due to the unpredictable policies of the federal government, Tierra Caliente is a war zone.”
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