The Mexican government announced it will join with the vigilante groups to try and win the fight against the Mexican cartels that have been destroying towns and villages, the Associated Press reported.
Leaders from the vigilante groups met with government officials on Tuesday to discuss a plan where the government trains and gives guns to farmers and lime pickers to help aide the fight against the cartels, according to the AP.
More than 20,000 civilians who have had their villages and homes destroyed by cartel members will have to be trained with military discipline, respect for human rights and due process before being sent out again with AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, though all guns would have to be registered, the AP reported.
According to Mexican authorities, the aiding of the "self-defense" groups are just a "stopgap measure" to help get the Knights Templar out of the western state of Michoacan, according to the AP.
It seems the Mexican government is caught between not being able to disarm the vigilante groups due to their extreme popularity, and their need for help in fighting the Knights Templar out of Michoacan, the AP reported.
Many of the vigilant members are former migrant workers who have lived and worked in the United States, the AP reported. Now, the vigilante groups have seized dozens of towns previously terrorized by extortion by the cartel.
Mexican government officials have expressed the measure is only temporary but other Latin American countries whose military has given vigilante groups guns warn of human rights abuses due to armed civilians seeking vengeance, according to the AP.
The Mexican military itself has been steadily accused of abusing rights since the fight against the cartel began seven years ago and the Mexican government traditionally mobilizes "rural defense corps" comprised of peasants to fight, the AP reported.
Military officials have been seen aiding the vigilante groups while doing joint patrols and setting up roadblocks on highways together, according to the AP.
Mexican experts say the self-defense groups in Mexico differ from those of Peru or Colombia because those are often anti-government groups, but the Michoacan's vigilantes simply want their land back, which the cartel took from the, the AP reported.
The movement is made up of upper middle-class ranchers and businessmen who pay farmworkers to put together a defense group and supplies them with guns, the AP reported. The farmworkers have usually also been affected by the cartels in some way and want to defend themselves.
