State and federal forces took control of security in the municipality of Teloloapan, Guerrero, after businesses and offices closed due to possible clashes between the self-defense group La Tecampanera and the criminal group La Familia Michoacana.
“Social stability was restored and commercial activity and mobility were normalized in the municipal capital of Teloloapan and in the northern region, guaranteeing the peace and security of the population,” the state government reported.
During the early hours of this Tuesday, elements of the State Police and Prosecutor’s Office, the National Guard and the Army took control of security in the district and installed various surveillance posts.
Since the morning of this Monday, July 29, commercial establishments, banks and government offices closed and City Hall workers were instructed not to go to work.
“Teloloapan is a ghost town,” a member of La Tecampanera told Amapola, Periodismo transgresor, via telephone. The community police blocked the Iguala-Ciudad Altamirano federal highway for two days to prevent the entry of armed persons.
Security forces deployed in Teloloapan, Guerrero
Checkpoints were set up in various areas of the municipality. (Photo: Guerrero Government).
Faced with this situation, the Guerrero government reported that the residents and “members of the armed civilian group” dispersed and free transit was reestablished on the Iguala-Ciudad Altamirano highway; checkpoints were set up at the junction with the state highway to Apaxtla and at the old gas station in Mexicapan, and the presence of patrols was reinforced.
The chaos in this municipality in the northern region of Guerrero began two weeks ago with the disappearance of four workers from a gas company, allegedly kidnapped by the criminal group known as La Familia Michoacana.
On July 17, in Ixcateopan, a municipality neighboring Teloloapan, a 77-year-old man, his 73-year-old wife, his 41-year-old daughter, and his granddaughters Diana and Nicole, aged one year and seven months, were deprived of their freedom by an armed group, but, according to the authorities, they have already been released.
A member of the La Tecampanera self-defense forces said that due to the attacks with explosive drones and incursions carried out by the criminal group, at least 90 families have been displaced from the communities of La Junta, El Terrero, Arenal, El Sendero and Guadalupe, in the municipality of Teloloapan, but located on the border with Arcelia.
center of teloloapan, guerrero, municipality affected by violence
Teloloapan is located on the way to the municipalities of Tierra Caliente. (Photo: Guerrero Government).
The leader of La Tecampanera said that this Saturday, with the protection of the National Guard, they were accompanying 25 displaced families on their return to their villages, but they were attacked with drones with explosives at the intersection that leads to the community of Sendero, so they had to return.
The displaced families from the five communities remain in a shelter installed in Teloloapan, where they are provided with food and medical care.
Although the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) installed the 41st Infantry Battalion in Teloloapan since 2018, the confrontations between criminal organizations have not decreased in intensity.
With information from Amapola, Transgressive Journalism
