After Felipe Calderón’s Michoacán Joint Operation, the administrations of Enrique Peña Nieto and Andrés Manuel López Obrador also implemented specific strategies to contain violence in the state, which throughout three six-year terms remained one of the main red hot spots in the country.
“For Michoacán, together we will achieve it”, the EPN strategy
In January 2014, in the midst of a serious crisis of violence and the expansion of self-defense groups in Tierra Caliente, then-president Enrique Peña Nieto presented the Commission for the Security and Comprehensive Development of Michoacán, headed by Alfredo Castillo Cervantes, as plenipotentiary representative of the Federal Government in the entity.
The strategy sought to regain control of the territory and disarm the self-defense groups through a federal coordination mechanism that concentrated security, justice and development decisions in a single figure.
The federal government deployed more than 10,000 elements of the Army, Navy and Federal Police, in addition to reinforcing the presence of the Federal Public Ministry and the then Attorney General’s Office (PGR) for the prosecution of criminal and community leaders.
A month later, in February 2014, under the premise that violence is not fought with more violence and that the important thing is to prevent, the government presented the Michoacán Plan, Together We Will Achieve it, a program that was implemented in four municipalities of that entity: Morelia, Apatzingán, Uruapan and Lázaro Cárdenas, and that sought to prevent violence with social actions that would allow community cohesion and the reconstruction of the social fabric in the state to be achieved, as announced.
The plan was structured around five main axes:
1. Family economy and jobs
2. Education and culture for prosperity
3. Modern infrastructure and decent housing
4. health and social security
5. Social development and sustainability.
Furthermore, in terms of crime prevention, the strategy contemplated territorial tours and consensus with local governments of urban sectors of intervention by municipality; the local operation coordination facility; sectoral and field diagnoses; the consolidation of Community Committees and Community Development Plans in Urban Intervention Sectors and Planning workshops by Municipality.
As part of the implementation of this strategy, the Peña Nieto government also created the Commission for Security and Comprehensive Development in the State of Michoacán, an administrative body that brought together federal, state and municipal efforts to coordinate security and development in the region.
The strategy thus sought to regain control of the territory and disarm the self-defense groups through a federal coordination mechanism that concentrated security, justice and development decisions in a single figure.
The federal government deployed more than 10,000 elements of the Army, Navy and Federal Police, in addition to reinforcing the presence of the Federal Public Ministry and the then Attorney General’s Office (PGR) for the prosecution of criminal and community leaders.
However, despite the direct intervention and capture of figures such as Servando Gómez Martínez, “La Tuta”, leader of the Knights Templar, the violence was not eradicated. The strategy was criticized for its excessive centralization and lack of coordination with state and municipal authorities.
During Peña Nieto’s six-year term (2012–2018), Michoacán remained among the five entities with the highest number of intentional homicides, according to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP).
Attention to the causes, AMLO’s bet
Since the beginning of the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2014), violence in Michoacán has increased.
Given the growth of violence, in October 2021, the federal government announced the Comprehensive Security and Wellbeing Plan for Michoacán, with which more elements of the Armed Forces and the National Guard were sent, in addition to actions focused on health, education and social programs.
The strategy sought to address violence in the entity from its structural causes, combining security actions with social programs, economic development and territorial presence of the National Guard.
The plan, launched in 2021, arose in response to the uptick in violence in the Tierra Caliente region and disputes between criminal groups in municipalities such as Apatzingán, Aguililla, Tepalcatepec and Coalcomán, areas historically affected by drug trafficking.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador then assured that his government would not declare “war” on any criminal group, considering that this strategy was “a profound failure,” nor would it establish any type of complicity with criminal organizations.
When leading the presentation of the Support Plan for Michoacán, López Obrador argued that the problem of insecurity grew largely because the interest of crime was mixed with political interest.
One of the central axes of the plan was the permanent deployment of the National Guard, which gradually replaced the Federal Police.
The federal government installed 57 barracks in different parts of the state and deployed more than 17,000 elements in coordination with the Army and Navy. Of them, 4,402 were from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), 4,990 from the National Guard and 7,500 police officers.
The objective, according to López Obrador, was to guarantee a constant territorial presence in regions where the State had been absent for years.
“Violence cannot be confronted only with the use of force. Peace is built with justice, with work and well-being,” declared the president during one of his visits to Michoacán.
The National Guard, created during López Obrador’s six-year term, also assumed tasks of highway surveillance, protection of rural communities, combating fuel theft and support in operations against organized crime in the state.
The plan also included the creation of Peace and Security Construction Roundtables, made up of federal, state and municipal authorities, which met daily to analyze the incidence of crime and coordinate joint operations.
The strategy also included the delivery of social programs as prevention instruments, including Young People Building the Future, Sowing Life and Benito Juárez Wellbeing Scholarships.
But despite the efforts, Michoacán remained among the most violent states in the country, with municipalities such as Zamora, Uruapan and Morelia among those with the highest rate of intentional homicides nationwide.
