“A small, nagging problem in Mexico developed into a full-blown security test for the national government this week after the military confronted armed vigilantes who had taken on organized crime in Michoacán State, ending in a deadly encounter Tuesday.

Vigilante groups have been popping up in communities across Michoacán, Guerrero, and Veracruz states over the past year, with Mexican newspaper Reforma reporting the presence of self defense groups in 13 states as of last March. Though the federal government has condemned the impromptu militias, it has done little to curb their spread.

Many vigilante groups claim local police have failed to protect their largely rural communities from drug cartel activity — violence, extortion, and a general sense of lawlessness — or in some cases are in cahoots with the criminals themselves. The groups also say the federal government’s failures have left them little choice but to take up arms in self defense.”* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down.

*Read more here from Whitney Eulich / Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2014/0115/Mexican-vigilantes-take-on-Knights-Templar-as-government-takes-on-vigilantes

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