"Nothing suggests his mood has changed, much less for the better. In a phone call that same Saturday, minutes after the attack, which has so far left four police officers dead, Zepeda became angry at the comment about how many years he has been fighting against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). We're not fighting, we're resisting! he protested before hanging up."
"Known as Commander Teto, Zepeda leads the community police force of Coahuayana, which rose up in arms in 2014, in line with the other self-defense groups that, at that time, said enough to organized crime. It was a powerful movement, inspiring for many in Michoacan and throughout Mexico. But over the years, corroded by the very crime it sought to defeat, it fizzled out."
"On Tuesday, federal Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch pointed to the alleged close ties between the community police of Coahuayana and one of the rival criminal groups in the region, Carteles Unidos. For years, the CJNG and Carteles Unidos or the Tepalcatepec Cartel, which is the same thing, a source close to the Security Cabinet told EL PAIS have been fighting for control of the Sierra-Costa corridor in Michoacan and the mountainous areas that connect to the neighboring Tierra Caliente region."
Hector Zepeda leads the Coahuayana community police and survived a car bomb attack on the community police headquarters that killed four officers. Zepeda rejected the label of fighters, insisting his group is resisting criminal forces. The community self-defense movement rose in 2014 as a popular response to organized crime but weakened over time as violence, deaths, illness, and leadership ambitions eroded its unity. Some leaders died or pursued power, while others remained isolated and under government suspicion. Federal officials alleged links between Coahuayana's community police and Carteles Unidos amid ongoing clashes with the CJNG over strategic corridors in Michoacan.
Read at english.elpais.com
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