The first vehicle burst into flames around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. It was a truck from a delivery company.
“At first, they said it was an electrical circuit failure, but then it became clear we were in the midst of a narco blockade because of the other vehicles [that caught fire],” says the advisor to the Human Security Observatory of Apatzingán, in the Mexican state of Michoacán, who asks to remain anonymous. This is protocol in a country where it’s become routine for cartels to take to the streets, set cars on fire, and lay siege to entire towns to send a message to the state.
The news began to spread by word of mouth, cell phone to cell phone, neighbor to neighbor. “The dismantling of the rule of law has led people to seek preventive security measures, and WhatsApp groups are one of the most effective,” says the advisor.
The violence started in Apatzingán, but spread beyond the Mexican city. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) aimed to demonstrate its power through fire, setting ablaze highways across more than 30 municipalities in three states. The worst-hit areas were the roads of 26 towns in Michoacán, but the violence of CJNG leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera also spread to two towns in Guanajuato and another in Jalisco.
Voice notes circulating on WhatsApp, with those gray letters at the top indicating when a message has been forwarded multiple times: “Get away folks, everyone who’s heading out to the road right now, they’re burning cars. Quiroga, Zacapu, Apatzingán, Uruapan, Tlazazalca, in 10 municipalities, they’re burning cars. Cars, trucks, buses — everything, everything. There’s no authority,” says one voice note.
Another warns: “Turn around, they’re shooting at each other, it’s a clash between hitmen, the National Guard, and Sedena [Mexico’s Defense Ministry].”
While a son urges: “Turn around, Dad, there’s a shooting.”
The advisor from Apatzingán, who doesn’t want to give his name, went to a grocery store just before nightfall. “The owner was telling me that the guy who supplies him with limes was really scared because he thought they were going to take his truck.”
The streets had emptied, and people took refuge in their homes. “This has happened several times, and normally there’s fear, falling back, hiding, not going out, not moving around, being very cautious, not talking about the issue. The town goes silent from one moment to the next. Yesterday, we didn’t gather together; we don’t have the capacity or the will to be martyrs.”
