La Palma, the Mexican town that was forgotten because of La Familia Michoacana

Violence in the Mexican state of Guerrero does not decrease, and its inhabitants suffer increasingly painful things, as happened in La Palma, a place that was forgotten because of harassment by The Michoacan FamilyAs in many other places in Mexico, forced displacement is one of the consequences of criminal activity.

Located in the municipality of Petatlán, the town of La Palma has suffered harsh attacks from drug trafficking. In August 2023, La Familia Michoacana broke into the place threatening its inhabitants with consequences if they did not submit to his willthat is, join their ranks and pay the extortions they came up with, a year later the fulfillment of the threat is notorious.

At first, the residents tried to resist, they told the N+ website, but their weapons were no match for those of the drug traffickers, who had rifles, while the criminals dropped bombs on them from drones. Their houses were the targets of the bomb attacks and so they fled.

But before the exodus, The Michoacana Family destroyed houses with bombs, decimated livestock and brutally murdered six residentsAll of this contributed to the displacement, but it also led to a protest on the Acapulco-Zihuatanejo highway, in which they demanded that Governor Evelyn Salgado take action to stop the violence.

The exodus

The commissioner of La Palma, Alberto Ramírez Bravo, said in an interview for Radio Fórmula that In this place everyone pays the right of wayand indicated that the illegal collection began after the residents refused to submit to the orders of the criminal group.

“Everyone is paying the price, there is no one here who doesn’t. The fishermen are already paying for every boat that goes out to sea. They control most of the wood,” he said.

According to the commissioner, the inhabitants of La Palma pay two pesos more for soft drinks, beer and tortillas, as well as 10 percent of the price of cattle, among many other illegal charges.

Ramirez Bravo said that Even politics is controlled by the Michoacan Familysince it was the criminal group that appointed the municipal presidents of Petatlán and Zihuatanejo.

Those abuses were “tolerated” by the inhabitants, everyone took up a weapon to confront those who stole their peace, but the straw that broke the camel’s back were the drone attacks, that was when they decided to leave their lives behind.

From La Palma, 37 seniors, 56 children and 107 young adults fled to save their lives.These people’s homes were looted by La Familia Michoacana, while the livestock and fruit orchards, the main means of production in the area, are neglected.

Faced with the situation, the Guerrero government promised to install security at different levels so that people could return to their homes, but nothing has been seen yet and people are still far from their land and their belongings, some of which have already been seized by drug traffickers.

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