Mexico's Village Vigilantes
Linda Pressly meets the vigilantes fighting Mexico's criminal gangs in Guerrerro State.
Insecurity dominates the lives of millions of Mexicans, who are caught between the murderous drug cartels and absent or corrupt law enforcement. So, communities have begun to take the law into their own hands, and Crossing Continents reporter Linda Pressly travels to the southern state of Guerrero to meet a fledgling vigilante force which has grown into an organisation numbering thousands of members.
Since coming into force earlier this year, dozens of arrests made by untrained, armed civilians hailing from local pueblos and the local community has largely been supportive of their work.
But these community police organisations, as they are known, have no legal authority, and should not be carrying guns in the street - and amid claims that some are using violence to enforce the law, Crossing Continents asks who is keeping the vigilantes in check?
Reporter: Linda Pressly
Last on
More episodes
Previous
El Salvador's Gang Truce
El Salvador's gangs have made a truce. The murder rate has plummeted. Can it last?
A Death in Honduras
A profile of the People's Funeral Service in Honduras, the most murderous nation on earth.
Murder, migration and Mexico
Linda Pressly joins migrants on their perilous journey north through Guatemala and Mexico.
Clip
-
"It looks like the leg bone of somebody..."
Duration: 02:03
Broadcasts
- Thu 18 Apr 2013 11:00成人快手 Radio 4
- Mon 22 Apr 2013 20:30成人快手 Radio 4
Featured in...
From the Archive
Listen to an ever growing selection of programmes from the Radio 4 archives.
Podcast
-
Crossing Continents
Stories from around the world and the people at the heart of them.