How a simple Mexican woman, Nestor Salgado, declared war on drug cartels

Modern Mexico is a battleground between the drug mafia and citizens tired of the lawlessness of bandits. Corruption at all levels adds to the problems. Over the years, the cartels have grown together with both officials from Mexico City and ordinary village policemen. A prominent representative of this struggle was a simple owner of a butcher shop, Nestor Salgado, who took responsibility and declared war on the corrupt authorities and drug cartels.

One of the most" hot spots " of Mexico was the state of Guerrero. It is inhabited by Indians who live in towns scattered among the jungle. In fact, the region became a hostage of cartels that grew opium poppies here and killed unwanted people. It got to the point that the bandits set up roadblocks on the roads, and practically removed the state from managing the state.

The Los Setas cartel combat team, staffed by former soldiers of the elite special forces of Mexico

Mexican police during the raid

Mexicans executed for cooperation with the police

Since 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon has declared war on the mafia and sent troops to the region. Full-scale battles began in the jungles and cities, but there were still not enough forces. To strengthen the position of the government, the president allowed the Indians to create self-defense units.

The leader of the resistance movement in the city of Olinali was a woman named Nestor Salgado. In 1991, she left for the United States, but in 2004 she returned home and opened a butcher shop. Local bandits imposed a tribute on the store, and later beat Nestor's sister. This was the end of the woman's patience. In 2012, she organized and headed the first Indian self-defense brigade in her 8-thousand-strong town.

Such an audacious action had the effect of an exploding bomb. Neighboring cities and towns began to repeat the experience of a brave woman. A year later, Nestor became the de facto leader of the Indian self-defense of the entire state of Guerrero. By this time, the anti-cartel fighters had fallen out with the federal authorities. It turned out that the police were tightly tied to the bandits and even helped them in kidnapping people.

It turned out that in order to defeat the cartels, it was necessary to deal with government representatives in the Indian territories. The militia began to attack the police and took away their weapons, and Nestor Salgado supported the actions of her subordinates.

The authorities were not satisfied with this situation, but they did not dare to storm the city of Olinalo, where several hundred armed Indian fighters were entrenched. Without the support of corrupt policemen and officials, the bandits began to lose the war. By 2013, most of the leaders and active members of drug cartels had been shot, and opium poppy plantations were destroyed. The fighting, led by the desperate Nestor Salgado, provoked a sharp increase in murders in the state. There were 95.5 deaths per 100,000 people, but the overall crime rate in the region fell by 90%.

The Indian region was gradually breaking away from the rest of Mexico. Local residents have always been distinguished by separatist sentiments and the situation has really begun to frighten the government. The police began arresting Indian leaders. Nestor Salgado also got under the comb.

On August 21, 2013, the militia leader was detained at a gas station and charged with kidnapping 50 people, four of whom were minors. There was no evidence against Salgado, but the prosecutor still took her under arrest.

While the state of Guerrero was covered by a wave of popular demonstrations in support of the self-defense commander, the investigation tried to find evidence. But nothing turned out to be found, and in 2016, Nestor Salgado was released. The woman claimed that political pressure was exerted on her in detention.

While Nestor was behind bars, the situation in the state changed dramatically. Corrupt police and cartels carried out a sweep of influential Indian leaders. People dependent on crime and Mexico City were put in the vacant places. Salgado continued the struggle and went into politics. Since 2018, she has been a senator of the Mexican parliament from her native state of Guerrero.