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Mexico’s army stands between gangs, enforcing turf divisions

A religious image hangs next to bullet holes in a home abandoned in El Limoncito in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. "The most shameful thing is the absence of the government, which has become simply a spectator in a war that has left so many dead, so much destruction," said the local priest in Aguililla, the Rev. Gilberto Vergara, describing the residents' frustration with army's reluctance to fight either of the two cartels. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Armed men who claim to be members of a “self-defense” squad patrol the limits of Taixtan, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. The army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf _ and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Armed men who claim to be members of a “self-defense” squad patrol the limits of Taixtan, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. The army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf _ and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) An armed man who claim to be members of a self-defense group patrols the limits of Taixtan in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. The army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf _ and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) A view of a “self-defense” squad bunker built of concrete, steel beams and brick, topped with more concrete, on a hilltop near Tepalcatepec in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. Self-defense members can approach the bunker, known as “Achicumbo,” via meter-deep trenches to avoid sniper fire. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Armed men who claim to be members of a “self-defense” squad patrol the limits of Taixtan, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. The army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf _ and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Soldiers patrol in the hamlet Plaza Vieja, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. The Mexican army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf — and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities just a few hundred yards away. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Displaced Tepalcatepec residents attend celebrations marking the feast day of Saint Jude, in the hamlet Plaza Vieja, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. The Mexican army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf — and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities just a few hundred yards away. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Soldiers patrol during celebrations marking the feast day of Saint Jude, in the hamlet Plaza Vieja, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. The Mexican army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf — and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities just a few hundred yards away. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Displaced Tepalcatepec residents arrive to attend celebrations marking the feast day of Saint Jude, in the hamlet Plaza Vieja, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. The Mexican army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf — and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities just a few hundred yards away. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) An entrances to the army barracks is blocked by a barricade placed there by residents in Aguililla, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Residents say they won’t let the soldiers out of their barracks until the army does its job of clearing the Viagra cartel roadblocks that make everything — medical care, food, fuel, electrical or telephone repairs — impossible or expensive to get. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) A bulldozer blocks an entrance to the army barracks, placed there by angry residents in Aguililla, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. It is part of an increasing trend in Mexico: Soldiers have been taken hostage by townspeople because they know troops won’t even defend themselves under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policy of “hugs, not bullets.” (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) A door riddled with bullet holes in an abandoned home in El Limoncito in Michoacan state, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The Mexican army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf — and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities just a few hundred yards away. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Rev. Gilberto Vergara blesses a person giving confession in Aguililla in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. “The most shameful thing is the absence of the government, which has become simply a spectator in a war that has left so many dead, so much destruction,” said Vergara, describing the residents’ frustration with the army’s reluctance to fight either of the two rival drug cartels. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) A villager talks about the damage to his truck that he claims was caused by gunshots fired by soldiers at an army barracks that residents have barricaded, in Aguililla, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. The army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf _ and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities just a few hundred yards away. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Soldiers patrol near the hamlet Plaza Vieja, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. The Mexican army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf — and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities just a few hundred yards away. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)