José Guadalupe Mora Chávez reported that the practice of extorting lime producers and all merchants continues in the Tierra Caliente region.
“The government protects criminals, not the people,” said the brother of Hipólito Mora, speaking on the third anniversary of the death of the man who founded the self-defense groups in Michoacán.
According to Lupe Mora, who serves as the local authority leader (*jefe de tenencia*) in La Ruana, the criminal group known as Los Viagra continues to extort those who produce, pack, and transport limes across all municipalities in Tierra Caliente.
However, according to the late Hipólito’s brother, the extortion is not limited to citrus growers but extends to all merchants in the region.
He cited the price of meat as an example: “We used to pay 240 pesos per kilo for beef, and now we pay 280.” He added that “the people remain the ones most affected.”
Mora Chávez spoke at the third-anniversary commemoration of his brother’s death, held at the PRI State Committee headquarters in Michoacán. There, he also complained of being “abandoned by the federal government,” despite the constant threat he faces from the same criminal group that killed his brother three years ago.
Hipólito Mora, a former leader of the Michoacán self-defense groups, was killed on June 29, 2023, following an attack in the community of La Ruana—located in the municipality of Buenavista—in which two of his bodyguards also lost their lives.
