• ELECTION: A raging war between drug gangs in the western state of Michoacán that has left the small municipality of Aguililla under siege since at least December will impede authorities to install polling booths during Mexico’s Sunday midterm elections, officials told Reforma newspaper.
• VIOLENCE: A long-standing conflict between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and other criminal groups -including the so-called Cárteles Unidos- for the control of the area around Aguililla (pop. 14, 700) has left roads blocked, scores of gunfire, hundreds of people seeking refuge and burned bodies in public view.
• MAP: “There are definitely no (security) conditions in Aguililla. There are also displaced people. Not even the government can enter”, a state elections official told REFORMA newspaper. “In other municipalities it seems difficult to open 100 percent of polling booths. But Aguililla is not even on the electoral map”.
• POPULATION: Mexico’s most recent census showed Aguilla had lost 9 percent of its population between 2010 and 2020. Like other Michoacán towns, Aguililla has historically contributed to worker migration flows to the US. More recently however, violence has forced some locals to seek asylum at the US southern border.
