Violence continues to escalate in Mexico's west-central state of Michoacán, with bus transportation suspended to the towns of Apatzingán, Buenavista, Tepalcatepec and Coalcomán following a series of clashes there April 28, leaving the area effectively cut off from the outside world. At least 10 were killed in the area, in the state's Tierra Caliente region, April 29. The municipal presidency building in Buenavista remains under occupation by the Community Police, a citizen's self-defense patrol, which has seized public buildings in the town, accusing the "official" authorities of being in league with narco gangs. Several families from Buenavista have been displaced by the fighting there, and have taken refuge in Apatzingán. (Reuters [5], April 29; Milenio [6], Radio Formula [7], April 28)
Meanwhile, a battle between groups of inmates left 13 dead and another 65 injured at La Pila prison in the capital of the central state of San Luis Potosi April 27. (Al Jazeera [8], April 28; La Jornada [9], April 27)
Mexico has seen a wave of prison riots and jailbreaks [10] in recent months.
