Mexican indigenous Purépechas are on the warpath

Once again, it is an indigenous community that is showing us what people can do when they fight together against a common enemy.

In Cheran, a Purépecha region in the state of Michoacán, an entire community has taken up arms and imposed a state of siege to defend themselves and their forest from organized crime. They are doing it with old rifles, machetes, stones and everything that can be considered a weapon.

According to press reports, the conflict began in mid April, when a group of woodcutters, allegedly protected by the criminal organization known as La Familia, were detained by the comuneros of Cheran when they were transporting the trunks of hundreds of trees. It is estimated that more than 35,000 hectares of communal land have been illegally logged in the last several years.

 This is not the first time that the comuneros have seen woodcutters stealing lumber from their forest, but this time it was too much. The comuneros ambushed the woodcutters, apprehended and turned them into the authorities, who turned around and freed the criminals just hours later. That was the turning point:  The people of Cheran took justice in their own hands, firing the municipal police and deciding to defend themselves.

The multiple images taken by news organizations show the entire community –children, women, men and seniors – ready to take action. They are extremely angry and willing to fight for their rights even if they have to pay with their own lives.

 What the Purépechas are defending is their ancestral way of living and their rights to the land and the forest. They are rejecting the idea of being held hostage by organized crime members, who have extorted, kidnapped and killed several people in the community.

Neither the municipal or state and the federal government have paid much attention to the problem until now, when things are getting out of control.  As one of the comuneros said in a video, “the government is obliged to guarantee our rights to safety, but if they can’t do it, we have to do it”

This is the first time in recent history that an entire community transformed the ¡Ya Basta! shout (That’s enough!) into something other than a desperate cry. The Purépechas –as did the indigenous people of Chiapas in 1994– are showing us the power of unity. They are forcing authorities and the common people to look at them and to provide solutions for a problem that is affecting the entire country in different ways.

Unfortunately, they are showing us that public protests are not enough to provoke change. Although action is needed, they know too that sometimes action can result in more blood. 

The Purépechas are now on the warpath, fighting alone against organized crime, and as is common in Mexico, the authorities are reacting very slowly to the situation. What are they waiting for?

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Mike]

Great article :) thank you for spreading this information!

[Tom]

FINALLY! SOME HOPE! I did not think any part of the Mexican population had it in them... Gladly, I see I was wrong.

[dbigkanunna]

Too bad the Mexican gov will see to it these people are properly charged and prosecuted so the existing criminal element will not be inconvenienced.
What the US needs to do is send people like this proper means to defend themselves against criminals. And the Mexican government.

[pgillenw]

Great article! This has to occur all over Mexico.

An idea, have the U.S. arm the "good" illegals in America, ship them across the border and let them take a piece out of the Cartels and corrupted state servants.

Or, another idea. Have the U.S. Military send Mexican troops home to Mexico -- equipped with necessary gear to restore Mexico from a failed state to a Country with out Cartel violence. Heck they have been helping to do that in Iraq and Afghanistan of course it didn't work over there but it might in Mexico.