Reclaiming the Forests and the Right to Feel Safe

NY Times: Karla Zabludovsky. CHERÁN, Mexico — The woman’s exhausted eyes reflected the flames dancing in front of her. A 38-year-old grandmother, she is also a leader of the civilian insurgency that has taken over this mountain town in the state of Michoacán, 310 miles west of Mexico City. Sixteen months of cold and sleepless nights at Bonfire No. 17, one of a number of permanent burning barricades set up here, have taken their toll.

But like the rest of the residents, she cannot afford to let her guard down.

On the morning of April 15, 2011, using rocks and fireworks, a group of women attacked a busload of AK-47-armed illegal loggers as they drove through Cherán, residents said. The loggers, who local residents say are protected by one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations and given a virtual free pass by the country’s authorities, had terrorized the community at will for years. Read more.

Action Alert: Support the Indigenous Community of Cheran, Michoacan

On April 18, 2012, the villagers Santiago Ceja Alonzo and David Campos Macías were killed, and Salvador Olivares Sixtos and Santiago Charicata Servín were injured in an ambush in El Puerto, in the community of Cherán, Michoacán.

The undersigned strongly condemn this crime against the indigenous community and the assassinations and demand that the federal and state government:

• Punish those guilty of the murders, abductions, disappearances and extortion committed in Cherán as a result of the legitimate defense of their territory and natural resources.
   
• Halt harassment of the community and disband paramilitary groups that operate in conjunction with organized crime and illegal loggers from different communities, who for for years have extorted, kidnapped, disappeared and killed villagers in the region.
   
• End illegal logging and the devastation of forests in Cherán.
   
• Recognize and respect for the purhépecha autonomous government of Cherán, and respect for their traditional forms of communal security and justice.

To add your signature to the list, email firmasporcheran@gmail.com

Signed:

Laura Carlsen, Mikael Rojas, Noam Chomsky, Raúl Zibechi, Javier Sicilia, Gilberto López y Rivas, Alicia Castellanos Guerrero, Pietro Ameglio, Brisa Solís, Héctor de la Cueva, Alberto Cortés, Ricardo Trabulsi, Heriberto Rodríguez, Santiago Alba Rico, escritor, España-Túnez, SERPAJ -Colectivo Pensar en Voz Alta, Centro de Derechos Humanos Tlachinollan

For full list of signatories, visit this post by our partners at desinformemonos.org 

Mexican indigenous town temporarily holds 16 police officers to demand probe in killings

The Republic: Residents of an indigenous town in western Mexico where eight townsfolk were killed temporarily locked 16 police officers in an office to demand an investigation, authorities said Thursday.

Michoacan state secretary of government Jesus Reyna said the officers were held late Wednesday in the town of Cheran after arriving to check on an attack hours earlier that killed eight and wounded two.

A statement from Reyna's office said 13 officers were released late Thursday. The other three were freed earlier in the day. read more

Mexican indigenous community holds 14 police after killings

Associated Press: Inhabitants of an indigenous community in western Mexico detained 14 police officers and a local official after eight of their neighbors were killed by illegal loggers.

Thursday's detention was the latest flare-up of tension between the community in Cheran, Michoacan state, illegal loggers, armed gangs and the police.

"They took our colleagues to punish us because supposedly we were not patrolling the area well," said a state police officer, declining to give his name.

The state government was trying to reach a deal to free the detainees, he said. read more

¡No Mas Sangre!: In Mexico, forests fall prey to crime mafias

In Mexico, forests fall prey to crime mafias - The Washington Post: "CHERAN, Mexico — When outlaw loggers with automatic weapons invaded the mountains and cut down the ancient woods — and once again the government failed to stop them — this town said enough.

Now every stranger entering Cheran is stopped at barricades made of logs, guarded by locals who cover their faces in masks. In the surrounding forest, a homegrown militia toting rifles creeps through the underbrush, signaling the way forward with bird calls, on daily patrols to protect their timber."