Michoacán burning

For about a month or so, the community of Cherán in Michoacán have fought against talamontes or illegal loggers who not only destroy their forests, but also have murdered those who try to stop them. The comuneros or Cherán went as far as to take matters into their own hands last week, setting up roadblocks, and at the same time calling for intervention from the federal army,

Cherán is an indigenous Purépecha community of around 18,000 inhabitants, yet illegal logging, tied directly to violent organized criminal gangs, affect many other communities as well. Even Joaquín López-Dóriga, writing in Milenio, took note of the events in Cherán, which seems to be one of the very first when a community takes up arms against organized crime.

Here is the story covered in English by the Voice for Human Rights.

It appears that finally, following a month of pleas, the military has now arrived in Cherán