DIY justice: Mexico town expels cops, reclaims forest from illegal loggers
DIY justice: Mexico town expels cops, reclaims forest from illegal loggers
Loggers who terrorized community for years are protected by a criminal organization and given free pass by government, residents of Cheran say
By KARLA ZABLUDOVSKY
New York Times
updated 2 hours 19 minutes ago
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.
Cherán’s residents said they had been subjected to multiple episodes of rape, kidnapping, extortion and murder by the paramilitary loggers, who have devastated an estimated 70 percent of the surrounding oak forests that sustained the town’s economy and indigenous culture for centuries.
More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48478168/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/101637291
