Indigenous Mexican communities boycott elections

From Rio Grande Digital - Two indigenous communities in the violence-torn Mexican state of Michoacan will not participate in the state elections set for Nov. 13. Representatives of the Nahua community of Osutla and the Purepecha community of Cheran reiterated this week their intentions of boycotting the vote. In a communiqué, representatives of Osutla declared they will not permit the installation of polling stations and instead choose their leaders based on traditional customs. Situated in a coastal zone dominated by organized crime, Ostula is embroiled in a land ownership conflict that’s resulted in the deaths or disappearances of at least 16 community members this year alone, according to Professor Maria del Carmen Ventura Patino, a researcher with the Colegio de Michoacan. Landlocked Cheran is immersed in a similar conflict with organized crime groups, though the immediate point of contention is the illegal logging that’s left the community’s forests devastated, according to town leaders. Since April, the 18,000-member community has been in a state of resistance. In a popular uprising, townspeople sacked a mayor from the PRI political party, dismissed the police force, barricaded the entrances and exits to the community and imposed a midnight curfew for security purposes. Read more

Indigenous Mexican communities boycott elections