Viva brave Purepecha people - By Mike Bibb, columnist
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Viva brave people of Purepecha
By Mike Bibb
columnist
Published on Sunday, June 5,
2011 4:23 PM MST
With all the negative news coming out of Mexico regarding the
savagery of the drug cartels and our government's quasi-efforts to control our
southern border, there has recently been a little-noticed revolt quietly
smoldering in the mountains and valleys of the central Mexican state of
Michoacan, about 200 miles west of Mexico City.
Surprisingly, the uprising is not so much over drugs but trees. Specifically, how the two are tied together.
In Cheran, a small community of about 16,000 inhabitants at an altitude of 7,800 feet, the indigenous Purepecha (poo-ray-pecha) people of this area have taken up guns, clubs, knives and machetes against gangs of cartel-sponsored lumber thieves.
Believed to be members of the La Familia drug organization, the thieves moved into the pine-clad highlands and began cutting down hundreds of acres of forest and then processing and transporting the timber with portable sawmills and trucks.
Logging represents about 20 percent of the local economy and is one of the primary sources of income for the Purepecha. It has been for centuries. It is also an important resource for their wood-constructed buildings, furniture, cork, cook stoves, heating, resin collection and ancient medicine concoctions.
The irony of this rebellion is that the citizens of Cheran have several guns to defend themselves. In Mexico, there is no Second Amendment right to bear arms, and private ownership of firearms is strictly prohibited, so how did they manage to acquire the weapons?
They simply stormed the local police station and confiscated them, then began giving the gang members a taste of their own medicine.
The cops, who are mostly on the payroll of the drug captains, quickly vacated the vicinity, along with gunmen who had killed two of the residents.
Following the shoot-out, the locals rapidly barricaded the town, set up checkpoints along the primary road and patrolled the surrounding area in search of suspicious individuals. "This fight is not for a month or a year. It's for life," said one of the defenders. True, in more ways than one.
It was a very courageous stand, indeed. This incident was reminiscent of our Lexington and Concord, only no smartly uniformed Red Coats with muskets were involved – just barbaric murderers toting AK-47 automatic military assault rifles who have killed more than 35,000 Mexican nationals.
Like most bullies, when resistance begins to take place they pull back or move on to softer targets.
Opposition to unlawful authority isn't new to the Purepecha. Even after several attempts, the mighty Aztecs were unable to conquer them, nor could the advances of the Spanish Conquistadores in the 1500s until a smallpox epidemic, introduced by the Spaniards, decimated a large portion of the Purepecha population.
While the citizens of Cheran have won the first round, it remains to be seen if they can continue the struggle against a well-financed and heavily armed adversary. The Mexi-can Army has arrived to lend assistance, but I'm betting on the determination of the Purepecha.
Obviously, stubbornness is in their DNA. After hundreds of years of conflicts involving various intruders, volcano eruptions, economic upheavals and other threatening calamities, they've proven to be hardy survivors and pretty tough hombres.
Eventually, maybe similar acts of defiance in other Mexican towns will take root to slow the onslaught of the drug gangs. Even more importantly, the Mexican government should take note and repeal its prohibition against private gun ownership.
The citizens of Cheran have demonstrated an ability to repel the gangs when they have the right tools to fight with. Additional armed communities could replicate their success. Besides, the army can't be everywhere.
Surprisingly, the uprising is not so much over drugs but trees. Specifically, how the two are tied together.
In Cheran, a small community of about 16,000 inhabitants at an altitude of 7,800 feet, the indigenous Purepecha (poo-ray-pecha) people of this area have taken up guns, clubs, knives and machetes against gangs of cartel-sponsored lumber thieves.
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Believed to be members of the La Familia drug organization, the thieves moved into the pine-clad highlands and began cutting down hundreds of acres of forest and then processing and transporting the timber with portable sawmills and trucks.
Logging represents about 20 percent of the local economy and is one of the primary sources of income for the Purepecha. It has been for centuries. It is also an important resource for their wood-constructed buildings, furniture, cork, cook stoves, heating, resin collection and ancient medicine concoctions.
The irony of this rebellion is that the citizens of Cheran have several guns to defend themselves. In Mexico, there is no Second Amendment right to bear arms, and private ownership of firearms is strictly prohibited, so how did they manage to acquire the weapons?
They simply stormed the local police station and confiscated them, then began giving the gang members a taste of their own medicine.
The cops, who are mostly on the payroll of the drug captains, quickly vacated the vicinity, along with gunmen who had killed two of the residents.
Following the shoot-out, the locals rapidly barricaded the town, set up checkpoints along the primary road and patrolled the surrounding area in search of suspicious individuals. "This fight is not for a month or a year. It's for life," said one of the defenders. True, in more ways than one.
It was a very courageous stand, indeed. This incident was reminiscent of our Lexington and Concord, only no smartly uniformed Red Coats with muskets were involved – just barbaric murderers toting AK-47 automatic military assault rifles who have killed more than 35,000 Mexican nationals.
Like most bullies, when resistance begins to take place they pull back or move on to softer targets.
Opposition to unlawful authority isn't new to the Purepecha. Even after several attempts, the mighty Aztecs were unable to conquer them, nor could the advances of the Spanish Conquistadores in the 1500s until a smallpox epidemic, introduced by the Spaniards, decimated a large portion of the Purepecha population.
While the citizens of Cheran have won the first round, it remains to be seen if they can continue the struggle against a well-financed and heavily armed adversary. The Mexi-can Army has arrived to lend assistance, but I'm betting on the determination of the Purepecha.
Obviously, stubbornness is in their DNA. After hundreds of years of conflicts involving various intruders, volcano eruptions, economic upheavals and other threatening calamities, they've proven to be hardy survivors and pretty tough hombres.
Eventually, maybe similar acts of defiance in other Mexican towns will take root to slow the onslaught of the drug gangs. Even more importantly, the Mexican government should take note and repeal its prohibition against private gun ownership.
The citizens of Cheran have demonstrated an ability to repel the gangs when they have the right tools to fight with. Additional armed communities could replicate their success. Besides, the army can't be everywhere.
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