18 May 2011

MEXICO: Indigena Michoacan Residents Defy Narcos.

AP/ M.HERALD/GUSTAVO RUIZ AND ALEXANDRA OLSON /2 screen read combined

    The Purepecha people of Cheran, a mountain town of 16,000 in Michoacan, are defending their way of life against the narcos.
   They have erected blockades of tires and sandbags to stop illegal loggers backed by the violent and dangerous drug thugs.
   "There is no fear here," said one young man. "Here we are fighting a David-and-Goliath battle because we are standing up to organized crime, which is no small adversary."
    It's also one of the first known challenges to Mexico's narco-led reign of blood and terror.