Cherán is a small mountain town located in the state of Michoachan, Mexico. This indigenous community is the first self-defense group of the country to have granted rights against criminal organizations and corrupt local government. They rose up in arms in 2011, tired of the narco-violence that has plagued their community for many years and has devastated 70% of the sacred oak forest that sustains the town’s economy and indigenous culture. Since then, they live under their own political and security system, that remains the only one effective in the country, with the community guard who keeps watch of the forest and the entrances of the town.
