{"id":18338,"date":"2018-08-15T00:53:59","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T07:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/?p=18338"},"modified":"2018-08-15T00:53:59","modified_gmt":"2018-08-15T07:53:59","slug":"cheran-names-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/2018\/08\/cheran-names-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Cher\u00e1n Names its Third Council of Elders to Their Communal Government"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By TV Cher\u00e1n<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday May 27, 2018, the indigenous Pur\u00e9pecha municipality of Cher\u00e1n, Michoac\u00e1n, named its Third Council of Elders (Consejo Mayor, Consejo de Keris) to their communal government.  <\/p>\n<p>Cher\u00e1n has been practicing a traditional form of self-government for seven years.  Earlier this year, on April 15, 2018, the community celebrated the seven-year anniversary of its uprising against what they all call today \u201cthe narco government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oDspeScGZrQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The narco government included a wide variety of characters.  Cartel thugs or \u201csicarios\u201d working alongside illegal loggers who conspired to ravish Cher\u00e1n\u2019s forests and anyone who got in their way.  Cher\u00e1n lost over 50 community members between 2007 and 2011.  Many of those simply disappeared, never to be seen again.<\/p>\n<p>When Cher\u00e1n rose up, the local mayor, his cabinet, and all the local police fled the community and left community members to fend for themselves.  This and many other details that would come to light during first months of the uprising exposed the collusion of local politicians and the police with organized crime and the very violent and illicit logging activity.<\/p>\n<p>When Cher\u00e1n rose up, over 300 campfire barricades were erected at intersections throughout the community.  An additional five checkpoints were established at entry roadways to the community.  As the police fled Cher\u00e1n, they also left their weapons, uniforms, and vehicles at the police barracks. The community recovered all of these elements to establish their \u201cronda comunitaria\u201d or community guard.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"18341\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/2018\/08\/cheran-names-government\/los-compas\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/los-compas.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1000,667\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 5D Mark II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1527509192&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;28&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0166666666667&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"los compas\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/los-compas.jpg?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/los-compas.jpg?fit=800%2C534&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/los-compas-800x534.jpg?resize=800%2C534\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-18341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/los-compas.jpg?resize=800%2C534&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/los-compas.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/los-compas.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/los-compas.jpg?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Nobody will say it on record to this day, but everyone knows that all cell phone service, all television service, and all radio service was shut off immediately after the uprising.  Cher\u00e1n was disconnected from the rest of the world. <\/p>\n<p>It was during this time that one of the most absolutely astonishing elements of the uprising came to function on a nightly basis:  the \u201cfogatas\u201d or campfire barricades.  Again, 300 of these barricades were erected throughout the community for security purposes, but they also became core meeting points and the basis for the collective decision making process that Cher\u00e1n established at that time and continues to practice today.<\/p>\n<p>Each fogata belongs to one of four neighborhoods in Cher\u00e1n: 1st barrio or Karh\u00e1kua, 2nd barrio or Jarhukutini, 3rd barrio or Ketsikua and 4th barrio or Par\u00edkutini, also jokingly known as Paris. The fogatas met every night during the uprising.  Each fogata would send proposals and a representative to neighborhood assemblies and then to community assemblies.  The fogata element of the communal government in Cher\u00e1n was the only new element. The neighborhood assemblies and the larger general assembly are part of the traditional forms of self-governance that Cher\u00e1n practiced 40 years earlier, before political parties and institutional forms of government came to the community.<\/p>\n<p>In the general assemblies, the community of Cher\u00e1n came to a consensus about returning to their traditional form of self-governance, which also included the establishment of governing councils.  This short film documents the naming of Cher\u00e1n\u2019s third Council of Elders, a process that takes place every three years. This naming marks the seventh year of self-governance in the community.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"18343\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/2018\/08\/cheran-names-government\/nin%cc%83a\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/nina.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1000,667\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 5D Mark II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1527438034&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;125&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.01&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"nina\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/nina.jpg?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/nina.jpg?fit=800%2C534&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/nina-800x534.jpg?resize=800%2C534\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-18343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/nina.jpg?resize=800%2C534&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/nina.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/nina.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/nina.jpg?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Sunday May 27, 2018, the indigenous Pur\u00e9pecha municipality of Cher\u00e1n, Michoac\u00e1n, named its Third Council of Elders (Consejo Mayor, Consejo de Keris) to their communal government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[322,320,317],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pueblo.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18338"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}