Indigenous communities throughout Mexico protest presidential election, press for self-rule

• Residents have banned political parties, destroyed protest signs, patrolled streets for campaign paraphernalia, and blocked ballot delivery throughout small towns in the western state of Michoacán as anti-government sentiment has grown.
• Seven municipalities covering 16 towns and at least 50,000 voters have decided to opt out of the election, and Maya communities in Guerrero and Chiapas have begun mobilizing as well.
• Although popular leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has advocated for Mexico’s indigenous communities in the past, historical and ongoing neglect by and corruption in the government has led many indigenous Mexicans to disengage and push for greater autonomy.

Read

“Indigenous Mexicans spurn presidential vote with blockades, bulldozers” (Reuters | June 2018)

“The Mexican indigenous community that ran politicians out of town” (The Guardian | April 2018)

“Mexico’s Indigenous Council Continues Campaign Despite Violence” (teleSUR English | January 2018)