Cheran: the Mexican city guarded by the most courageous women

World News Nilgun Salim
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In Mexico, organized crime is everywhere, even in the smallest settlements – except the city of Cheran.

Led by a group of powerful women from the hometown, the residents adopted a new policy aimed to protect their forests against criminals, while the authorities and the politicians are acting the goat.

These women were organizing secret meetings, in which they were conducting plans to stop the massive killings and kidnappings.

For more than three years they watched helplessly as hundreds of trucks loaded with logs were passing in front of their houses while the police officers were too afraid to intervene.

The cartels in Mexico are well known for their drug trafficking organizations. The worst part is that in the last five years, these cartels started to spread their domination in other fields, such as the production and the processing of wood.

‘I was worried’, confessed member of the defense group Margarita Elvira Romero.

‘If you cut the trees, the water will reduce. Our men have animals – which will not adapt if the waters disappear’, added Margarita.

Initially, the women went into the forest to negotiate with the woodcutters.

They were verbally abused and chased away. Although they tried to discuss with them and be civilized, the anger generated after the discussion with the woodcutters started a massive revolt.

The women blocked the main road and took hostage several lumberjacks.

‘Everyone was running on the streets with machetes’, said Melissa Fabian, who was 13 at the time.

‘The women covered their faces and ran from side to side’, revealed the teenager.

The municipal police came along with the mayor, while the woodcutter was struggling to free their fellows. The revolt resulted in the shooting of two lumberjacks, who ended up dying.

Since then, Cheran won back its independence. The police officers and the politicians from that time were replaced because the women believed they were corrupt. The old political parties from Cheran were dissolved and the women elected their own leaders.

Armed checkpoints were installed at every single entrance in the hometown.

Since the revolt, five years have passed, and the security points are still there.

‘I feel safe because I can walk the streets at night without being afraid that something might happen’, said Melissa, now a student at a college near Cheran.