Mexican Activist Killed In String Of Attacks Against Indigenous Organizations

Mexican Activist Killed In String Of Attacks Against Indigenous Organizations Photo: Campanur Social Media Page

La Cartita (01/20/2018) --- Guadalupe Campanur Tapia, an active member of the autonomous community of Cheran, Michoacan, México, was found dead on Tuesday (1/15). Campanur had been active in the Cheran community's autonomous governing council, a project long opposed by México's political class and local elements of organized crime because of its staunch opposition to electoral politics. Her lifeless body was found 17km away from Cheran, on the side of a road between the townships of Santa Cruz Tanaco y Carapan, Michoacan - she was strangled.

Salvador Campanur, her uncle and ex mayor of Cheran, believes it was elements of organized crime that perpetuated the act. Her siblings work and reside in the United States, as do others in this economically poor but extremely well organized community in rural Mexico. Salvador noted that the act would not have occured in Cheran due to the highly sophisticated community police force (autodefensas) there. Guadalupe had formed part of that force's governing council, and the community is routinely harrased by official and paramilitary forces.