Since 1994, Global Exchange’s Peace and Justice program with Mexico has been deeply rooted in building solidarity across borders, and that work continues to grow in 2025. As part of our commitment to deeper understanding and collaboration, we’re launching this English-language newsletter. It will feature key stories from our partners on the ground in Mexico, including human rights analysis, social movement updates, action alerts, videos, and ways to get involved. We welcome your reflections, questions, and solidarity as we continue the fight for justice across borders.
In this first issue, we bring you a powerful story of grassroots resistance and how government forces and organized crime often work in tandem to silence it.
Our story begins in the towns of Cherán and Ostula in Michoacán, two autonomous Indigenous communities under critical threat. We then take a look at the recent Constitutional reforms that analyst Alexandra Helfgoot calls “legalized military espionage” due to their overreach into citizens’ privacy and human rights.
Cherán and Ostula: Recent Attacks on Indigenous Resistance and Autonomous Communities
Although Cherán, in its native Purépecha language, means “a place of fear,” this has not been the case for over a decade. During this time, the community of Cherán, Michoacán, Mexico stood together to autonomously govern, patrol, and make decisions over its population and lands. Like many places in Mexico, Cherán faced deep interference from corrupt political actors and organized crime groups seeking control over its valuable resources, most notably, lumber.
In 2011, the Indigenous Purépecha people of Cherán fought back against illegal loggers backed by organized crime, driving them out along with the politicians and police who often worked hand in hand with them. Through solidarity, self-governance, and self-defense, Cherán became one of the safest communities in the crime-ridden state of Michoacán. There had not been a single killing since 2011—until recently.
On July 2, 2025, Cherán was attacked by armed individuals attempting to invade its communal forest lands. One community guard was killed and another injured. In a statement, the Cherán community denounced the assault as an attempt to harm and intimidate them—part of a broader effort to regain control over their territory.
At the same time, the autonomous Indigenous community of Santa María Ostula faced a similar attack by the same cartel group. Unlike Cherán, Ostula’s Nahua community has faced years of violent attacks, largely due to the Mexican government’s refusal to recognize the full extent of their territory and the richness of its natural resources—including iron, lumber, biodiversity, and coastal access used by organized crime as drug trafficking routes. Ostula is currently engaged in a legal battle to obtain full territorial recognition.
Alarming New Security Reforms to Expand Military Powers
In 2019, President López Obrador and the Permanent Constituent Assembly enacted a constitutional reform that replaced the Federal Police with the National Guard. At the time, civil society accurately predicted Mexico’s slide toward authoritarianism.
Now, the Mexican government has passed a sweeping set of reforms that significantly expand military authority and surveillance powers. These measures were fast-tracked during an extraordinary legislative session between June 23 and July 2, 2025, and have been described by critics of the ruling Morena party as “legalized military espionage.”
Of the 22 reforms, the three most significant include:
- National Guard Law: Approved with 349 votes in favor and 132 against, this law formally establishes the National Guard as a permanent and professional public security force composed of military personnel trained in policing. It also allows members of the National Guard to run for and hold public office.
- National Intelligence and Investigation System Law: This legislation grants the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection, along with the National Guard, access to a wide range of public and private data—including vehicle and license plate information, biometric and phone data, firearm registries, property records, and tax information—for the purpose of preventing or investigating violent crimes.
- National Public Security System Law: This law creates a National Information System, a comprehensive database accessible to security institutions and the National Guard. These registries include data on arrests, criminal incidents, court orders, protective measures for women and children, and records of stolen or recovered vehicles.
How Could This Affect Cherán and Ostula?
The unprecedented Constitutional reforms passed under President Sheinbaum confirm the deepening alliance between the executive and the military—an alliance that has historically worked to target human rights advocates and Indigenous communities, like the case of the disappearance of 43 Indigenous students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero in 2016, where members of the Mexican military were found guilty of colluding with members of the organized crime as part of this unsolved crime.
The possibility of military incursion is no longer abstract, it is an imminent threat. If Cherán were to be “reclaimed” by a mainstream political party, it would dismantle more than a decade of peace-building and self-governance. And as state surveillance and militarized policing become normalized, communities like Cherán will be increasingly vulnerable to state-sanctioned violence and attacks on their rights.
What You Can Do
The struggle for peace and justice in Cherán and Ostula is not isolated, it’s tied to a larger system of militarization, state violence, and resource extraction that reaches across borders.
- Add your name in support of Cherán’s demands for safety, peace, and justice as outlined in their public statements.
➤ Sign here - Hear directly from Cherán. Join us for a live meeting and report back:
“Cherán: La Experiencia de Construcción de Paz”
🗓️ Thursday, July 24 🕙 10:00 AM CDMX / 12:00 PM EST ➤ Click here to join the meeting