While what is described here is a legitimate political movement, it's important to remember most 'militias' in these contexts are very often funded by, part of, or become rival criminal groups.<p>I remember watching Vice lionize rival Cartel thugs as "fed up anti-Cartel paramilitaries". I had to laugh.
Its interesting that if you are sitting on top of something valuable its great, as long as its not <i>too</i> valuable. At a certain point people are willing to kill and cheat for something <i>really</i> valuable, and then if you are sitting on top of it, you're fucked.
<i>In Cherán, however, there was no such violence. Nor were there any avocados. Thirteen years ago, the town’s residents prevented corrupt officials and a local cartel from illegally cutting down native forests to make way for the crop. A group of locals took loggers hostage while others incinerated their trucks. Soon, townspeople had kicked out the police and local government, cancelled elections, and locked down the whole area. A revolutionary experiment was under way. Months later, Cherán reopened with an entirely new state apparatus in place. Political parties were banned, and a governing council had been elected; a reforestation campaign was undertaken to replenish the barren hills; a military force was chartered to protect the trees and the town’s water supply; some of the country’s most advanced water filtration and recycling programmes were created. And the avocado was outlawed.</i><p>Direct action gets the goods.
After reading, it appears the humble avocado might be better farmed vertically, using hydroponics, in region(s) with sufficient access to fresh water, and somewhere with the rule of law.<p>It appears to be as much of a "resource curse" as the drug trade is/was to Michoacán.
The ecological and political consequences of avocados appears harsh. The article touches on both of these points. But I have no idea how global consumption could be reduced without also causing harm.
Avocado trees are formidable plants. As tall as an Oak. They grow fast like Magnolias. I wish grocery stores in the US were forced to publish the amount of produce the thrash every month. It would be a good contrast to show how many $2.50 a piece avocados are sold versus and how many are thrashed.
As a Spaniard, I know México used to do it fine 50, 60, 100 years ago. Ditto with Argentina, albeit the level of violence and social issues are nowhere close to México. What happened?
> We finally managed to recall the first name of our point person on the council<p>How do you not have at least a hand scrawled itinerary ready to prompt you?<p>> Uli joked about our holdup at the checkpoint, but Marcos didn’t laugh<p>Why were they so unaware of the severity of the situation?<p>Is it uncharitable to say their behavior makes me question the caliber of their journalism?