Mexico indigenous group vows election boycott in land dispute

BOLA OS, Mexico: Members of Mexico’s Wixarika indigenous group threatened Wednesday to boycott the country’s upcoming elections and block all access to their communities if vast swathes of their ancestral lands are not returned.

The Wixarika, who live in the mountains of western Mexico and are known for their lusciously colorful artwork, are fighting to get back 25,000 acres of land they say has been invaded by cattle ranchers.

A court has ruled in their favour, but they say heavily armed ranchers continue to chase them from their land, as the authorities turn a blind eye.

In protest, the Wixarika set up four roadblocks outside their communities last week and began blocking access to all political candidatesandcampaignmaterial, at a time when Mexico is in full campaign mode for presidential, legislative and local elections on July 1.

On Wednesday, they went a step further, announcing they would block all access to the municipalities of Mezquitic and Bolanos, in the western state of Jalisco, starting at midnight, and refuse to let electoral authorities in to organise the upcoming polls.

“We are going to block all roads. Tomorrow morning we will close all the schools, too, if we don’t get a good answer today from President Enrique Pena Nieto,” said community leader Santos Hernandez.