COMMUNITIES SERVED BY SMA:
Coloradas De La Virgin

Coloradas de la Virgen is a community of 360 Tarahumara families spread over 148,000 acres
of pine forest, oak savanna, and canyonland, located fifteen miles west of Baborigame but in a different world. While power in Baborigame is divided among a number of timber barons and drug lords, for decades Coloradas has been dominated by one family—the Fontes. Between 1986 and 1994, at least thirty-six Tarahumara were murdered in Coloradas, leaving behind thirty-six widows and 110 children. These women, left with nothing to lose, have formed the fiercest resistance to the Fontes, which continues to this day.

Since 2002, SMA has supported the community as they struggled in court and in the forest to stop Fontes-controlled logging. In February, 2003, the logging was suspended by a court order enforced by a community blockade, led by widows and elders. Tarahumara leader Isidro Baldenegro López was imprisoned on false charges shortly after this blockade; SMA is leading an international campaign for his release. Our partners have generated strong support for Isidro from a number of indigenous and human rights organizations in Mexico and the world.

SMA is supporting community organizing and planning for watershed restoration and the development of alternatives to drug producing in the region. The Tarahumara and their supporters hope to protect the remaining old-growth forests of Coloradas de la Virgen.