SMA PROGRAMS: indigenous rights:
Five Communities Fighting for Justice from Ejido Assemblies to Superior Courts

SMA has been working for the recognition of the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Sierra Madre in five important and complicated cases. In each, indigenous communities who have ancestral occupation of the land have been victims of repeated frauds, which left them in the precarious condition of possession without any recognized rights. They also face threats from criminals, drug mafias, aggressive mestizos, and corrupt civil servants in a context in which impunity and injustice have prevailed. This extremely precarious situation has threatened the survival of these peoples, their culture, and their sacred forests.

One of the main problems faced by indigenous communities in Mexico is the ejido system, imposed on indigenous peoples, without taking into account the ways the original occupants of the land made use of their territories. While in theory in the ejido system decisions should be taken through voting in assemblies, indigenous populations very seldom have the chance to effectively participate in decision-making. Aggressive mestizos often dominate the ejido assemblies and perpetrate all types of frauds to prevent the indigenous people from having a voice.