Forced indigenous displacement for Purépecha people due to insecurity in Michoacán

Abstract

This article analyzes the forced displacement of the Purépecha indigenous people in Michoacán (2020-2025) as a manifestation of historical structural violence, rooted in colonial dispossessions and exacerbated by contemporary criminal capitalism. Through semi-structured interviews, life histories, and participant observation with communities such as Cherán and Nahuatzen, it demonstrates that organized crime—in collusion with authorities and businesses—usurps land through illegal logging, forest fires, and extortion, fracturing the indigenous social fabric. The research reveals three interconnected dimensions:

1. Systematic territorial dispossession, where cartels control natural resources and local governments, generating forced migrations;
2. Resistance strategies based on self-governance systems (Jarhojperakua [mutual aid], Pamguarikua [community stewardship]) facing repression;
3. Profound psychosocial consequences, including uinapikua (soul pain) and biocultural fracture upon abandoning sacred territories.

The findings demonstrate that the Mexican state, by lacking a federal law against displacement and official registries, deepens Indigenous vulnerability. In the face of restrictive asylum policies in the United States of America, communities such as the "Purépecha in exile"—located in places like Tijuana, Baja California—recreate cultural practices as a form of resistance. The study concludes by underscoring the need to legally recognize forced displacement, protect community autonomies, and implement migration policies with an ethnic-based approach to address this humanitarian crisis.