In April 2011, the Purépecha community of Cherán in the state of Michoacán declared its autonomy by separating itself from the Mexican political system as a means of defending its forests and ancestral territories. At the beginning of the war against organized crime undertaken by Felipe Calderón, 2008, Cherán suffered the excessive felling of his forests by the cartels established in the area. After several years of uselessly requesting the protection of the federal and state government, the inhabitants of Cherán decided to install barricades at the village entrances, organize a community police, expel the municipal government and recover the sovereignty of their territories ending illegal logging of its forests. Before the community managed to regain peace, it went through a period of six months in which it was besieged and several of its leaders were killed by members of the cartels. Finally, they established their own form of government and successfully overthrew political parties. In 2016, the community celebrated its fifth anniversary since they regained their traditional forms of government and their autonomy. Cherán K’eri is an example of the growing number of communities in Latin America that due to socio-economic and environmental problems live in resistance to achieve cultural, political and economic self-determination.