• ENG
  • ESP

  • X
  • Google +
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • email
  • Copiar enlace
Scott Brennan

PHOTOGRAPHY

  • PHOTOGRAPHY
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • WORK
  • SINGLES
  • FOR SALE
  • UPCOMING
  • Search

Santa MarIa de Ostula

This project is a detailed look at the indigenous, semi-autonomous municipality of Ostula (Santa Maria Ostula).  Located on the largely undeveloped coast of Michoacan in southern Mexico, the area is known for violent drug cartels, transnational extraction and tourism industries at odds with a strong indigenous Nahuatl culture with vast land holdings. Ostula has been targeted by powerful interests who wish to dispossess them of their territory. Between 2006 and 2014 the notorious organized crime outfits ‘la familia Michoacána’ and ‘los caballeros templarios’ began operations in Ostula. Ranchers from neighboring municipalities, supported by these groups, began encroaching upon Ostula’s homelands. Speculators from mining conglomerates Ternium, Hylsa, Sicartsa, and Metal Steel scouted mineral rich locations. During this period they unlawfully secured 38 massive geographic concessions for future exploitation in Ostula.

In 2009 Ostula started organizing to put a stop to the intrusions. Their first step was to organize a rural, autonomous police force with members exclusively from the community. This force began with farmers armed with vintage hunting rifles and machetes and (eventually) modern weapons confiscated from organized crime. Their next step was to recover land, an approximate 2,500 square acres that had been illegally occupied. The response was immediate. From 2009 to 2014, in a community of only two thousand inhabitants, 41 community land rights activists were murdered. Official complaints were lodged with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the OAS. The IACHR repeatedly requested the Mexican government to ensure safety and justice for Ostula. Both Ostula and the IACHR have been ignored. Over the next three years Ostula suffered further violence and assassinations. In one instance, during a peaceful protest, a 12 year old boy was accidentally killed when the Mexican military opened fire. Nobody has been held responsible.

Despite such setbacks, Ostula persisted. In 2014 Ostula succeeded in its most important goal. Organized crime left and the armed conflict ended within the territory’s boundaries. This is a feat achieved in very few areas of Mexico.

OTHER WORKS

COCK FIGHT

COCK FIGHT

1 October, 2016

read more

COCA

COCA

2 October, 2016

read more

EL PASO

EL PASO

3 October, 2016

read more

THAW

THAW

4 October, 2016

read more

CASA XOCHIQUETZAL

CASA XOCHIQUETZAL

5 October, 2016

read more

OBAMA INAUGURATION

OBAMA INAUGURATION

6 October, 2016

read more

LOS ESTAMOS ESPERANDO

LOS ESTAMOS ESPERANDO

7 October, 2016

read more

CHERAN K´ERI

CHERAN K´ERI

8 October, 2016

read more

SANTA MARIA DE OSTULA

SANTA MARIA DE OSTULA

25 November, 2018

read more

SAN LORENZO DE AZQUELTAN

SAN LORENZO DE AZQUELTAN

25 November, 2018

read more

scottbrennanphoto@gmail.com


SHARE

© 2016 Scott Brennan. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Scott Brennan.


BACK TO TOP

DESIGN BY: GRAF STUDIO
CHERAN K´ERI SAN LORENZO DE AZQUELTAN
Scroll to top