Hector Torres, a producer of avocados, carries a pistol in his hand. In the municipality of Tancitaro, in the heart of the Mexican state of Michoacán, it is not uncommon to see the armed peasants. A pistol gives more security than the presence of the Mexican army. Torres is a member of self-defense or armed militias: “I inherited these lands from my father. The father, for his part, did it for his grandfather. Every tree you see is a member of the family.”

Tancitaro is the world's largest producer of avocados. The lands of Michoacán are volcanic and very fertile in all the seasons of the year. Tancitaro is called the capital of the avocado world. Fruit production reports profits of $5 million each year. “Avocado is a thank you tree. Five years after planting, it bears fruit and flourishes every four months. Here all families work in the production of the fruit: sowing, harvesting or packaging,” explains Torres. The profits are so high that one hectare costs EUR 120,000. No wonder that in Mexico, avocado is called green gold.

In any case, Tancitaro seems like a fortified municipality. At all the entrances there are barricades and the producers make rounds. In this corner of Michoacán, the avocado producers and the drug cartels Knights Templarios have starred in a bloody war. “Drug traffickers have tried to steal our lands. It has attracted the smells of money,” explains the producer.

Torres perfectly remembers the moment when the Knights Templar first arrived: “Ten years ago we were presented peacefully. They told us they wanted to make methamphetamine in the woods. They paved the roads and built the power grid. They got yours and we kept ours.” However, drug traffickers who control the drug market soon realized that avocado gave more money than methamphetamine. “In a few months they began to collect a fee of 3,000 pesos (about 130,000 euros). They kidnapped producers and their families who did not bend over their threats.”

Creation of self-defenses

The mayor of Tancitaro was then Hector's brother: Salvador Torres “When the threats got worse, we asked the government of Felipe Calderón for help. It didn't help. The state opened the army, but the extortion, the kidnapping, the robberies and the murders were maintained – the former politician recalls – our cousin was kidnapped three times. The third time he didn’t come back.”

The people of Tancitaro are convinced that the army was turning a blind eye to the drug traffickers: “That’s why we create community forces. The owners of the lands of Ahuakate met us in secret and decided to take justice on our own,” Salvador said. So neighbors bought weapons and made a self-defense movement. Step 1: Expel the Mexican police and army from Tancitaro and start from scratch.

The most well-known face of the community force that spread to every corner of Michoacán is José Manuel Mireles. The former surgeon still has the support of the self-defense forces. That's why it's probably the main goal of drug cartels, and don't sleep in the same place for more than a day. Mireles agrees to meet us at a hotel on the coast of Michoacán: “The Mexican Government is completely corrupted. The money of drug traffickers can buy from any politician. This is a narco statue.” For the political leader, the only person responsible for the daily violence that reigns in Mexico is the government, not organized crime: “The state has completely abandoned most of the corners of our country. What have the drug cartels done? They have taken advantage of these voids or bought politicians to create loopholes.”

Mireles believes that Mexicans have felt helpless for too many years: “The unfortunate narcos thus obtained control of the land. They approached the owner of the garden and offered him 1,000 pesos (44 euros) for one hectare that cost one million pesos (44,000 euros). If the owner said no, they would say: “If you don’t want, we’ll offer it to your widow.” Finally, the husband, wife, children, grandchildren and local neighbours were killed. Why? For no one to claim the land.”

The self-defence leader has recalled that the Community police released 3,700 hectares of avocado from the claws of the narcos. All without heirs.

Institutionalization of the struggle

It is clear to Mireles that when self-defenses are reassured by organised crime they will take over Michoacán again. “They want us to tread every day, they want to steal our lands every day... If it is not an organized crime, it is a government that protects drug traffickers. The people have understood that the only way to be free is to defend ourselves for ourselves. We can’t trust anyone.”

However, in recent times there have been clashes between the Mexican Army and the self-defense forces. The military has carried out several operations to disarm the Community police, which has been arrested, from the weapons. In fact, the government of Enrique Peña Nieto has decided to restore the "order" of Michoacán, which is the principal Community executive. The strategy of the State is to divide the self-defense movement. Thus, in 2014, Mireles was imprisoned under the administration of ownership of illegal weapons of war. The self-defense leader, who has been in prison for three years, has suffered two heart attacks while in prison.

State violence has led to a deep debate between the self-defence forces and the demonstrators have denounced. Continue fighting or institutionalizing the struggle? In Tancitaro, for example, the Community forces have created a security structure called CUSEPT (Public Security Corps of Tancitaro), whose mission is to guarantee security. Young people who were just farmers before the war become policemen. They're dressed like the military and wearing assault rifles. Is it possible that these young people also fall into corruption sooner or later? The Torres brothers don't think so: “They are young people of the people and therefore they love their lands. In addition, they have a high wage.” Mireles sadly says that the self-defense movement has betrayed the initial spirit: “The moment the struggle becomes official, it stops being fought.”

Deforestation

Avocado comes from the Ahuacatl auto-aztec language and has a very visual meaning: the testicle of the tree. The fruit hangs on the tree until it falls to the ground by weight. The avocado grown in Mexico is of the Hass type, that is, a hybrid between the original Creole tree and the Hass variant.

90% of the avocados produced in Michoacán are exported to the United States. In any case, international demand has grown significantly in recent years: “We are increasingly feeling the pressure of the European and Japanese market. In Europe it has been designated the fruit of fashion. In Japan, it’s a key element for sushi making,” explains Torres. This has led to an inevitable increase in production. In Mexico, an average of 10 hectares of avocado are planted every day. Luis Miguel Morales is a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and an expert in deforestation: “Avocado is like drugs, it can make you rich, but drawn by the noise of money, producers plant trees without any control.”

Morales shows with the help of a drone the consequences of deforestation: “Art is the native tree of Michoacán. Unfortunately, the lush forest is about to disappear. In this area they have cut two square kilometers to plant avocado.” The avocado tree needs a lot of water and gradually aquifers are drying out. For the professor, behind massive deforestation is political corruption: “The forests are of the state. How is it possible to cut two square kilometers without the authority realizing it?” Green gold has bought the government's silence.