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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



ment, one to the State treasurer, and one to the 

 general accounting office of the State. The 

 first two deal with income payable to Federal 

 or State government, while the third deals 

 with all the municipal accounts. 



UNOFFICIAL ORGANIZATIONS 



The functioning of government in Cheran is 

 often affected by unofficial organizations and 

 informal groups. At the time of the study, 

 the most influential of such groups was one 

 affiliated with the CTM {Confederacion de 

 Trahajadores Mexicanas) . Probably this same 

 group also functioned as a local branch of the 

 official government party, the PRM (Partido 

 Revolucionario Mexicano) . 



The actual functioning and organization of 

 these groups was quite informal. Consider- 

 able difference of opinion existed in the town 

 as to the desirability of such organizations, 

 many holding that they are disruptive in 

 character. Others, the so-called progressives, 

 felt that such organization is necessary if the 

 town is to receive its fair share of Government 

 aid. Between these conflicting viewpoints 

 could arise violent disagreement. With great 

 reasonableness, however, the "progressives" 

 organized only informally. Those who felt the 

 town should be organized in the fashion men- 

 tioned, named officers and got themselves recog- 

 nized by the State branch of the CTM. When 

 documents arrive which need action or signa- 

 ture, the members of the group talk them over 

 informally in house-to-house visits and send 

 the necessary replies. There are no meetings 

 or overt evidence of the organization. From 

 the standpoint of union and party officials in 

 the State capital, the town is organized; from 

 the standpoint of the majority of the inhabi- 

 tants of Cheran, it is not. 



The development of this informal organiza- 

 tion grew out of another and earlier organiza- 

 tion that had gotten the town a bad name. 

 In 1940-41, within a short time any investigator 

 soon heard of the ,:afarra)icho, the disorder or 

 riot. Evidently a landmark, many events were 

 dated by reference to this affair. To learn 

 about it, however, was not easy. Many people 

 refused to talk about it at all ; others suggested 

 that it was unwise to talk about it. Only after 

 many months was the story finally secured in 



confidential talks, and even then it is doubtful 

 whether all the details were abstracted from 

 unwilling witnesses. The story as learned does 

 not seem to call for all the secrecy involved, 

 and this gives weight to the suspicion that the 

 truth of the underlying factors was not secured 

 and that these factors are more operative today 

 than anyone would admit. 



At the height of the agrarian movement in 

 Michoacan, the control of the mmiicipio was 

 secured by a group of some 30 men calling 

 themselves "agrarians (agraristas) ." Every- 

 one seemed agreed that there was no genuine 

 agrarian problem in Cheran and that the mem- 

 bers of the group had no desire for land but 

 only for power. Perpetuating themselves in 

 office, members of this group at first were toler- 

 ated but gradually became more and more over- 

 bearing in their attitude. When people finally 

 began to show signs of discontent, the "agrar- 

 ians" asked the State authorities for aid on the 

 grounds that the people were rebellious. As a 

 result, a detachment of soldiers was stationed 

 in Cheran under the command of a lieutenant 

 to enforce order and the authority of the muni- 

 cipal officials. The young lieutenant apparent- 

 ly soon saw that his troops were perpetuating 

 an illegal and unpopular group in power and 

 tried to get his superiors to make a real inves- 

 tigation, but with no success. The tyranny of 

 the ruling group now became unbearable. 



The climax came when a drunken member of 

 the group began firing his revolver on the 

 main streets and threatening people. One of 

 the soldiers endeavored to arrest the man and 

 was shot and killed. The lieutenant now suc- 

 ceeded in having the situation thoroughly in- 

 vestigated, and as a result the detachment of 

 soldiers was withdrawn. The following day 

 occurred the zufarrancho. Some 10 to 12 of 

 the "agrarians" were killed and the rest fled 

 the town. In 1940, they were .still living in 

 exile in nearby towns. 



For a time following this, Cheran was 

 governed by a president e niUitar, an appointed 

 army officer. Technically, this was true in 

 1940, but the commander rarely even visited 

 the town and all troops had been removed some 

 time before. The present "progressive" 

 government has effectively been in power since 

 the affair. This is also the group which has 



