Cherán The municipio of Cherán is located in the Mexican state of Michoacán, which is situated in the central western portion of the Republic of Mexico and extends to the Pacific Shore. Cherán, itself, lies in the northwestern portion of Michoacán about 200 miles due west of Mexico City and approximately 123 km (76.5 miles) west of the state capital of Morelia; it is about 2400 meters (7874 feet) above sea level. The Municipio Cherán is reported to have a population of 16243, while the Localidad Cherán (town) is officially accounted to have 12616 souls of which 5827 are men and 6787 are women. Cherán is one of a contiguous group of eleven Municipios that are demographically denoted as Purépecha. In Crossing Over, a book about the migrant community of Cherán, by Ruben Martinez, the author explains that in the Purépecha[1] language Cherán actually means "a place of fear" alluding to its unfriendly landscape of "abrupt, irregular peaks and chasms" which bodes disaster to anyone taking a careless step. Inhabitants speak the language of the Purépecha, as well as the local variety of Spanish.[2] en.wikipedia.org Not in our town, drug cartels! That's the message the men of a Mexican town -- masked, wielding rifles and standing guard at makeshift blockades -- delivered to drug traffickers. The would-be defenders, the indigenous Purépechas of Cherán, are protecting themselves against illegal loggers, whom they believe are backed by notorious drug traffickers. "There is no fear ...