City thrives after evicting all politicians, police

Cheran, Mexico

Not only did the Mexican town of Cheran drive out organized crime in its effort to overcome corruption, it got rid of every cop and politician.

And after seven years of governance by a ruling assembly of representatives of local neighborhoods, the highland town of 20,000 between Guadalajara and Mexico City is doing quite well, thank you, reports Vice News.

Cheran essentially started over after having been terrorized for years by an organized crime syndicate that illegally logged the surrounding forests.

The citizens responded by banning the politicians and the parties that put them in power.

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In their stead, the people set up an autonomous system of self-rule based on horizontal, direct-democratic assemblies.

The outcome: Cheran has seen a dramatic drop in murder rates, with rates for other serious crimes hovering at nearly zero, Vice News said.

Members of an autonomous militia now guard every entrance to the town. Among the contraband they confiscate are banners and posters from every major political party in Mexico.

On Sunday, Mexico elected a far-left candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose critics fear might rule like the late Venezuelan authoritarian leader Hugo Chavez, who put the once prosperous nation on a path to ruin.

Vice News commented: "For many in Mexico, especially in an election year marred by wanton political murders, Cherán stands as proof that, in the country’s entrenched cycle of violence, the key ingredient is the state. Remove that ingredient, and it’s possible to start from scratch."