Relative deprivation theory (Gurr, 1970; De la Garza, 2011) points to the fact that increases in individual grievances generated by social changes or disadvantageous situations (Gusfield, 1982, 1994) can give rise to the formation of a social movement.

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In the case of Cherán, the people's feeling of depravation arose from two problems: 1) the depravation of safety and social peace at the hands of organized crime, and 2) the depravation of the villagers' right to a healthy environment environment by timber and avocado extractive companies.

Mexico has been experiencing a situation of violence and ungovernability for decades due to drug trafficking and the "war" to combat it. The conflict’s consequences include growing poverty and social inequality and the intensification of ecological devastation. In Mexico, most of the forests belong to indigenous communities and peoples; however, inadequate public policies have not allowed the development of effective forestry that would enable these groups to escape from the situation of poverty in which they find themselves, but rather has encouraged illegal logging and created many territorial conflicts between communities.

An additional element that intensifies the pressure on indigenous peoples' forest areas in situations of weak governance is the control of forest lands by armed groups linked to criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, either to maintain control of the territory, market timber, and minerals illegally and/or establish drug crops. This phenomenon has been consolidating in recent years as one of the main factors in the loss of tropical forests in Latin America, mainly in the countries of production and transit of drugs to the United States, i.e., Mexico.

Cherán’s conflict worsened when, in 2008, Roberto Bautista of the right-wing PRI party became municipal president and was backed by the Familia Michoacán: a cartel in exchange for timber extraction and concessions for avocado plantations. During Roberto Bautista's administration, organized crime became increasingly influential in Cherán, leading to violence, extortion, evictions, and even murders and disappearances of those who opposed illegal logging.

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This lack of security and the disruption of peace in daily life was one of the reasons most cited by the Cheran community when they began their revolt in search of autonomy.

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According to The Associated Press, drug cartels in western Mexico have diversified to the point that drug trafficking doesn't even rank among its top sources of income: illegal mining, logging, and extortion are their biggest moneymakers. 

During the decade prior to 2011, Cherán became one of the most significant sectors of timber extraction for cartels, where Mexico's General Directorate of Forestry Management estimates that profits from the illegal timber business can be as high as 7.123 billion pesos (US$327 million) a year . During the six years of 2006-2012, Cherán lost 71% of its forest to timber extraction, which equals 9000 ha – this can be observed in Figure 1.