ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a conflict concerning a movement for a land status change for the ejido of Xochistlahuaca during the 1960s. This change was strongly opposed by surrounding communities, and also by a coalition of indigenous elites and mestizos within the community. For indigenous people, the straggle for land, the basic means of livelihood, and the defense of community, meshes in a complex matrix of interethnic and interclass relations that defy the polar dichotomies of Indian vs. mestizo relations or of rich vs. poor. The petition met with considerable opposition from other communities who felt that their communal lands were threatened. The Comite Regular Campesino de Xochistlahuaca did not gain broad support within the community. The petitioning for more ejido land, and the oppositional strategies of Gomez and Ojeda, forced a change in community politics and the usual behind-the-scenes role of mestizos.
