http://news.trust.org/item/20180630120000-8illo

NAHUATZEN, Mexico, June 30 (Reuters) - Mexican voters will stream to the polls this Sunday in a pivotal presidential contest, but leaders representing tens of thousands of indigenous people have vowed to block voting in their communities to protest a system they say has failed them.

Residents here have destroyed campaign signs and set up blockades to prevent the government from delivering ballots. Election officials have declared 16 towns here "unviable," and will not likely risk confrontation to force polling stations to open.

But Arriola said the Purepecha have learned the hard way not to pin their hopes on promises coming from politicians, even ones that purport to have their best interests in mind.

"Our roads, schools and health care have been in the gutter for more than 40 years," he said.

Nahuatzen is part of a growing movement among Mexico's indigenous communities, who are seeking self-rule and turning their backs on mainstream elections.

The growing complaints of indigenous Mexicans appear to track a broader restlessness in the country, where widespread political corruption, drug violence and entrenched poverty have fueled discontent.

Support for democracy among Mexicans plummeted from slightly more than 70 percent in 2004 to just under half last year, according to data from the Latin America Public Opinion Project.

Anger over widespread illegal logging believed to be organized by drug gangs sparked the unrest in Cheran. Outraged residents expelled their mayor and the local police force, whom they accused of being complicit. In 2012, citizens began to set up a new governing council based on indigenous customs.

During mid-term elections in 2015, 11 polling stations in four more municipalities joined Cheran in blocking balloting.

Pedro Chavez, president of Cheran's indigenous governing council, said he is pleased that the movement has expanded yet again during this presidential election year.

"We can be an inspiration for free self-determination and a lesson about the rights of native peoples," said Chavez, speaking outside his nearly-completed traditional wood-plank home.

The rights of Mexico's indigenous poor last commanded the nation's attention just after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994 and the Zapatista National Liberation Army issued a "declaration of war" against the government.

A 12-day battle ensued, claiming at least 140 lives.

"Free determination (for indigenous communities) is something that's now being discussed for the first time since the Zapatista revolt," said Barcenas, the attorney.

But, in Arantepacua, another restive Michoacan community which is boycotting the election, Dionisio Lopez said he is finished casting ballots.

"It's all one big mafia. We having nothing but pure corruption here in Mexico and it's proven," he said. "Why pretend otherwise?" (Reporting by David Alire Garcia in Michoacan and Berengere Sim in Mexico City; Editing by Marla Dickerson)