THE ROOTS:  Representative of the families which belong to the 55 communities of UCIRI, coordinated by the council of delegates in each.  The roots absorb the Word of God, cultural values, and transform consciousness into knowledge, nurturing the tree's health and fruit.

THE TRUNK:  Representative of the General Assembly of Delegates elected by each community, who transfer the observations, suggestions, and proposals of the organization's members to the General Assembly, and take the information and agreements from the assemblies back to the members and the communities.
The Administrative Council is in charge of putting into action the agreements of the assemblies and the Surveillance Council to supervise the implementation of the aforementioned agreements.

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THE BRANCHES:  Representative of the various projects that UCIRI is involved in.  At the sprout of each branch is the central committee appointed by the General Assembly of Delegates, to administer the care of each new branch (project).  The departments of accounting, production, and marketing provide support to councils and committees in the care of the tree.

THE GARDENER:  In this structure, the Assessors and a Council of Servers have the responsibility of gardener, who gathers the ripe fruit of ideas, contributions, and commentaries of the organization's members.  The entire process is like organic compost for the tree. 

The internal structure of the union evolved during the 1980s creating mechanisms that can explain the persistence of democratic decision-making within the union.  The internal structure of the union developed in a way that allowed participatory subgroups to carve out autonomous spaces within the multilayered union, creating a check on any oligarchic tendencies. A collective identity of the organization could be created around motives of solidarity: culture, religion, the communal form of the union and ecology.

When developing an appropriate organizational structure, the union decided on the UCI (Union of Indigenous Communities) model which is related to the kind of discourse and strategy the campesino organization chose to adopt. Having the word indigenous within the title adds a moral dimension to their struggle. One of UCIRI’s major strategies since their inception has been to avoid vertical decision-making processes through replicating the indigenous communities’ own forms of consensual decision-making within the union. Several new organizations had their origin in UCIRI and there are several offspring’s in other areas (and countries: Guatemala) who are operating according to the same lines and thrust.

The word union also has overtones, especially the notion of struggle and a class dimension. UCIRI has since committed itself to opening its doors to various other local and regional organizations in solidarity. One of the basic by-laws of UCIRI is that coyotes (exploitative intermediaries) and coyotitos (small exploitative intermediaries) are not allowed into the union. UCIRI's members are self-consciously a union of small (poor) coffee producers, with strict rules regarding the sale of coffee by 
members to other members.

The word communidad also taps into the indigenous identification with his or her village. Since this is often the most tenacious form of identification among indigenous groups (especially in more isolated areas such as the Northern Isthmus or Mixe region), the typical form of land-ownership relationship involving caring for land and environment, made ecological agriculture and forestry a logical step.

UCIRI’s internal structure is based on a general assembly that meets monthly. This is the maximum authority within the union. After returning to their communities from the General Assembly meetings, the delegates hold a meeting of the UCIRI locals within their community and pass on the information to the members. A bulletin containing the notes from the meeting is typed up after each assembly, and brought back to the communities and disseminated. The transmission of information from the General Assembly to the base is crucial and depends on the delegates performing their duties and accurately representing the ideas discussed at the General Assembly. Within most communities, the meetings take place in the  local UCIRI coffee warehouse, which also serves as the local health center, community store and the administration for all the different projects.

At the level of UCIRI-central we have a Council of Administration (4 people), a Council of Surveillance (4 people), with respective substitutes, and as well, the delegates of the different towns. The Council of Administration and Surveillance, like the official delegates, are nominated for three years in their respective positions. Councillers and delegates are elected according to the traditional custom in indigenous communities where names are put on a blackboard and then members vote by placing a mark next to the name with a piece of chalk for all to see. The delegate with the most votes becomes president, the one with the second most votes becomes secretary and so on.   

Within the Assembly of Delegates we also nominate the Central Committees of the different work areas. These are: Health, Committee for Organic Agriculture, C.E.C. (Center of Rural Studies for Organic and Sustainable Development of the Communities), Transport, Housing, Hardware Store, Marmalade Production, etc.  This is done entirely in coordination with the Council of Administration who decide the general line of work and inform the General Assembly of the accomplishments and problems.

At the community level, we name a Board of Directors and an Overseeing Council as well as fixed repreentatives and separate committies for the distinct areas of local work projects.   These delegates hold their positions for one or two years.

The delegates, fixed representatives and one member of the Board of Directors meet at the General Assembly on the 29th and 30th of each month in Lachiviza, the site of our headquarters.  This meeting gives us a chance to discuss any problems and make new plans.

For each monthly meeting, the delegates also prepare a study on a specific theme which will be discussed during the first meeting day.  After the assembly, the delegates prepare an Information Bulletin with all the discussions and agreements that came up during the General Assembly as well as a summary of the monthly study.  These Bulletins are brought back to the communities, where they are shared with all the members during regular local member meetings.

Attendance at the monthly assemblies is mandatory, since the discussions that take place there are very important to UCIRI's members.  Absence from an assembly without proper justification will result in a fine.