Jesús Domínguez pushes through thick brush lining a rugged mountainside, an AK-47 slung over his shoulder and a grenade fastened to his leather belt. He marches alongside a pack of camouflage-clad men, patrolling the rural stretches of Mexico against one of the country's most powerful drug cartels. This 50-man force, armed with military-grade weapons smuggled from the US, is one of dozens of "autodefensa," or "self-defence," groups that have emerged over the past decade in Mexico. They fight increasingly sophisticated cartels in areas far beyond the reach of state security forces, where the government's presence is minimal.
From a watch post overlooking the mountains of Guerrero state, 34-year-old Domínguez articulated their desperate rationale: "The government doesn’t care about us, and it’s impossible for our arms to compete with (the cartel’s). They come at you with a ton of force, so you need to respond with force…If you don’t, they’ll overwhelm you."
