MICHOACAN.– In an original video posted to YouTube people explain from a personal perspective the reasons they have found it necessary to become autodefensas or members of armed self–defense groups.

The video shows that the movement is not limited to Tierra Caliente community police, it also extends to activists, academics, businesspeople, and former government functionaries who dedicate their time, and in some cases their lives, to give a voice to those who need to be heard: the migrants, field workers, and everyone that suffers from the impunity in Mexico.

"We have been defending and protecting ourselves because the State is incapable of doing it; in that sense, I am autodefensa," Alejandro Solalinde, a migrant human rights defender, said.

"Because they were supposed to defend us in Michoacan and all of Mexico, and they didn't have the courage to do so," said Doctor José Manuel Mireles, former spokesperson for the Michoacan autodefensas.

When faced with government inability to provide security and peace: We are all autodefensas, because we all need to be.

VIDEO: We Are All Autodefensas

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