![Image of autodefensas from the book cover of Hermanos en Armas: Policías Comunitarias y Autodefensas (Brothers in Arms: Community Police and Self-Defense Movements) by Mexican journalist Luis Hernández Navarro.](https://towardfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/auotodefensas-2-326x245.jpg)
“Cartel Land” Documentary Completely Misunderstands Mexico’s Autodefensa Movement
Violence in Mexico is surging back into the headlines – if current trends continue, deaths in 2017 could hit 30,000, making it the deadliest peacetime year on record. Attempts to stem the violence by Mexican and U.S. governmental agencies have failed spectacularly, and corruption reigns. In the face of this crisis, what alternatives exist? How do people living in the areas most affected negotiate the violence?