I found this golden nugget. The people can't defend themselves because that job belongs to the state.
Looks like they need defense from the state as well!
Mexico
But Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador opposes these armed groups.
"Self-defense groups shouldn't exist because the security function belongs to the state,” López Obrador said at a news conference in June. “I don't support people taking arms to face crime because it doesn't have good results and sometimes criminals infiltrate in those groups.”