AYAHUALTEMPA, Mexico — Mexican children toting replica rifles march alongside armed members of a self-defense force who say they have been left to defend their village against drug traffickers all by themselves.
The inhabitants of Ayahualtempa in violence-plagued Guerrero state accuse the authorities of abandoning them to their fate despite past killings and kidnappings.
They blame a local gang called Los Ardillos which they say is seeking to muscle into their village of bean and maize (corn) farmers located in a major opium producing region.
At least nine locals have been murdered since 2019, but the residents complain that their pleas to the authorities have fallen on de…
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