In «the lawless zone« in the Western part of Mexico, children under the age of 6 years, take arms and act against organized crime. Last week, 19 children were introduced to a group of militants, who for many years fought with gangs of drug traffickers in the Mexican state of Guerrero.
In a lawless stretch of western Mexico, children as young as 6 years old are taking up arms against organized crime. @katelinthicum reports: https://t.co/pElqrEFfCK
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 24, 2020
Photos published by local journalists covering the ceremony of consecration has caused outrage across Mexico. For photos boys in uniform, armed with rifles, perform maneuvers in a military style. The staff of the organization for human rights condemned these actions as cruelty to children.
As the Los Angeles Times, the leader of the group «the Vigil», said in a telephone interview on Thursday that the escalating violence in the region and lack of government intervention has left the community no choice but to arm even their children.
«They should be ready, said Bernardino Sanchez Luna, who founded the group of self-defense, known as CRAC-PF. — If they are afraid, the criminals will kill them, like little chickens.»
Sanchez said that two of the trained children was 6 years old. The oldest member of the band was 15 years old.
For the last 7 years, Guerrero has appeared dozens of «folk police», claiming the constitutionally protected right that allows indigenous groups in the state to create a system of self-government.
This is the other story that’s going on besides #TRUMPLIES ⚡ this “Child soldiers as young as 6 are being recruited to fight in Mexico” by @latimes https://t.co/2nyJj31GDx
— Nicole Lynch (@wolf00eyes) January 24, 2020
They say they’re defending themselves from the local criminal gangs that control the drug smuggling routes and extorting money from businesses in the region. Critics argue that the vigilantes are also often involved in this criminal activity.
Sanchez said his group, which patrols the rural highlands to the East of the city of Chilpancingo, decided to start teaching children self-defence after the murder on January 17, a group of musicians from indigenous peoples.
According to prosecutors, 10 musicians were returning from a performance in two vans, when the attackers attacked the city Chilapa. The musicians were slaughtered, and their cars and bodies set on fire.
At a press conference Wednesday, the attorney General of Guerrero, said that the state is pursuing the six suspects belonging to a criminal group named Los Ardillas. The group is accused of other attacks in the region, where the drop in the price of the Mac in recent years has forced criminals to look for sources of income, not drug-related.
After the musicians were killed, residents reacted harshly, blocking roads and demanding government intervention. They were particularly upset about the death of a young member of the group, who was 15 years old, said Sanchez.
Child soldiers in Mexico.
Nineteen children, some as young as young as 6, were inaugurated into a vigilante group in Guerrero this week. https://t.co/fapOeLnYZg
— Kate Linthicum (@katelinthicum) January 23, 2020
The President of Mexico, andrés Manuel lópez Obrador was elected in 2018 for a promise to fight crime and to give the poor Mexicans a better economic opportunity.
This strategy, which he called «hugs, not bullets» is still not successful, and last year the country reported more than 35,000 murders.
Asked about child soldiers in Guerrero, lópez Obrador asked whether the group of militants who recruited them, the legal-defense organization, and then returned to his security strategy, which, according to him, will make sure that young people are not needed in self-defense.
«I insist that we will move forward, he said at his daily press conference on Thursday. We must provide children and young people the opportunity to stay away from guns and violence.»
The Minister of security of Mexico Alfonso Durazo said on Thursday that the government «reconsider» whether to allow CRAC-PF continue to carry guns, especially in light of the recruitment of children.
«Not all of them are of legal origin or legal purpose,» he said about the people’s police groups in Guerrero.
The staff of human rights across the country has condemned the call for young men.
«We strongly reject the involvement of minors in the security challenges that threaten their development, physical integrity and life», — said at a press conference the President of the Commission on human rights of Guerrero, Ramon Navarrete Magdaleno.
Under international law the recruitment of children under the age of 15 into an armed group is a war crime. This practice is not widespread in Latin America, although guerrilla groups like the Revolutionary armed forces of Colombia, known as FARC, was known to have recruited child soldiers.
Searching for an explanation of the killing and the march of child soldiers forces us to try to normalize what is apparently immoral. Chilapa has been at war for years. The child soldiers of Guerrero: a new sign of the decomposition of violence in Mexico. pic.twitter.com/O3gt33xcLE
— Buggs (@alexmarentes) January 23, 2020
Sanchez said he was surprised at the quick criticism of his group and said that officials should not criticize groups who are just trying to protect children.
«They say we are violating the rights of children, said Sanchez. But do it we did not, and criminals».
He said that children are taught to use weapons responsibly.
Before the ceremony on Wednesday, he and other leaders talked with young people.
«The presence of weapons is a great responsibility, — he told them. — You must use your gun only to protect his life.»
In one of the videos shot of the ceremony, the boy who is about 10 years in a light blue bandana covering half his face, told the journalist that he was pleased to participate, and he was there «to protect the community.»
Some analysts wondered whether the recruitment of child soldiers is a tactic used by rebels to attract attention to the growing violence in the region.
«I don’t think they are serious about making six-year-old to protect the city and even to protect themselves, said Chris Kyle, an anthropologist and expert on Guerrero based in the University of Alabama in Birmingham. — It may be just a game to attract the attention of the media».
