Teen assassins plague Colombia decades after Escobar hired kids to kill
Poverty, manipulation, and lenient laws fuel a new generation of Colombian teen assassins for hire
Decades after drug lord Pablo Escobar notoriously built a small army of child hitmen to murder police officers, judges and politicians, Colombia is still plagued by the scourge of teenage assassins.
Last week, a 15-year-old was arrested for allegedly shooting presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe at a rally in Bogotá in scenes reminiscent of the bad old days of assassinations, kidnappings and bombings in the violence-weary South American nation.
The government believes the boy was a hired gun but has yet to determine who ordered the hit on the 39-year-old senator, whose condition remains critical.
The youngster has offered to “collaborate” with authorities and claimed to have received his orders from a person in the “olla”, as drug-dealing neighbourhoods are known.
The use of children to commit such acts “is not something exceptional for Colombia,” Matthew Charles, director of the Mi Historia foundation for vulnerable youth, said.