Mexico is currently facing an issue in which small indigenous villages are enlisting children to fight criminal gangs in the country’s ruthless cartel war. Over 30 children ranging in age from 6 to 15 are trining to become vigilantes and fight cartel forces that have taken over and terrorized these villages.
The move is being considered a cry for help, demonstrating the measures the villages are taking to combat the cartel forces, which have dominated 16 villages for years. The towns have raised their own police forces of armed men who dole out justice according to local legal codes. The forces have become a common practice in parts of rural Mexico where the community feels that the official police forces are ineffective.
Read More: A Cry for Help: Vigilantes Enlist Children to Fight Mexican Cartels