When drug lords exploit poverty and youth: Four decades of child hitmen in Colombia

A 14-year-old Colombian teenager demonstrated his capacity for reckless killing last Saturday. He shot senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay multiple times during a rally in Bogotá. The politician’s body, his heart still beating, was covered with blood and he collapsed. Minutes later, the attacker was shot in the leg, knocked to the ground, and arrested. “I’m sorry, I did it for the money, for my family,” he exclaimed. His youthful voice and desperate promises to reveal who ordered the attack caused a stir. But it was nothing new. On March 22, 1990, a 15-year-old shot and killed presidential candidate Bernardo Jaramillo. A few years earlier, on April 30, 1984, an 18-year-old participated in the assassination of then-Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara. The tragedy of child hitmen has been repeated in Colombia, time and again, for decades.

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