Colombian President Alvaro Uribe wants some 1,000 students in Medellin to act as informants for the army, in the government’s latest attempt to curb ongoing violence in the city.
The students will receive $50 a month compensation if they agree to cooperate with the army and denounce other youngsters in their neighborhoods who are part of the city’s many gangs.
“We have taken the decision to link a thousand students to the security forces as informants for the army,” the president said on a visit to Colombia’s second largest city.
“We will ban homicides from the city if we all help,” Uribe added.
The announcement comes one week after the national authorities sent another 137 investigators to the city, which had already received 1,300 extra policemen in 2009.
Despite efforts by both local and national authorities, the city saw 2,178 homicides last year, more than twice the number in 2008.