Colombia preparing tropical paradise for tourism after 500...
Hacktivists leak 178,000 documents from Colombia’s military
Colombia’s State sentenced for exterminating political party
Colombia’s capital Bogota awarded for failing crime policy
OAS urges Colombia to release people arrested over...
Colombia’s war crimes tribunal hears notorious former warlord
Colombia’s GDP and GNI
Panama arrests US citizen suspected in Colombia of...
Colombia seeking mastermind behind Paraguay prosecutor kill plot
Colombia’s government and ELN rebels overcome “crisis” in...
  • About
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
News

FARC filmed training child soldiers in central Colombia (video)

by Tim Hinchliffe December 12, 2011

farc child soldiers

A video was released by news station Noticias Uno Monday showing slain FARC chief “Mono Jojoy” and his successor training children to fire guns and assemble explosives in 2010.

After being analyzed by Colombia’s intelligence agencies, the video revealed that children were subjected to long hours of training in infiltration and evacuation of combat zones as well as ambush techniques, among other guerrilla tactics.

Some of the images depicted adolescents learning to arm and disarm firearms while others showed them being taught how to handle grenades and activate landmines in the jungles of Meta and Guaviare.

Last month, the Colombian government launched a public awareness campaignentitled “Stop, I want to be free,” which was aimed at parents whose children might be at risk of becoming child soldiers.

According to Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon, about 13% (3,120) of 24,000 guerrillas who have defected from the FARC were recruited when they were minors.