Mexican villages arm children in desperate bid
By MARIA VERZA article
Children hold their training weapons, some real and some fake, during a display for the media designed to attract the federal government s attention to the dangers of organized crime their town negotiates daily in Ayahualtempa, Guerrero state, Mexico
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AYAHUALTEMPA, Mexico - The children in this mountain village usually spend their days caring for goats or cows and playing with their dogs.
But on the rare occasions that the press comes to Ayahualtempa, the kids are lined up and handed guns.
They pull on the shirts of a community police force, cover their faces with handkerchiefs, grab their guns fake wooden ones for the youngest and line up in formation on the town’s basketball court to pose and march for the cameras.
Mexican villages arm children in desperate bid for attention
MARÍA VERZA, Associated Press
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1of24Children hold their training weapons, some real and some fake, during a display for the media designed to attract the federal government s attention to the dangers of organized crime that their town negotiates daily in Ayahualtempa, Guerrero state, Mexico, Wednesday, April 28, 2021. International organizations have condemned the recruitment of children and warned of the effects.Marco Ugarte/APShow MoreShow Less
2of24A child holds a fake, wooden rifle during a display for the media designed to attract the federal government s attention to the dangers of organized crime his town negotiates daily in Ayahualtempa, Guerrero state, Mexico, Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Residents demands included more National Guard troops and help for orphans, widows and those displaced by violence that has cost 34 lives in various communities of two neighboring municip
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