War Turning Mexican Kids Into Targets, Killers : NPR: "In Mexico's drug war, children are getting increasingly sucked into the violent narcotics trade. Middle-school-age kids are working for the cartels as couriers, lookouts and even assassins. Others are being killed, injured or orphaned in the crossfire.
In the past, drug violence was usually contained between gangs and security forces, but that's changed. Recently, even toddlers have been targeted in attacks involving military-style assault weapons.
Children's advocates say the broader danger for Mexican kids is that once they start working for organized crime, they can't escape. ...
One difficulty in shielding children from the violence is that many are directly involved in the drug trade. The Children's Rights Network estimates that 30,000 Mexicans under the age of 18 work for the cartels. Girls often repackage wholesale quantities of narcotics for sale on the street. Young boys work as "falcons," or lookouts. Teens are used to carry shipments across the border."
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
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