TODAY COLOMBIA – The delegation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) participating at the peace talks with the Colombian government in Havana, Cuba, announced today that it will only recruit into its ranks citizens older than 17 years.
This measure, stated a FARC-EP’s bulletin, is aimed to curb the conflict by restricting the number of and young people involved in a military confrontation.
The insurgent group highlighted that contrary to the institutional propaganda, the entity does not recruit anyone by force, neither minors nor adults as it would be counterproductive for the organization.
It is indeed the government, stated the FARC-EP, who practices the force recruitment, through its famous massive raids in poor neighborhoods, but also training minors to infiltrate them into the guerrilla ranks and perform intelligence tasks.
The state and its military forces pursued a policy on the use of minors in the conflict in a systematic way, assured the insurgent group.
