CARACAS – A report published by Cecodap, a non-governmental organization advocating children’s rights, revealed that criminal organizations are targeting children in Venezuela, which is considered one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America.
The report noted that socioeconomic problems such as the problem of access to food, domestic violence, school dropouts and the state’s authority vacuum in the slums, which are among the regions where the crisis was most severe in Venezuela, make children even more vulnerable.
Edgar Lopez, the lead researcher of the report, pointed out that some neighborhoods in the slums are completely under the control of these gangs, and some of them have more than 100 armed members.
Speaking to VOA Turkish, Lopez said, “These gangs are started by having kids in the slums do errands, such as grocery shopping for criminals wanted by the police, in exchange for dollars. If the children show their loyalty to the gang and the leaders, their rank and the money they earn increase, and they become erkete, drug dealers and finally gang members, respectively. Children who are accepted as gang members are given guns,” he said.
After these children become gang members, they are assigned different jobs such as kidnapping, theft, drug and weapons trafficking, blackmail and enforcing gang laws in areas controlled by the gang.
Lopez states that gangs pay children between $2 and $150 per week; He said that the money offered is often much higher than the income of the children’s parents, adding to the attractiveness of the gangs.
Lopez said that in neighborhoods under the control of gangs, gangs solve all problems from security to problems between neighbors, and that these groups can even buy gifts such as televisions and refrigerators to the locals on New Year’s Eve, adding that many poor children see salvation in joining the gang.
In the study, a child named Ernesto, who lived in difficult conditions in a slum with his mother, said, “The thing that upset me the most was seeing my mother cry every day while cooking the Chinese beans given to us by the government and not being able to do anything. One day gang members came and told me that if I helped them, they would support us. I accepted without hesitation,” Lopez said, adding that as long as socioeconomic problems continue in Venezuela, children will continue to be under threat.
Cecodap officials said, “One and a half years ago, in the green areas of the high-altitude shantytown of the capital Caracas, La Vega, herds of cattle and heavily armed people with cowboy hats herding them began to be seen. When we learned that these herds were herdsmen, the Koki members, the most famous gang of Caracas, and that the cattle were an excuse to get to know the residents of the neighborhood, to identify those in need and people who could be hired, we understood that the gangs were turning to children to control La Vega as well.” .
Cecodap’s research shows that many children are almost enslaved by gangs in Venezuela today; for this reason, he emphasizes that the state, which is responsible for protecting children’s rights, should urgently implement comprehensive policies.