The Rise of Child Hitmen in Colombia: A Decades-Long Crisis
A 14-year-old Colombian boy’s brazen assassination attempt on senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay has shocked the nation, sparking concerns about the ongoing issue of child hitmen in Colombia. The teenager’s actions, which left Uribe Turbay fighting for his life, have brought attention to a crisis that has plagued the country for decades.
According to reports, the adolescent attacker lived with a aunt in a low-class neighborhood in western Bogotá. His mother had passed away, and his father was not in the country. Those who knew him described his personality as "completely conflictive." Authorities have revealed that the teenager was merely a material executor, and that the intellectual authors of the crime had exploited his economic needs before abandoning him.
The issue of child hitmen in Colombia dates back to the 1980s in Medellín, according to historian Petrit Baquero, an expert in narcotics trafficking and criminal economies. "The children always participated in wars in Colombia, but the starting point of what we know as modern sicariato, in an urban context, is Pablo Escobar [the leader of the Medellín Cartel]," he explained in a phone interview. "He organized the juvenile gangs that existed in the city as hitman bands."
Baquero noted that the poverty in Medellín’s communes and the rise of cocaine created a volatile mix. Young people saw few opportunities to improve their lives and support their families. "Escobar took advantage of their crazy desire to have something, to be someone," he said. The gangs provided a sense of belonging and status, and the adolescents felt powerful carrying guns and being perceived as attractive to women.
The assassination of Minister Rodrigo Lara in 1984 marked a turning point. The attack, carried out by Iván Darío Guisado and Byron de Jesús Velásquez, was the first high-profile attack by the Medellín Cartel and was seen as a declaration of war against the state. Velásquez, also known as "Quesito," was just 18 years old and was the motorcycle driver who accompanied Guisado during the attack.
Baquero highlights that "Quesito" gained importance in the Medellín cartel, working directly for John Jairo Arias, alias "Pinina," a notorious criminal who started his career at the age of 12 and rose to become Escobar’s hitman chief. This, Baquero notes, gave him status despite his young age. "He was tough, had leadership in prison," he underlined.
A different case is that of the 15-year-old hitman who assassinated left-wing politician Bernardo Jaramillo in 1990. By then, Escobar was no longer the only one hiring adolescents from Medellín’s impoverished neighborhoods to kill his opponents. The paramilitaries of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) trained Andrés Arturo Gutiérrez, also from Medellín, to shoot Jaramillo.
The life of Gutiérrez sparked interest in the press at the time. A report by El Tiempo on March 25, 1990, stated that he had only completed his second year of high school and then began working as a fruit vendor, car guard, and chalk factory worker. "He gave all his earnings to his mother," the article read. Despite this, the family struggled to make ends meet, and they had to pawn their bicycle. According to Gutiérrez’s family, a man approached him a few weeks before the assassination and "changed him." His mother claimed that until then, her son had been an innocent boy.
Three decades later, Arlex López, a social leader from Medellín’s Comuna Nororiental and coordinator of the Convivamos Corporation, asserts that little has changed. Although there have been no more presidential candidate assassination attempts, child hitmen continue to participate in less visible crimes. López notes that it is common to hear about their involvement in extortion, kidnapping, and homicides ordered by their gangs, which are heirs to the Medellín Cartel, paramilitaries, urban militias, and numerous other criminal actors.
López emphasizes that the social inequalities that gave rise to child hitmen in the 1980s and 1990s persist. Adolescents seek to help their families and join gangs, which become a new family. They try to impress leaders, whom they venerate as role models, and see hitmen jobs as an opportunity to demonstrate their value and rise through the hierarchy.
Max Yuri Gil, director of the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Antioquia, disagrees with this view. He believes that the low judicial sentences for adolescents are a minor consideration, as the real motivation for leaders is that they are "cheap, easily replaceable labor." "They do not care if they are killed, disappear, or are injured," he underlines. "They see them as disposable lives, the last link."
As the issue of child hitmen in Colombia continues to unfold, one thing is clear: it is a complex problem that requires a comprehensive solution. The nation’s authorities must address the root causes of this crisis, including poverty, inequality, and the exploitation of vulnerable youth by criminal organizations. The recent assassination attempt on Uribe Turbay serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for action to prevent further tragedy.
This article was originally published by El País.
