"Under siege": inside Mexican village where children are armed

"Under siege": inside Mexican village where children are armed

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When the 56-year-old mother-in-law of David Sanchez Luna (pictured below) was tortured and killed after venturing out of her small Mexican community encircled by drug cartels, he let his seven- and ten-year-old daughters receive military-style weapons training.

. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
David Sanchez drinks coffee late at night at home.

Unable to send their children to school and too afraid to step out of their enclave of 16 mountain villages in the violence-plagued southwestern Guerrero state, residents say they have been left with little choice.

"They do this to prepare themselves to defend the family, their siblings and defend the village," said Sanchez Luna, a corn farmer in a rugged region which five years ago formed a self-defense "community police" militia to protect itself.

. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Reinel Toribio, 9, passes by state police officers as he demonstrates his newly-learned skills to a Reuters journalist.

The move by the villagers to offer arms training to school-age children shocked the nation and made global headlines last month after local media broadcast images of children as young as 6-years-old toting guns and showing off military manoeuvres.

While elders in the mainly indigenous community near the city of Chilapa privately concede young kids would not be used to fight cartel gunmen, they say their gambit to get the help of far-away officials in Mexico City is borne of desperation.

. Alcozacan, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
A funeral service for five of the ten musicians.

Ten musicians from the area were ambushed and killed last month by suspected Los Ardillos cartel members after stepping out of the territory guarded by their self-defense militia, known as CRAC-PF. Their bodies were burnt.

The attack followed a spate of murders in recent year, including a beheading, that rattled the 6,500 residents whose lush land sits amid fertile poppy-growing farmland that feed Guerrero's heroin trade and supply routes to the United States.

. Alcozacan, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Community police agents ride on the back of a truck while escorting widows on their way to claim a pension from a government authority.

The grisly murders and siege-like conditions facing residents go to the heart of cartel power and state failure in modern Mexico, where runaway violence tears at society's fabric.

"This is a public cry for help by a community that's been cornered," said Falko Ernst, an International Crisis Group (ICG) analyst. "They've been trying to get assistance by federal and state government, unsuccessfully, so they're trying to escalate the language to try to negotiate and get help."

. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Guillermo Gatica, 6, holds a toy gun as he demonstrates newly-learned skills to a Reuters journalist.

President Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador said those who arm children "should be ashamed of themselves" and denounced the use of children to grab attention.

Lopez Obrador's government has struggled to get a grip on gangs and violence, with a record 34,582 murders last year.

. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Community police agent Espiriodion Gaspar, whose family has gone missing after his village was attacked by a criminal group, shaves while on watch.

Residents remain deeply suspicious of regional authorities and the smattering of local policemen in their villages, who they accuse of being the eyes and ears of the Los Ardillos.

Parents say their children are forced to stop formal education once they reach about 12 years of age, as the middle schools are in territory controlled by the cartel.

. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Martinez at a check point.

Abuner Martinez, 16, stopped attending school a year ago after his father was kidnapped outside CRAC-PF territory, tortured, and then beheaded.

"I got scared at that moment. I didn't want to go to school," said Martinez, who now wields a shotgun as he guards a checkpoint.

. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Children walk along a road.

The Los Ardillos want to extort the farmers and force them to grow opium for the cartel, said Luna's brother, Bernardino, who founded the CRAC-PF.

"We find ourselves under siege," he said.

. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Left: Community police agent Uriel Sanchez carries a shotgun as he works in a cornfield.
Right: A community police agent shows a corncob from his corn field.

CRAC-PF repelled a major attack by Los Ardillos in January 2019, but residents live in fear of the siren, a community alarm system, going off again.

Farmers tend their corn fields with shotguns slung on their backs, while armed CRAC-PF militiamen keep guard and patrol their territory round the clock.

. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Alberta and her daughter Erika Sanchez, 10.

David Sanchez Luna's wife, Alberta, sobbed as she described receiving her mother's body riddled with torture marks.

"It's terrible what's happening to us," she said, wiping away tears.

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Slideshow

A chicken stands with its leg tied to a piece of string outside a house.
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

A chicken stands with its leg tied to a piece of string outside a house.

A woman carries freshly killed chickens early in the morning.
. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

A woman carries freshly killed chickens early in the morning.

People prepare a meal.
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

People prepare a meal.

Women receive packs of food during a visit of state governor Hector Flores.
. Alcozacan, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Women receive packs of food during a visit of state governor Hector Flores.

Ana Xokojyolzin, 1, rests on her mother's lap at their home.
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Ana Xokojyolzin, 1, rests on her mother's lap at their home.

Ana Xokojyolzin, 1, rests in a hammock.
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Ana Xokojyolzin, 1, rests in a hammock.

Yektli Sanchez, who has been trained as a community police agent, plays guitar at his home.
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Yektli Sanchez, who has been trained as a community police agent, plays guitar at his home.

Adan Sanchez, 9, plays chess with his sister at their home.
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Adan Sanchez, 9, plays chess with his sister at their home.

Children play before showing their newly-learned skills with toy guns and some with real guns to a Reuters journalist.
. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Children play before showing their newly-learned skills with toy guns and some with real guns to a Reuters journalist.

Children demonstrate their newly-learned skills with toy guns and real guns.
. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Children demonstrate their newly-learned skills with toy guns and real guns.

Miguel Toribio, 11, puts a pistol belonging to his father in his belt before showing his newly-learned skills to a Reuters journalist.
. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Miguel Toribio, 11, puts a pistol belonging to his father in his belt before showing his newly-learned skills to a Reuters journalist.

Community police agents help Natalia Rosendo, 80, release her sick donkey trapped between rocks.
. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Community police agents help Natalia Rosendo, 80, release her sick donkey trapped between rocks.

Community agent Moises Sanchez, 20, sits at his post.
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Community agent Moises Sanchez, 20, sits at his post.

Josue Sanchez and Lucia Venancio chat.
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Josue Sanchez and Lucia Venancio chat.

A community police agent poses for a photo late at night at a check point.
. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

A community police agent poses for a photo late at night at a check point.

People gather at a community center to discuss security issues.
. Rincon De Chautla, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

People gather at a community center to discuss security issues.

People carry the coffin of a musician killed by suspected Los Ardillos cartel members.
. Alcozacan, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

People carry the coffin of a musician killed by suspected Los Ardillos cartel members.

People carry coffins of musicians killed by suspected Los Ardillos cartel members.
. Alcozacan, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

People carry coffins of musicians killed by suspected Los Ardillos cartel members.

Dorotea Morales (center) with her daughter and one-year-old son, together with Maria Martinez prepare to go to meet a government worker to ask for a pension after their husbands were killed.
. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Dorotea Morales (center) with her daughter and one-year-old son, together with Maria Martinez prepare to go to meet a government worker to ask for a pension after their husbands were killed.

Modesto Verales checks the pick up truck, delivered by the police, where his brother was killed.
. Alcozacan, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Modesto Verales checks the pick up truck, delivered by the police, where his brother was killed.

Community police agents meet at an intersection, during an operation to buy products, at a territory allegedly controlled by a criminal group.
. Ayahualtempa, MEXICO. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Community police agents meet at an intersection, during an operation to buy products, at a territory allegedly controlled by a criminal group.