(News Deeply) – Juanita Barragán was recruited by Colombia’s left-wing FARC guerrilla group when she was just 13. She thought revolutionary life would offer an escape from a childhood of poverty and neglect, but the reality of fighting was very different. She is one of thousands of child soldiers who have been used by the different armed groups during Colombia’s 50-year civil war. In the coming weeks, 50 child soldiers are due to be released as part of an ongoing peace process brokered between the FARC and the government. The agreement – signed on November 26, 2016 – marks a historic end to five decades of conflict.
‘They Had a Lot of Punishments’: The Life of a FARC Child Soldier
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