Here Alex, a 13-year old member of the FARC, is escorted by government troops after being captured in a sweep in the northwestern region of Santander. As many as 11,000 minors, many younger than 15, are thought to be fighting in Colombia’s civil war; 80 percent of them fight with the left-wing guerrilla groups (primarily the FARC); the rest with the paramilitaries. The situation facing the children of Colombia’s rural poor is dire: some 70 percent of the country’s displaced population is younger than 18; those who remain in the countryside face high absolute poverty rates, limited future employment opportunities outside of coca cultivation, and little incentive to continued education. Despite a high basic literacy rate nationwide (nearly 90 percent) and compulsory education through the ninth grade, in the primary coca-producing region of Putumayo, 85 percent of the population has only a fourth-grade education. Given such conditions, guerrillas and paramilitaries find a ready pool of recruits among rural youth.

CREDIT: Scott Dalton/Associated Press