If we cannot study, we will defend ourselves, say the children who suffer the terror of Los Ardillos

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat   TY Neal  Sinembargo

They are children between 6 and 15 years old who should be occupying their day between school and play, but instead of taking a notebook and pencil to study or a ball to play, these children carry rifles and sticks.

The violence in Guerrero and the absence of a State that should protect them,  led them to defend themselves. They live in Chilapa de Álvarez where there is only preschool and primary school. If they want to go to high school they have to move to the neighboring municipality of José Joaquín de Herrera, held by Los Ardillos, responsible for kidnappings, extortion and executions.

Bernardino Sánchez Luna, one of the leaders of the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities of the Founding Peoples (CRAC-PF), warned that Los Ardillos threatened to enter their communities this week to slaughter the villagers.

Therefore, he says, he will continue to train adults, boys and girls in the use of weapons: "My indigenous partners are at risk of being massacred, who does not know how to use a weapon will not defend itself."

Mexico City, January 28 (SinEmbargo). - In May 2019, a group of children armed with sticks appeared in a video conducting training to combat Los Ardillos . It had been four months since that criminal group attacked their community, located in Chilapa de Álvarez (Guerrero), leaving 12 dead.

The state government promised them patrols and instead another attack came. They got tired of waiting for help and now a new recording has gone around the world this 2020: 17 children with rifles and face covers are preparing to defend, together with adults, their people.

Children between 6 and 15 years old come from the communities of Alcozacán, Xochitempa, Ayahualtempa and Rincón de Chautla, in the municipality of Chilapa de Álvarez, those who are already in training and at least 10 girls have shown interest in joining.

They are minors who live in villages where there is only preschool and primary school. If they want to study high school they have to move to the neighboring municipality of José Joaquín de Herrera, held by Los Ardillos.

“The girls and boys tell us: 'If we cannot continue in school, we have to prepare ourselves to defend ourselves,' 'said Bernardino Sánchez Luna, one of the leaders of the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities of the Founder Peoples, in an interview. CRAC-PF) in Guerrero.

Guerrero is one of the poorest and most violent states in Mexico. According to figures from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System, Mexico recorded 34,582 murders in 2019 and 1,875 of these homicides took place in Guerrero. In the educational field, the entity governed by Héctor Astudillo Flores faces a lag: the average level of schooling of the population aged 15 and over is 7.8, which is equivalent to just over the first year of high school, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).

Sánchez Luna said that Los Ardillos are threatening the communities of Ayahualtempa, Tula and Rincon de Chalco that they are going to take their villages and slaughter their inhabitants. "The Government of the state of Guerrero promised to put the National Guard, but has not done so. There are only municipal police, but they are with Los Ardillos," he said.

In Guerrero, three major cartels operate - Knights Templar, Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Beltrán Leyva - and 19 smaller cells and cartels, including Los Ardillos, dedicated