A 14-year-old boy attempted to assassinate Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, raising alarms about the manipulation of youth in violent acts. The incident reflects a broader crisis in Colombia, where impoverished youths are recruited for crime. Irvin Mendoza Rodriguez, a former juvenile offender in Mexico, described how such vulnerable kids can easily be lured into violence. As a teenager, he had killed 11 people before his rehabilitation. The Colombian public is now demanding severe punishments for such young assailants, with some calling for legal changes to treat juvenile criminals as adults.
'It's easy to convince a kid to do something like this; you just have to find a young man who comes from a dysfunctional and impoverished family and dazzle him with money,' explains Irvin Mendoza Rodriguez.
'I thought I was a bad person, but we couldn't all be bad. In my community, there were many children like me,' sighs Mendoza Rodriguez reflecting on his past.
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