Violent guerrillas are taking Colombia's children. Unarmed Indigenous groups are confronting them
Associated Press
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Patricia Elago Zetty, an Indigenous Guard, poses for a photo on July 16, 2025, in Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)Fernndez, a woman in her mid-30s who asked to be identified only by her last name for fear of reprisals, was 12 when armed men came looking for her in her rural Cauca community, poses for a photo on July 17, 2025, in Caldono, Colombia. She managed to escape after three years. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)Children walk by decorations in the colors of red and green which represent blood and earth, July 18, 2025, in Manuelico village, Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)Indigenous Guards, including Patricia Elago Zetty, left, prepare decorations for a graduation ceremony on July 18, 2025, in Manuelico village, Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)A few coca trees, used by Indigenous communities for ritual purposes, grow near a school on July 18, 2025, in Manuelico village, Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)Patricia Elago Zetty, an Indigenous Guard, poses for a photo with her staff and a small photo of her son on it July 16, 2025, in Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)Young dancers, in traditional Indigenous clothes, wait for a graduation ceremony to begin at a school on July 18, 2025, in Manuelico village, Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)Banners on the side of the road for the Dagoberto Ramos armed group are displayed on July 18, 2025, in Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)Luz Adriana Diaz, a teacher at a school in Manuelico village, poses for a photo on July 18, 2025, in Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)In a classroom at a school, a desk sits near posters displaying educational information, some in the Nasa Yuwe language, on July 18, 2025, in Manuelico village, Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)With the help of Indigenous Guards, residents make a living from protected coffee cultivation, front, while coca crops grow, back right, in an area controlled by an armed group of FARC dissidents July 16, 2025, in Piendamo reserve, Cauca, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)
Nadège Mazars
Patricia Elago Zetty, an Indigenous Guard, poses for a photo on July 16, 2025, in Caldono, Colombia. (AP Photo/Nadge Mazars)
