To be young in Cazuca, a slum south of Colombia's capital of Bogota
is tough, to put it simply.
Here there are few opportunities for young people
few jobs and no good schools.
On top of that youth are the target of armed groups
who control the area with threats of forced recruitment
and even death if teens don't comply with their rules.
We were sleeping
next day we woke up, mom got up to make breakfast and she saw a sheet of paper
she thought it could be a bill.
It was a page with a list of names.
It was a pamphlet containing a list of names of people considered to be up to no good.
Essentially it warned those on the list to behave.
It read: "It's time for social cleansing. Now is the turn of junkie bitches with AIDS
drug dealers
thieves, kidnappers and young drug users.
We know who you are."
She asked me if I was doing drugs, or if I was a thief, I said no.
She showed me my name, my nickname, my brother's name was also there.
This is a teenager we are calling Camilo.
We had to change his name because it's too dangerous to reveal his identity.
Camilo is on this pamphlet accused of being a thief.
The pamphlets are thought to be distributed by armed groups.
This one has the signature of the Self Defense Forces of Colombia
or AUC, the umbrella group of paramilitary forces
that officially demobilized starting in 2003.
But many have regrouped
into new criminal gangs and continue to control many neighborhoods
in towns and cities across Colombia.
Here in Cazuca residents say little has changed since the paramilitary's demobilization.
An ongoing reminder of their presence is through what is cruelly referred to as social cleansing
a systematic way to get rid of people, and especially youth, considered to be undesirables.
Even though this isn't a new phenomenon
the circulation of pamphlets has surged this year.
I got scared when I read it, why am I on it?
On it they also have a neighbor and other friends around here
some girls left town yesterday because of that.
To be honest I don't know why there are pamphlets
or who sends them.
Camilo who is fifteen, thinks his name is on that pamphlet because he likes to go dancing.
Some young people here are hooked on drugs and often steal to get the money to party.
But doing drugs, stealing and partying
is against the rules of the armed groups
who impose social codes of conduct to control areas and squash neighborhood crime
except for their own.
It's likely Camilo's lifestyle has landed him on the pamphlet
he's been out of school since he was twelve
doesn't work and spends his time playing arcade games.
Here youth have no freedom.
Everything is bad on those pamphlets.
We can't hang out in parks because they say we're doing drugs
we can't play arcade games
we can't party.
Anywhere they see us it's not good.
So we can't feel safe anywhere.
There are threats against kids that play arcade games
because supposedly this foments idleness.
Lilia Solano is concerned about the dire reality
many youth face.
If you ask people they say
"I'm going to tell you about this,
but don't put it on record because they kill me."
Her organization "Proyecto Justicia y Vida"
has done extensive research about human rights violations
in Cazuca and a similar problem area called Ciudad Bolivar.
It's the kind of control where there's no right to be young
and that's what we have in Cazuca
the death penalty to those who don't accept
that the people that control the weapons and money, say you can't dance.
But what's behind this is the thinking, if you don't obey, I'll kill you.
Kids like Camilo, who lack education, direction and money
are easy prey for armed groups
who often recruit youth to carry out tasks or join their groups.
One day I was at school and when I was leaving
they stopped me.
They told me I had to extort kids
take their money and give it to them.
This is a child we are calling Christopher.
We also had to change his name to protect his identity.
I had to get the kids in the bathroom.
They gave me a knife.
They said it had to be one dollar per kid.
At only twelve years of age, Christopher knew he didn't have a choice.
He was also drawn by the offer of a few pesos which would help out
his three siblings and his single mother, who used to have a drinking problem.
I felt like a criminal.
I was afraid, I didn't want to do it, but I had to.
If I refused, they would recruit me.
They would take me to the jungle where the guerrillas and the military are fighting.
Two months after that, they gave me a gun
and then one day my mom found it and that's when I told her.
When I found the gun, I told him, you are not going back
tomorrow I'm not going to work, we are going to lock up here.
We had been locked inside for three days
when under the door we saw a note.
It said we had to leave or else they would come and kill us.
Christopher and his family had to flee their home
and with the assistance of government agencies
they restarted their lives away from Cazuca.
It's been three months since then, all the kids are enrolled in new schools
and his mom is sober.
But they still live in fear they'll be found again.
They are among many who every year are forced out of Cazuca
by threats from armed groups.
The control they hold is a topic few want to talk about.
They are very powerful.
There are places where the police don't dare go into.
To be able to live here you have to be deaf, blind and mute.
That's the way you survive here and that means living
in a total state of fear.
There are no reliable numbers on how many young people
have been killed as consequence of the control of armed groups
and social cleansing threats.
Many murders go unreported or the motives are unknown
or wrongly classified as gang warfare.
Though it appears murders of youth have decreased in the last several years
the threats of violence and recruitment they face
are still tremendous.
So too is their ability to cope and survive.