{"id":95784,"date":"2025-08-12T14:09:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:09:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=95784"},"modified":"2025-08-12T14:09:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:09:45","slug":"violent-guerrillas-are-taking-colombias-children-unarmed-indigenous-groups-are-confronting-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/12\/violent-guerrillas-are-taking-colombias-children-unarmed-indigenous-groups-are-confronting-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Violent guerrillas are taking Colombia&#8217;s children. Unarmed Indigenous groups are confronting them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Steven Grattan CALDONO, Colombia (AP) \u2014 When Patricia Elago Zetty&#8217;s 13-year-old son went missing in Colombia&#8217;s conflict-ridden southwest, she didn&#8217;t hesitate. Elago and five fellow members of the Indigenous Guard trekked across mountainous terrain to confront the guerrillas they suspected of taking her son and another teenager to bolster their ranks. When the unarmed Guard members reached the guerrillas&#8217; camp, about 30 fighters stopped them at gunpoint. After a tense wait, a tall commander stepped out from a gate, and Elago said she had come for her son. The commander said he would \u201cverify\u201d whether the boy was there. After about an hour of negotiations and radio calls, five more guerrillas arrived with her son Stiven and the other boy. When she saw Stiven, Elago said, it felt like&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F08%2F12%2Fviolent-guerrillas-are-taking-colombias-children-unarmed-indigenous-groups-are-confronting-them%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Steven Grattan CALDONO, Colombia (AP) \u2014 When Patricia Elago Zetty&#8217;s 13-year-old son went missing in Colombia&#8217;s conflict-ridden southwest, she didn&#8217;t hesitate. Elago and five fellow members of the Indigenous Guard trekked across mountainous terrain to confront the guerrillas they suspected of taking her son and another teenager to bolster their ranks. When the unarmed Guard members reached the guerrillas&#8217; camp, about 30 fighters stopped them at gunpoint. After a tense wait, a tall commander stepped out from a gate, and Elago said she had come for her son. The commander said he would \u201cverify\u201d whether the boy was there. After about an hour of negotiations and radio calls, five more guerrillas arrived with her son Stiven and the other boy. When she saw Stiven, Elago said, it felt like... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F08%2F12%2Fviolent-guerrillas-are-taking-colombias-children-unarmed-indigenous-groups-are-confronting-them%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Violent guerrillas are taking Colombia&#039;s children. 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Elago and five fellow members of the Indigenous Guard trekked across mountainous terrain to confront the guerrillas they suspected of taking her son and another teenager to bolster their ranks. When the unarmed Guard members reached the guerrillas&#8217; camp, about 30 fighters stopped them at gunpoint. After a tense wait, a tall commander stepped out from a gate, and Elago said she had come for her son. The commander said he would \u201cverify\u201d whether the boy was there. After about an hour of negotiations and radio calls, five more guerrillas arrived with her son Stiven and the other boy. 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