Mexico sees rise in gangs, vigilantes recruiting children

Mexico City: One day after a vigilante group revealed that it was using children as young as 8 as recruits for armed defense patrols, Mexico's president said Thursday that drug cartels too are recruiting every-younger kids.

The whole issue has sparked a debate in Mexico over the use of children in armed confrontations, with rights groups saying the practice threatens not only kids' safety, but their mental health.

President Andr s Manuel L pez Obrador said that because social programs are giving more youths opportunities to study or work, drug cartels are having trouble finding gunmen, leading them to recruit children.

The gangs are having trouble getting hit men, so they are recruiting more children and young people, because there is competition, L pez Obrador said. "The thing is, the social programs are giving youths more options, and that is leading them (gangs) to get desperate, and they are looking to reinforce themselves with kids".

L pez Obrador said the key is to attack the root causes, to stop the breakdown of families, to strengthen values and material welfare, to give attention to young people to avoid them being recruited.

The issue came to a head Wednesday, when a vigilante group in southern Mexico publicly displayed a troop of 19 armed, masked children who had been recruited to act as community police.