Mercados laborales en contextos de guerra: reclutamiento de niños soldado en Colombia
| Autor | Mónica Hurtado, Ángela Iranzo Dosdad, Wilson Rodríguez |
| Cargo | Universidad de la Sabana (Colombia) / Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (España) / Universidad de la Sabana (Colombia) |
| Páginas | 65-91 |
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Labor Markets in Contexts of War: Recruitment and
Trafficking of Child Soldiers in Colombia
Mónica Hurtado
Universidad de la Sabana (Colombia)
Ángela Iranzo Dosdad
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (España)
Wilson Rodríguez
Universidad de la Sabana (Colombia)
HOW TO CITE:
Hurtado, Mónica, Ángela Iranzo Dosdad, and Wilson Rodríguez. 2023. “Labor Markets in Contexts of War:
Recruitment and Trafficking of Child Soldiers in Colombia.” Colombia Internacional 114: 65-91. https://doi.
org/10.7440/colombiaint114.2023.03
RECEIVED: July 8, 2022
ACCEPTED: October 20, 2022
MODIFIED: November 11, 2022
https://doi.org/10.7440/colombiaint114.2023.03
ABSTRACT. Objective/context: e article aims to analyze child recruitment as
a form of human tracking. Beyond the theoretical perspectives that focus on
security or rights, it addresses the topic as a form of unfree labor. By means of a
case study focused on child recruitment by right-wing paramilitary groups in
Colombia, the paper analyzes how children entered and exited illegal armed groups,
the functions they performed, and the exploitation they endured. e research
argues that child recruitment operates as a large-scale labor-market uptake in the
wartime social order, where the “employers” are paramilitary groups, and the labor
force, in part, consists of children and adolescents. Methodology: is case study
relies on dierent sources of information: a database on child recruitment provided
We thank the Universidad de la Sabana for sponsoring the research project DER-54-
2017. We also thank Judge Uldi Teresa Jiménez and her assistant Adrián Valencia for
answering our questions about the Justice and Peace Tribunal. Finally, we appreciate
the support of Laura Manuela Escobar for debugging, unifying, and systematizing the
Attorney General’s database, as well as Karen Rosero, María Alejandra Vega, and María
Paula Garzón, law students at the Universidad de la Sabana, who analyzed information
from the case les and judicial sentences.
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Colomb. int. 114 • 0121-5612 • e- 1900-6004
Abril-junio 2023 • . 65-91 • https://doi.org/10.7440/colombiaint114.2023.03
by the special Justice and Peace Unit of the Colombian Attorney General’s Oce
(989 cases between 1981 and 2005), sentences of Peace and Justice, testimonials
given by victims in judicial processes, and semi-structured interviews with dierent
actors. Conclusions: e paper shows that child recruitment as a form of tracking
is functional to wartime social order in contexts of poverty and inequality. ere is
demand and supply; thus, both girls and boys, who worked as soldiers, are not only
victims but also agents that make decisions in challenging conditions. erefore,
if the socioeconomic options for these children, even aer their demobilization
from the armed group, are still a choice between bad and worse, joining a violent
(no longer “armed” but “criminal”) group will remain a feasible alternative.
Originality: e article contributes to the academic literature on a recent topic,
such as the overlapping between child recruitment and human tracking in armed
conict and post-conict situations. It also contributes to the literature on “unfree
labor,” as the study focuses on an actor (illegal armed groups) that has not been
analyzed until now. Finally, the research demonstrates the limits of understanding
human tracking (and child recruitment as a form of tracking) as a problem of
security or rights entitlement. It highlights the analytical and political advantages
of categories such as “unfree labor” to provide eective solutions for the prevention
and reintegration of child soldiers.
KEYWORDS: Child recruitment; human tracking; unfree labor; armed conict;
Colombia.
Mercados laborales en contextos de guerra: reclutamiento de
niños soldado en Colombia
RESUMEN. Objetivo/contexto: el artículo propone analizar el reclutamiento de
niños, niñas y adolescentes como una forma de trata de personas. Más allá de las
aproximaciones teóricas que enfatizan las dimensiones de seguridad o derechos, este
estudio aborda el tema como una forma de trabajo no libre. Mediante un estudio
de caso, centrado en las prácticas de reclutamiento por parte del paramilitarismo en
Colombia, el artículo se enfoca en la entrada de los niños, niñas y adolescentes al
grupo armado, la salida, las funciones que cumplieron y las formas de explotación a las
que fueron sometidos. Esta investigación sostiene que el reclutamiento en Colombia
opera como un mercado laboral a gran escala en un orden social de guerra, donde
los “empleadores” son grupos paramilitares y la fuerza de trabajo está conformada,
en parte, por niños, niñas y adolescentes. Metodología: el estudio de caso se basa en
diferentes fuentes de información: la base de datos de reclutamiento ilícito facilitada
por la unidad especial de Justicia y Paz de la Fiscalía General de Colombia (989
casos de niños y niñas reclutados entre 1981 y 2005), sentencias de Justicia y Paz,
audiencias de las víctimas en el proceso judicial y entrevistas semiestructuradas a
diferentes actores. Conclusiones: el artículo muestra que el reclutamiento, como
forma de trata, es funcional al orden social de la guerra en contextos de pobreza
y desigualdad. Existe una oferta y una demanda; así, los niños y niñas que
“trabajaron” como soldados no sólo son víctimas sino también agentes que tomaron
decisiones en contextos difíciles. Por tanto, si las condiciones socioeconómicas de
estos niños y niñas, incluso tras su desvinculación, siguen ofreciendo una decisión
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