Since 2015, the murder rate of children and adolescents in Mexico has steadily increased. This is due to the sys-
tematic recruitment of minors into the ranks of criminal gangs. In September 2021, the Network for Children‘s
Rights in Mexico published a new study showing that 250,000 children and adolescents are at risk of being re-
cruited by the cartels. In the capital of the Mexican state of Michoacan, a group of former soldiers and police
officers have banded together to teach children strict military activities and procedures to get them off the streets
and more law-abiding. They meet every Sunday to prepare the children for various tasks. It‘s better for them to
learn with us and be prepared for combat than to learn on the streets, says the commander of the alliance, who-
se battle cry is: Aztec warriors with tusks and claws are always victorious.