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Mexican cops teach kids violent songs, sully image
04 Aug 2005 18:25:08 GMT
Source: Reuters
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MEXICO CITY, Aug 4 (Reuters) - A bid by Mexican police to polish their image backfired after youngsters at a police summer camp were filmed chanting that they had killed their dads and tossed their sisters into ditches. Mexican newspapers and TV carried reports on Thursday that children as young as 6 were taught to belt out the lurid marching song at an elite federal police youth camp for up to 3,000 kids near Mexico City. "I never had a father, and now I never will, the only one I had, I killed," the grinning youngsters chanted in the clip shot at the camp in recent days and aired on national TV. "I never had a mother, and now I never will, the only one I had, I put into a home ... I never had a sister, and now I never will, the only one I had, I threw into a ditch," they continued. Mexico's police are struggling to shake off an enduring reputation for brutality and corruption, with some units routinely linked to kidnap and drug trafficking gangs by investigators. Commentators and authorities in Mexico, where family ties are regarded as near sacred, heaped criticism on the police unit after reports of the camp's activities emerged. One radio commentator said the sing-song "evoked fascist youth groups," while Mexico City's mayor, Alejandro Encinas, slammed the camp's methods as unacceptable. "The aim of any course for children, whether it be summer school or in formal education, should be strengthening ... family values," Encinas said. Camp organizers said the activities were meant to foster ties to the elite unit and show another side of their work, through activities based around sports and first-aid training.
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