“That is life here: war, war and war.” Brian, a gang member from Potrero Grande, a neighbourhood in Cali, Colombia’s third largest city, has carried a gun since he was 15 years old. “My hand doesn’t shake anymore,” he said. “Sometimes you have to do things you shouldn’t do to survive around here.” 

Potrero Grande sits on the banks of the Cauca river, an artery of the country’s cocaine trade. Most of the inhabitants have fled from the drug cartels who wreak havoc in Colombia’s countryside. They are funnelled downstream, and, with few other opportunities available, many end up joining the same cartels from whom they fled. Gang members like Brian are often hooked on the drugs they sell. The pavements are littered with basuco wrappers, brightly coloured scraps of paper containing crude coca base, a cheaper street version of cocaine. 

“There are no jobs for us,” said Brian. “You leave your résumé, but no one ever calls. But then someone comes offering you a motorcycle just to do this one thing. And you go do it. You kill this guy, you get all this money, and hey, that is how you get started.”