Carlos (not his real name) joined the military when he was 19 years old. He did so to protect his family in a community where men had no choice but to join a side. Members of his own extended family belonged to both death squads and the guerrilla. He chose the military to keep the death squads away from his family, and to keep his younger brothers from being forcibly recruited.

Three years later he would leave the armed forces unable to cope with following orders--which included the indiscriminate killing of civilians--that conflicted with his own values. He felt the "extreme right" had lost their objective, and that the orders came from the United States which, in his mind, had its own interests.


Special thanks to Mark Weaver for the translation and voiceover.