Rural Colombia welcomes gangs that mete out vigilante justice 

María Álvarez (not her real name) is a devout Catholic. She was relieved last year when the Ismael Ruiz gang, an offshoot of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), set up operations in her rural home town of San Antonio. They promised to end what Ms Álvarez calls “immoral behaviours”. Then, two months ago, the gang ran her son out of town. They disliked his motorcycle stunts, long hair and earrings. She misses him, but maintains that “social cleansing prevents people from stealing from hard-working people like us, and it helps to make sure our young people behave.”