APPENDIX I



GLOSSARY

bazuco: the residue left from the fabrication of cocaine from coca leaf and sold as a highly addictive drug

bono: a voucher listing services for street children, bought and given away in lieu of money

botadero de cadáveres: body-dumping spot

Boxer: a brand of industrial glue sold in Colombia and used by street children as a drug

CAI: Centro de Atención Inmediata (Immediate Attention Center); urban police outposts

cambuche: a street person's sleeping spot

chichipatos: small-time criminals, often children

chino(a): child

combo: gang

comuna: a metropolitan area of Medellín, akin to a New York borough

desechable: literally disposable, used to refer to street people, prostitutes, recyclers, and the mentally ill

galladas: gangs of street children

gamines: street children

inimputable: in Colombia, minors are considered "inimputable," not responsible for their actions or the consequences, and are therefore not punishable by law

jíbaro: drug-seller

kamikazes: a hired killer who knows he or she must die in an attack

ley del sapo: literally law of the toad, or snitch; he who talks, dies

"limpieza social": see "social cleansing"

mulas: individuals, often children, who transport drugs

NN: no nombre, no name; unidentified cadavers

ñero(a): derives from compañero, a street person

ollas: literally, pots; a place where drugs are sold

paisas: people from Antioquia

parches: literally, patches or turf

paseo: literally a walk, but used to describe when police take detainees to the outskirts of a city and execute them

quiebrapatas: literally foot-breaker, land mines set off by the pressure of a footfall that can kill or destroy a foot or leg

sabana: plain, the flat mountain valley where Bogotá lies

Sacol: a brand of industrial glue sold in Colombia and used by street children as a drug

sicario: hired killer

"social cleansing": the serial killing of members of a social group in order to "clean out" or "impose order" on a criminal or unsightly populace.

traquetero(a): a young person who takes part in the initial buying and selling of pasta básica, raw cocaine, and the finished product; taken from the sound of machine-gun fire (traki-traki)

troopers: vehicles like Isuzu's popular four-wheel-drive Trooper, often used in assassination attempts and "social cleansing" killings; also known as "jeeps" and "Nissanes"

tugurio: slum