Americas and Caribbean: M - R

With parental consent, 16-year-olds could volunteer for early military service. No information was available on the use of under-18s in armed groups.

There were no reports of under-18s in the armed forces.

There were no armed forces. The minimum age for recruitment to the police was 18, but cadets could enter police training at 17.

Following continued public and international pressure about recruitment of children, by 2007 under-18s were no longer allowed to volunteer for military or pre-military service.

Although there was no evidence of children serving in the armed forces, in some indigenous areas children from the age of 12 served in self-defence committees.