US Military's 'Narco-Terrorist' Killings: A Convenient Narrative in the Eastern Pacific
📰 THE STORY: The Hill reports that U.S. military forces killed two individuals labeled 'narco-terrorists' and detained one survivor in the Eastern Pacific, touting it as a successful interdiction operation. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The term 'narco-terrorist' is a Cold War holdover, popularized during the U.S. 'War on Drugs' in the 1980s, which often served as a pretext
for intervention and counter-insurgency operations against left-leaning governments or movements in Latin America. The U.S. has a long history of meddling in the region, including the 1973 CIA coup in Chile against democratically elected Allende, the backing of Contra forces in Nicaragua (often implicated in drug trafficking themselves) in the 1980s, and the support for paramilitary groups in
Colombia. These actions created the very conditions of instability and economic desperation that fuel drug production and illicit trade. The focus on 'narco-terrorists' deflects from the systemic issues exacerbated by decades of U.S. neo-colonial policies and crushing IMF-imposed austerity measures that leave communities with few economic alternatives. Double Standard: When the U.S. military or
CIA-backed groups commit atrocities or engage in illicit activities, it's often whitewashed or ignored by mainstream media. For instance, the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, where the U.S. facilitated illegal arms sales to Iran and used the profits to fund right-wing Contras in Nicaragua, who were themselves involved in drug smuggling to finance their operations. This was a direct U.S. government