Narco Terrorists in Peru Mimicking the FARC

The Shining Path is a Peruvian narco terrorist group that peaked in power in the 1990s. In fact, the term “narco terrorism” was coined in 1982 by the President of Peru, Fernando Belaunde Terry, in reference to this group’s activities. The Shining Path funded most of its operations from drug trafficking and extorting “protection” money drug traffickers in Peru.

Peru remains as one of the top cocaine-producing nations in the world and much of it is concentrated in an area known as the VRAEM, the valley of three rivers Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro. The remaining 300 or so members of the Shining Path maintain a stronghold in this region.

It’s estimated that this communist rebel group killed as many 11,000 civilians. Fortunately, the Shining Path has dwindled in numbers and power, which resulted in far less bloodshed. Only three deaths were attributed to this group in 2015.

However, there seems to be a mini-resurgence of violence committed the Shining Path or successors groups. Two weeks ago, Peruvian terrorists conducted an attack against Peruvian military in VRAEM region that injured six soldiers. Four days earlier they ambushed and killed four police officers.

According to Peru’s newspaper, El Comercio, these attacks were attributed to a successor group of the Shining Path. This group had been known as the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (PCP). However, the group’s new name is the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Peru (FARP). It expresses a clear solidarity with the Colombian narco-terrorist group FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). 

A Shining Path propaganda poster

We don’t know what will become of the FARP, which is led by a former Shining Path rebel, Victor Quispe Palomino aka Comrade Jose. However, to be fair, the FARC is transitioning to a political party with the same acronym, FARC (The Common Alternative Revolutionary Force). Unfortunately, the newly-elected Colombian President, Ivan Duque, has promised to renege on the 2016 Peace Agreement. 

Most members of the FARC have disbanded, but there are roughly 1,200 dissident members who have refused to lay down their arms. They continue to traffic drugs and commit terrorist acts. In fact, some of it has spilled across the border into Ecuador.

Without a Hint of Irony, Former CIA Director’s Podcast Discusses Solutions for the Opioid Crisis

Michael Morell, former CIA Director, hosts a podcast “Intelligence Matters.” He recently had a very inspiring guest on his show, retired U.S. Navy Admiral James “Sandy” Winnefeld.

Winnefeld’s son died of an overdose from fentanyl-laced heroin. After his son’s death, Winnefeld has dedicated a tremendous amount of effort to find solutions for the opioid crisis. In fact, he formed a non-profit group dedicated to this cause, Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic (SAFE).

Overall, I strongly agree with most of Winnefeld’s strategies. During this podcast, he brought up several points that most of America views as highly controversial. For instance, he advocated for safe injection sites. Although this concept is controversial in the U.S., several countries have hosted these types of facilities which have proven to be a highly-effective form of harm reduction. 

Every one of these facilities are staffed by health professionals equipped with the opioid-overdose-reversal drug, naloxone. There have been several overdoses in these facilities, but there has never been an overdose death. Furthermore, safe injection sites are a major boost to public health by providing clean needles, thus reducing HIV and Hepatitis. One study concluded that the city of San Francisco would save $3.5 million in public costs.

Hence, although this concept is highly stigmatized, Winnefeld stated during the podcast that he wished these facilities had been legal in the U.S. while his son was still alive. If so, he may still be alive.

Winnefeld brought up other very important points. In particular, the vast majority of drug arrests are for possession, not trafficking. In addition, a large percentage of those charged with trafficking are merely supporting their habit. 

However, Winnefeld and I disagree on the extent of decriminalization. I support the full decriminalization (and eventually the legalization) of drugs, not just the users. Nonetheless, Winnefeld offered a great deal of insight during this podcast, which is worth a listen.

However, I would be remiss to not point out the irony of a former CIA Director commenting on evidence-based solutions for the opioid crisis. 

U.S. Marines in an opium field in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. (Wikimedia Commons)

If you’re not familiar with the CIA’s extensive complicity with drug trafficking, there are several research resources available. However, there’s also a tremendous amount of speculation and disinformation on this topic. With that said, if you’re interested in reading about this issue, my first book, The Drug War: A Trillion Dollar Con Game, goes into great detail with extensive documentation.

Mexico's Failed 10-Year Drug War & Why America Supports It

InSight Crime, a non-profit research organization that focuses on the drug trade in Latin America, published an eye-opening story on Monday. Reading the full story is worth your time as it offers specific details of how one of Mexico’s most powerful cartels, Los Zetas, has corrupted influential politicians. That includes bribes of $2 million a month to the governor of Coahuila, a Mexican state that borders Texas along the Rio Grande. In the same evening of InSight’s report, Los Zetas took credit for a mass shooting at a popular electronic music festival in the touristy city of Playa del Carmen, which is roughly 40 miles south of Cancun. 

Needless to say, Los Zetas traffic drugs with very little government interference. Likewise, they commit violence with military precision. The reason being, their organization was founded by former members of Mexican Special Forces. In fact, several of them received training in Fort Benning, GA at a counternarcotics program that was once known as the “School of the Americas.” The name of this program was later changed to the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC)” as public relations gesture because countless violent acts have been attributed to graduates from this program. 

Los Zetas have the highest number of former military members in their ranks. However, that doesn’t mean that other cartels don’t have links with the military. In 2006, the former President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, made a fateful decision to have the military begin enforcing their country’s drug laws. That the turned the metaphor “drug war” into an actual war on the Mexican people. The numbers are staggering. Roughly 80,000 Mexican citizens have been murdered in violence directly attributed to the drug war. We don’t know the exact figures because the Mexico government no longer publishes those statistics. Another 26,000 people have disappeared and are missing. Also, an approximate number of 281,000 Mexicans are considered internally displaced citizens (IDCs) within their own country since 2011 due to the violence. All in all, this is clear evidence that backs up Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos’s claim that the drug war may be more harmful than all of the wars in the world. He made that statement last December while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. Coincidentally, his speech took place one day before the 10-year anniversary of Mexico’s drug war.

There is no rule of law in Mexico in large part due to the corruption that has manifested from the drug war. Simply put, a large percentage of the police are the cartels’ payroll. Astoundingly, 98.5% of all crimes go unpunished in Mexico. Therefore, adding the military as another layer of law enforcement in that type of environment is like pouring gasoline on a fire. Case in point, Mexico’s Secretary of Defense, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, essentially acknowledged that fact by stating that militarizing the drug war was a “mistake.”  

  

The U.S. government has provided $2.5 billion of military aid for the drug war since 2008. (Photo-Wikimedia Commons)

Torture has now become commonplace with the military leading several law enforcement responsibilities in the country. As a result, there is often no need for a jury or judge; the military unofficially acts as the executioner. Statistics show that Mexico’s Special Forces kill approximately thirty people for every one person they injure. That is not acting out of self-defense; those are government sanctioned death squads. For example, in June of 2014, the military murdered 22 men in a warehouse in Tlatlaya. Investigators deciphered that evidence was tainted afterward to make it appear that this was a two-sided battle, which it was not. Nevertheless, none of those murderers were convicted for this crime.  

The victims of that massacre were an unsympathetic group, a vicious gang Los Guerreros Unidos, which has committed massacres of their own, the well-publicized massacre of 43 students in Iguala. Understandably, you may be thinking that it’s necessary for the government to use this kind of force to fight with fire. However, let’s look at this issue from a practical standpoint, let alone put aside the moral implications from state-sanctioned extrajudicial murders. In the best case scenario, the military commits a massacre in an honest attempt to crack down on drug trafficking. However, gangland murders always lead to more violence because it creates a power vacuum in which rival gangs battle for turf. On the other hand, in the worst case scenario, the military is killing gang members to snuff out competition. And that is often the case. In many instances, corrupt military officers are acting as enforcers for gangs, government officials, or wealthy businessmen. 

Anyone who speaks out against the Mexican government puts their life in danger. That includes journalist, political organizers, human rights activists, etc. Human rights violations have increased over 1000% since the Mexican drug war was militarized in 2006. However, some American leaders have taken notice, such as Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). He has been one of the few members to call for cutting off Mexico’s military foreign aid until their human rights record improves. Yes, our tax dollars are actively contributing to this horrific issue. The U.S. government has paid for a program known as the Merida Initiative that has provided over $2.5 billion worth of military aid to Mexico since 2008. Worst of all, our government is fully aware that this program is counterproductive as it has had no noticeable effect on the Mexican drug trade. However, as detailed in my past posts about Honduras and Colombia, our government is more concerned with geopolitics than the drug war. 

Our government continues providing military aid through “counternarcotics” programs to Latin American countries with atrocious human rights records. The Cold War is officially over, but these anti-drug programs serve as a way to unofficially fight against the spread of communism without declaring war. Keep in mind, there is a strong contingency of leftist populism throughout Latin America. Look no further than the mass protests and riots in Mexico from two weeks ago after gas prices rose 20% because the government began reducing oil subsidies. As one U.S. News & World Report contributor recently pondered, “Could it lead to a ‘Mexican spring?’” There are several old-school hardliners in the U.S. government who still subscribe to the domino theory. Consequently, they view these kinds of developments and consciously overlook the atrocities committed by the Mexican military in hopes that it will suppress a communist uprising.   

So can anything be done to reduce the violence from the drug war? The answer is to legalize marijuana and decriminalize the more dangerous drugs. With that said, we don’t live in a utopian society. It’s unrealistic to believe that these gang members will immediately pack up their bags and join the straight and narrow path. Several of these drug trafficking gangs are truly sophisticated organized crime outfits. They make money from other illegal activities, such as extortion, robbery, illegal mining, etc. Therefore, ending the drug war won’t eliminate the black market crime problem in Latin America, but removing the profits of illegal drugs will drastically reduce the corruption with the military, police, and politicians who enable the drug trade. Consequently, the current gang population will eventually dwindle and future recruits will be much less inclined to enter into the life of crime without the lure of easy drug money.

To sum up, there is far more to the drug war than meets the eye. The consequences are horrific within our own borders, but if the United States were to end the drugs it would have an absolutely remarkable impact on the world.