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Judi Lynn

(160,211 posts)
Sun Aug 2, 2020, 06:11 PM Aug 2020

How a US military doctrine became Colombia's 'origin of evil' Part 1: "Popeye"


by Adriaan Alsema August 2, 2020

The Medellin Cartel’s 1988 murder of a top anti-mafia official was one of the first indications that the US-promoted “National Security Doctrine” had become “the origin of evil” in Colombia.

The military doctrine came to life in the 1960’s during the “Red Scare,” when paranoia over possible Soviet Union interference in the Americas was common, especially after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In a 2016 ruling, a Medellin Court called the US military doctrine “the origin of evil” after finding out that Colombian authorities, illegal armed groups and the mafia had been using the doctrine to justify any kind of violence.

What is known in Latin America as the National Security Doctrine [is] not defense against an external enemy, but a way to make the military establishment the masters of the game [with] the right to combat the internal enemy…: it is the right to fight and to exterminate social workers, trade unionists, men and women who are not supportive of the establishment, and who are assumed to be communist extremists. And this could mean anyone, including human rights activists such as myself.

Colombia’s former Foreign Minister Alfredo Vasquez

More:
https://colombiareports.com/how-a-us-military-doctrine-became-colombias-origin-of-evil-part-1-popeye/
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How a US military doctrine became Colombia's 'origin of evil' Part 1: "Popeye" (Original Post) Judi Lynn Aug 2020 OP
Working there, now safeinOhio Aug 2020 #1
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