"Right Wing Death Squad" patch on vest of Mauricio Garcia, TX mall shooter.

[peppertree]

38. True.

In much of Latin America - except Argentina and Uruguay - people who are anything less than around 75% Indigenous or African often consider themselves "white."

Like many Latin American ills (corruption, violence, despotism, racism, extreme maldistribution of income, etc.), this has cultural origins in the Colonial era.

At the time, the Spanish landlords would often use Ladinos, Mestizos or other 'mixed' types to lord over the Indigenous or African slaves. The higher the % of apparent White blood, the higher-ranked said lackey would usually be.

Naturally, this created a state of intense mutual resentment between Ladinos and the downtrodden, darker people - a resentment that endures to this day.

Mauricio was definitely of Ladino/Mestizo background - and, I suspect, might have family ties to some death squad goon from Latin dictatorship in the '70s or '80s - many of whom fled to the U.S. under Reagan to avoid prosecution and/or revenge.

It goes without saying that most such escapees are now Republican.