4 ms·

That has been the case for decades. False. The US just deployed spy planes to Mexico in the last couple of months after approval by Mexico. Doing so without

That has been the case for decades. False. The US just deployed spy planes to Mexico in the last couple of months after approval by Mexico. Doing so without their permission would have been an act of war.

whatever1 2y ago
In 1992 the CIA was flying planes over Medellin, and the intel (along with DEA boots on the ground) eventually helped with taking down Escobar. A simple google search can show articles from the era.
- LinuxBender 2y ago
  I was referring to "all these years" as in happening all the time, not that it has never occurred. The US has always requested permission to enter the Mexican air space. The CIA operated as a rogue organization for many decades and that has been curtailed in the last couple of decades. As a side note I am still of the opinion that is who actually created bitcoin and what replaced the drug money which I am in support of as there are less lives lost and they just get the desperate people. That should significantly reduce their dependency on South America as a source of income but now I am delving into whacky-ping-pong-ding-dong conspiracy theories.
- alephnerd 2y ago
  Medellin is Colombia, not Mexico. Also, the Colombian Cartels are a different set of organizations that have different origins from the Mexican Cartels - the former being a side effect of the Colombian Civil War and the latter being a side effect of the 1990s Peso Crisis and the mass layoffs in the Mexican Army and Petrochemicals industry Read or watch "100 Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez. The fissures of the 1899-1903 Colombian Civil War (4-10% of Colombians died) were never resolved and it morphed into "La Violencia" which then morphed into the ongoing Colombian conflict. You need money to buy weapons, so Colombian insurgent groups (right and left leaning) entered the drug trade to arm themselves - especially after the USSR reduced funding in the 70s-80s to concentrate on Afghanistan. You see the same dynamics in Afghanistan, Syria, and Myanmar.
  - whatever1 2y ago
    The point I was replying to was that deployment of spy planes against cartels was something that happened first time in February of 2025. The parent claimed that this has never happened before because it would have been considered an act of war. This is not the case. The US intelligence has been deploying forces in Latin America against cartels for long long time.
    - alephnerd 2y ago
      The US had the permission of Colombia's government at the time because the US was already there helping with the Colombian Conflict. It was part of SOUTHCOM [0]. Mexico withheld permission for American military and intelligence deployments from 1990 to 2025 (DEA and other law enforcement was allowed), but they changed recently. > The parent claimed that this has never happened before because it would have been considered an act of war. Because it has never happened before in Mexico. It has been political suicide to even consider allowing foreign troops in Mexico because of the memory of the French Occupation. You cannot treat "Latin America" as a monolith. Each country has a different sociopolitical background and history. [0] - https://www.southcom.mil/About/History/SOUTHCOMs-60th-Anniversary/SOUTHCOMs-60th-Anniversary-1980-1999/ https://www.southcom.mil/About/History/SOUTHCOMs-60th-Annive...
      - whatever1 2y ago
        Come on these are just semantics. There are literally photos of Americans in unmarked uniforms at the arrest of Guzman. You can slap the DEA logo to anyone and carry on your mil operation. I understand that no country wants the US military getting involved, so DEA is the best PR formula. Solves the problem and your people do not revolt. But let's not fool ourselves. These are American operations taking place in Mexican soil (with the cooperation of the Mexican forces of course, it was not an attack against Mexico).
        watwut 2y ago
        Maybe you should admit you confused mexico and Colombia. The difference is not just a semantics. They are different countries.

whatever1 2y ago

In 1992 the CIA was flying planes over Medellin, and the intel (along with DEA boots on the ground) eventually helped with taking down Escobar. A simple google search can show articles from the era.

LinuxBender 2y ago
I was referring to "all these years" as in happening all the time, not that it has never occurred. The US has always requested permission to enter the Mexican air space. The CIA operated as a rogue organization for many decades and that has been curtailed in the last couple of decades. As a side note I am still of the opinion that is who actually created bitcoin and what replaced the drug money which I am in support of as there are less lives lost and they just get the desperate people. That should significantly reduce their dependency on South America as a source of income but now I am delving into whacky-ping-pong-ding-dong conspiracy theories.
alephnerd 2y ago
Medellin is Colombia, not Mexico. Also, the Colombian Cartels are a different set of organizations that have different origins from the Mexican Cartels - the former being a side effect of the Colombian Civil War and the latter being a side effect of the 1990s Peso Crisis and the mass layoffs in the Mexican Army and Petrochemicals industry Read or watch "100 Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez. The fissures of the 1899-1903 Colombian Civil War (4-10% of Colombians died) were never resolved and it morphed into "La Violencia" which then morphed into the ongoing Colombian conflict. You need money to buy weapons, so Colombian insurgent groups (right and left leaning) entered the drug trade to arm themselves - especially after the USSR reduced funding in the 70s-80s to concentrate on Afghanistan. You see the same dynamics in Afghanistan, Syria, and Myanmar.
- whatever1 2y ago
  The point I was replying to was that deployment of spy planes against cartels was something that happened first time in February of 2025. The parent claimed that this has never happened before because it would have been considered an act of war. This is not the case. The US intelligence has been deploying forces in Latin America against cartels for long long time.
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    The US had the permission of Colombia's government at the time because the US was already there helping with the Colombian Conflict. It was part of SOUTHCOM [0]. Mexico withheld permission for American military and intelligence deployments from 1990 to 2025 (DEA and other law enforcement was allowed), but they changed recently. > The parent claimed that this has never happened before because it would have been considered an act of war. Because it has never happened before in Mexico. It has been political suicide to even consider allowing foreign troops in Mexico because of the memory of the French Occupation. You cannot treat "Latin America" as a monolith. Each country has a different sociopolitical background and history. [0] - https://www.southcom.mil/About/History/SOUTHCOMs-60th-Anniversary/SOUTHCOMs-60th-Anniversary-1980-1999/ https://www.southcom.mil/About/History/SOUTHCOMs-60th-Annive...
    - whatever1 2y ago
      Come on these are just semantics. There are literally photos of Americans in unmarked uniforms at the arrest of Guzman. You can slap the DEA logo to anyone and carry on your mil operation. I understand that no country wants the US military getting involved, so DEA is the best PR formula. Solves the problem and your people do not revolt. But let's not fool ourselves. These are American operations taking place in Mexican soil (with the cooperation of the Mexican forces of course, it was not an attack against Mexico).
      - watwut 2y ago
        Maybe you should admit you confused mexico and Colombia. The difference is not just a semantics. They are different countries.