US MERCERNARIES IN PERU In a Feb. 19 article published in Narconews.com, reporter Peter Gorman revealed that teams of retired US Navy SEALs have been arriving over the past several weeks in the Peruvian jungle city of Iquitos, the Peruvian city closest to southern Colombia which has an international airport. [Navy SEALs are an elite US Special Forces unit.] The retired SEAL teams are ostensibly being brought in to operate new high-tech US gunboats, which have arrived over the past two months as part of the US-backed Peruvian "Riverine" program, based out of Iquitos. The boats, as large as 38-feet with 4 guns, are equipped with cutting edge marine electronics, from radar to listening devices, and armed with anti-aircraft guns along with mounted machine guns. Under the Riverine program, the US provides boats and training to Peruvian military forces to help them intercept coca base as it is transported through the Peruvian Amazon to the Colombian river port of Leticia. The Riverine program has been in place for several years, but during the past few weeks the high-tech boats have begun to be moved from the Amazon river in Peru to the Putumayo river, which marks the border between Colombia and Peru. The former SEALs will now reportedly have the job of patrolling the Putumayo river and killing any suspected rebels who try to retreat onto Peruvian soil. Members of US Special Forces teams working out of Iquitos confirm that the men are mercenaries hired to kill Colombian leftist rebels; they are said to have been chosen for the secret operation because of their SEAL backgrounds and the quality of their work in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Central America and Africa. The mercenaries are openly claiming to have been hired by a company named Virginia Electronics; they say they earn their money per kill, and that since they are retired, they are not bound by military codes. A web search doesn't show the existence of a militarily-connected company called Virginia Electronics, although there is a "Virginia Electronics Expo" website which brags of cutting edge marine-electronics technology, is sponsored by military defense contractors and claims to be approved by the Department of Defense. An employee at the US Embassy in Lima--who refused to give a name--responded to a reporter's questions by denying that "we would ever be involved in the use of mercenaries," and that "it's unimaginable that former Navy SEALs would ever be mercenaries." [Narconews.com 2/19/01] _______________________________________________ Marxist-Leninist-List mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/marxist-leninist-list
