Pubdate: Sat, 10 Mar 2001
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036
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Author: Ethan Yankowitz

LATIN NIGHTMARES

To the Editor:

Re "New Files Tie U.S. to Deaths of Latin Leftists in 1970's" (news 
article, March 6):

Perhaps our increasing awareness of United States involvement in the 
nightmarish military regimes of Latin America in the 1970's can inform the 
current engagement in Colombia.

An attempt to counter "Marxist" influence in the Southern Hemisphere 
resulted in a political culture of fear and intimidation (and ultimately 
"disappearance") that still reverberates in Latin America. Coca has 
replaced leftist thought as today's enemy, but United States involvement 
remains eerily similar.

Let us hope that we will learn from the mistakes of our past so as not to 
repeat them.

Ethan Yankowitz, Brooklyn, March 7, 2001
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