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The role of CIA in the history of Latin America is very controversial and, in many cases, very dirty; in fact, from the 1950's to the 1990's, the CIA supported systematically the dictatorial and fascist regimes, very frequent in all that continent, to take and keep the power.

For ex., famous is the support in money and intelligence to Gen. Augusto Pinochet in his violent golpe against the democratic Socialist regime (not Communist!) of CHILI (1973), lead by Salvador Allende, who was killed in the military attack of Pinochet's soldiers to the presidential palace, in Santiago.

Then, there's the support to the Contras guerrilla in Nicaragua in the first years of its Socialist Sandinist regime in the early 1980's.
This support, made of money, weapons and military advisers, under the U.S. presidency of Ronald Reagan, was even illegal, i.e., not authorized by the U.S. government and by the Congress.

Another case, is in El Salvador, during the bloody civil war ended in the 1990's, when CIA helped the violent Right paramilitary groups that, for ex., had killed also the Archbishop Jose Romero, while he was celebrating the mass in his church.

Its action was always justified by the anticommunism, also against democratic regimes, like in Chili and Argentina.

Today, the democratic regimes are, luckily, in the whole Latin America and the only dictature is the Communist regime of Fidel Castro, in Cuba.
Some of these regimes are very leftist, like in Venezuela, led by Hugo Chavez, but only because contrary to the privatization of the public services and strategical resources of the Country, like oil and water in Venezuela and Bolivia and contrary to the actual commercial relations with U.S., always been disadvantageous for the weak economies of Central and South America.

The CIA couldn't prevent this democratic and even leftist trend in Latin America, but surely, it's making its attempts to sabotage these new regimes.

Another front for CIA in South America, more morally justified, is the fight against the "Narcos", the cocaine producers and dealers, very tied with the Sicilian and Calabrian mafia.

These criminal organizations are very powerful in Colombia, and also in Peru and Venezuela, although not as much as during the 1980's and 1990's and are supported by paramilitary "Communist" groups ferociously fighting against the central government, as happened for years in Colombia.

The Narcos give much money gained with cocaine to the guerrilla that, in change, protects their drug production and commerce; a strong and dangerous criminal alliance, where politic and ideology is only a mask to cover immense criminal interests.

The CIA has made many efforts against the Narcos and the guerrilla supporting them, also sending agents and commandos in Colombia to help the local weak government, but the results are still scarce and, in any case, not definitive.

CIA

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