Marco Rubio Warns of Resurgent 'Left-Wing Terrorism,' Recalls 'Violent Terror of the Tupamaros'

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opened a ministerial meeting on political terrorism in Washington by warning of a resurgence in left-wing extremism. He asserted that Cuba played a significant role in cultivating extreme left-wing movements across the Americas and beyond, maintaining ties to such groups globally.

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The Cuban regime's vast intelligence and ideological network helped forge the extreme left in our country and in our hemisphere, and it remains inextricably linked to extreme left-wing groups and movements throughout the West and beyond its borders.

Pompeo highlighted the meeting's focus on what the Trump administration perceives as an international resurgence of "left-wing political terrorism." He characterized this form of terrorism as a "real and transnational threat" that has existed for decades but is now experiencing a comeback.

Recounting historical episodes, Pompeo specifically mentioned the "violent terror" of the Tupamaros in Uruguay and the Montoneros in Argentina, as well as groups like FARC and ELN. He also referenced the "inhuman barbarity" of Peru's Shining Path, describing them as Maoist fanatics who massacred villagers with axes and machetes.

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Left-wing political terrorism is a real and transnational threat that has existed for decades, but is now experiencing a resurgence.

Pompeo argued that these groups, regardless of their specific labels such as anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, communist, anarchist, or Marxist, share a fundamental nature rooted in "venomous resentment" disguised as a pursuit of equality. He further contended that communism is flawed not only in practice but also in theory, stating it "doesn't even sound good in theory."

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Everyone remembers the decades of kidnappings, bombings, assassinations, and executions, the violent terror of the Tupamaros, of the Montoneros, of the FARC and ELN. They remember the inhuman barbarity of Sendero Luminoso in Peru, those Maoist fanatics who massacred Peruvian peasant villages, killing pregnant women and newborns with axes and machetes.

According to the State Department, left-wing anti-government terrorism is currently responsible for more attacks and plots within the United States than any other ideological category.

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They may adopt different slogans and ideologies depending on the place and time. They may call themselves anti-capitalists, anti-imperialists, communists, anarchists, or Marxists. But their fundamental nature is always the same. It is a venomous resentment, disguised in the language of equality.