Peru’s Shining Path, a Marxist-Maoist guerrilla force, plunged the Andean nation into a two-decade civil war that put villagers of the VRAEM, a remote, coca-producing region, on its bloody frontline.
The Peruvian government captured the movement’s despotic leader, and the war died. But the rebels switched gears, protecting coca shipments from Peru’s interior ... Show More
Aug 19
Fidel Castro: Cuba’s Cocaine Trafficker-in-Chief?
In 1959, when Fidel Castro’s revolutionaries toppled Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, they wasted no time booting out American business owners, casinos and drug kingpins — much to the delight of US law enforcers. But as time passed, and Castro’s socialist regime sought ever-tric ... Show More
1h 4m
Aug 12
The Dixie Mafia's Texas Millionaire Murders
When Bill Richardson, a troubled oilman and pro pigeon shooter, was gunned down on his Corpus Christi doorstep in 1971, everybody assumed it was an open-and-shut organized crime hit. But when Richardson’s supposed killers walked free from court, and another body showed up in the ... Show More
1h 5m
Aug 5
Mexico's New Ultraviolent Narco-Terrorists: The CDN
From the ashes of Los Zetas rose the Cartel del Noreste or Northeast Cartel, a brutal splinter group led by the infamous Treviño Morales family and headquartered in the blood-soaked border city of Nuevo Laredo. Known for their military tactics, narco-tanks, and paramilitary wing ... Show More
54m 56s
May 14
The Zapatista Uprising | 135
On January 1, 1994, masked indigenous rebels burst from the rainforest in Chiapas, Mexico to launch an uprising that was years in the making. The Zapatista Army declared war on the Mexican Government demanding basics rights for the diverse Mayan communities who lived in extreme p ... Show More
37m 50s
Nov 2024
Oligarchy, Empire, Revolution w/ Hilary Goodfriend & Jorge Cuéllar
Featuring Hilary Goodfriend and Jorge Cuéllar on the history of Central America. This is the first episode in a two-part series covering the late-19th and early-20th century rise of export-crop oligarchies and constant US intervention, the US-backed separation of Panama from Colo ... Show More
1h 55m
May 2024
Sandinista Revolution, the Battle for the Heart of Nicaragua (Revolución Sandinista, la Batalla por el Corazón de Nicaragua)
While not a country we hear about often these days, Nicaragua has gone through quite a turbulent history that has left it with long-lasting economic, political and social scars.
And leaving aside the subject of Daniel Ortega, current dictator of Nicaragua and one of the longest-l ... Show More
29m 42s
Jun 10
Foxtrot in Kandahar, Part 2: Showdown in Takhteh-Pol | CIA
In late 2001, veteran CIA Officer Duane Evans deployed to Afghanistan as part of the US response to 9/11. This is his story. In Part 2, Duane and Team Foxtrot make the perilous journey to Kandahar. But the Afghan city proves to be no safe haven. From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets ... Show More
51m 49s