IN THIS SECTION   Argentina   Bolivia    Brazil    Colombia     El Salvador     Nicaragua   Peru   Venezuela     FARC - various locational influences-See Colombia and Venezuela, Note the Sinaloa/Mexico connection Bolivia Wikipedia  Communist Part of Bolivia The Communist Party of Bolivia (Spanish: Partido Comunista de Bolivia) is a communist party in Bolivia. It was founded in 1950 by Raúl Ruiz González and other former members of the Revolutionary Left Party (PIR). It remained small and did not hold its first national party congress until 1959. International affiliation: International Meeting of ... Founded: 1950 Split from: Revolutionary Left Party https //en wikipedia org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Bolivia Brazil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Brazil The Communist Party of Brazil (Portuguese: Partido Comunista do Brasil, PCdoB) is a communist political party in Brazil. The PCdoB adheres to Marxist–Leninist theory.[1] It has national reach and deep penetration in the trade union and students movements, but little representation in elected positions.  PCdoB shares the disputed title of "oldest political party in Brazil" with the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB). The predecessor of both parties was the Brazilian Section of the Communist International, founded on 25 March 1922. The current PCdoB was launched on 18 February 1962, in the aftermath of the Sino-Soviet split. Outlawed after the 1964 coup d'état, PCdoB supported the armed struggle against the regime before its legalization in 1988. Its most famous action in the period was the Araguaia guerrilla (1966–1974). Since 1989, PCdoB has been allied to the Workers' Party (PT) at the federal level… Colombia - FARC 2018 What Is the Mexican Cartels’ Strategy for Post-FARC Colombia? ANALYSISWritten by James Bargent https //www insightcrime org/news/analysis/what-is-the-mexican-cartels-strategy-for-post-farc-colombia/ Wikipedia  Illegal drug trade in Columbia https //en wikipedia org/wiki/Illegal_drug_trade_in_Colombia Since the establishment of the War on Drugs, the United States and European countries have provided financial, logistical, tactical and military aid to the government of Colombia in order to implement plans to combat the illegal drug trade. The most notable of these programs has been the Plan Colombia which also intended to combat leftist organizations, such as the FARC guerrillas, who have controlled many coca- growing regions in Colombia over the past decades. https //en wikipedia org/wiki/Illegal_drug_trade_in_Colombia 2014  The FARC and Colombia’s Illegal Drug Operation https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/misc/Otis_FARCDrugTrade2014.pdf Also see far right paramilitarism in Colombia https //en wikipedia org/wiki/Right-wing_paramilitarism_in_Colombia Related Issues: 2019 https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-trafficking-in-persons-report-2/colombia/ Excerpt: COLOMBIA: Tier 1 The Government of Colombia fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period; therefore Colombia remained on Tier 1. These efforts included investigating more trafficking cases, launching a new national anti-trafficking information system, investigating and prosecuting officials allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes, and convicting the first case of domestic servitude. In addition, the government conducted a study on the vulnerability of Venezuelan victims, and began developing a strategy to assist municipalities on prevention, protection, and prosecution of trafficking cases. Although the government meets the minimum standards, it did not provide adequate services to all identified victims, and a large number of victims, including Venezuelans, and child sex trafficking victims in cities like Cartagena, did not receive adequate protection services or adequate reintegration assistance. The government did not sufficiently fund civil society actors, and interagency coordination efforts to combat trafficking were inadequate. The Ministry of Labor (MOL) made insufficient efforts to identify or investigate cases of forced labor. Nicaragua Leftist Groups https //en wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Nicaragua https //en wikipedia org/wiki/Nicaraguan_Socialist_Party Major parties Three parties and alliances currently hold seats in the National Assembly: Name Ideology Deputies Sandinista National Liberation Front Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional FSLN Sandinismo 71 Constitutionalist Liberal Party Partido Liberal Constitucionalista PLC Conservatism 14 Independent Liberal Party Partido Liberal Independiente PLI Conservative liberalism 2 Conservative Party Partido Conservador PC Christian democracy 1 Alliance for the Republic Alianza por la República APRE Liberal conservativism 1 YATAMA Indigenous rights 1 Peru The Peruvian Communist Party (Spanish: Partido Comunista Peruano) is a communist party in Peru. It was founded in 1928 by José Carlos Mariátegui, under the name Partido Socialista del Perú (Socialist Party of Peru). In 1930 the name was changed to PCP. The party is often identified as PCP [Unidad], to separate it from the Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path. Jorge del Prado was the general secretary between 1966 and 1991. In 1980 the PCP and other left-wing groups formed the United Left. The main political base of the PCP is currently located at Plaza Ramón Castilla, Lima and is led by Roberto de La Cruz Huamán. PCP publishes Unidad (Unity) and Nuestra Bandera (Our Flag). In the 2011 general election the party took part in the successful Peru Wins alliance of Ollanta Humala. Wikipedia - Peru El Salvador Leftist Approach Revealed:  One view of what is recently going on in El Salvador-has left leanings https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/01/el-salvador-nayib-bukele-fascism-fmln In February 3, 2019, El Salvador elected insurgent candidate Nayib Bukele to the presidency, ousting the party of the former leftist insurgency, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), after two consecutive terms in office. Bukele, a millionaire millennial from a wealthy Palestinian family, positioned himself as an irreverent outsider against a corrupt and obsolete political class, claiming to transcend left-right divisions and overcome the deep partisan antagonisms that continue to structure Salvadoran politics decades after UN negotiations brought an end to a twelve-year civil war between the US-backed military dictatorship and the guerrillas. Despite his post- ideological pretenses on the campaign trail, Bukele’s administration has steered El Salvador sharply to the right. Over ten years in power, the FMLN instituted major social programs, institutional reforms, and investment in El Salvador’s historically marginalized poor majority. But the former Marxist-Leninist insurgents failed to ameliorate the country’s deep-rooted crisis of gang violence and extortion, or to reform El Salvador’s profoundly unequal, US- dependent neoliberal economy. Mounting right-wing destabilization together with the regional rightward turn left the FMLN increasingly isolated internationally and debilitated internally. Bukele, never an FMLN cadre, was drafted to run as an FMLN mayor in 2012 through the influence of his late father, a major party donor. The young advertising executive brought refreshing vigor to a party still led by aging former comandantes, but his ambitions and insubordination to party discipline culminated in expulsion in 2017. After failing to establish his own “New Ideas” party in time for the 2019 elections, Bukele sought the presidency with the conservative GANA (Grand Alliance for National Unity) party and won a sweeping victory. Following devastating defeats in 2018 and 2019, the FMLN has been reduced to historic lows in the legislature and municipal governments, and its downward spiral is projected to continue in the 2021 midterms. Many militants, long critical of anti-democratic decision-making and the distancing of public officials from the rank and file, have clamored for introspection and a return to the party’s revolutionary roots. But the party appears rudderless, with the leadership mired in internal power struggles and the base beleaguered and demoralized. The organization that once inspired a rebellious spirit of hope and transformation now teeters on the brink of obscurity. https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/01/el-salvador-nayib-bukele-fascism-fmln FARC   Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia Venezuela 2019/06 FARC in Venezuela https //www insightcrime.org/venezuela-organized-crime-news/farc-in-venezuela/ The Public Discourse this was also included in BLM Indian Country Problem for USA 2019/03 https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/03/50316/ Bernie and the Left https //slate com/news-and-politics/2019/02/bernie-sanders-maduro-castro-latin-america-socialism.html https //www washingtonpost com/opinions/global-opinions/bernie-sanders-is-dead-wrong-about-whats-happening-in- venezuela/2019/01/31/16360e8c-256d-11e9-ad53-824486280311_story.html https //thehill com/opinion/campaign/486535-juan-williams-democratic-voters-rebuff-bernies-revolution https://www.vox.com/2020/2/24/21147388/bernie-sanders-cuba-60-minutes-nicaragua Updates:  2020/11/26 the public discourse-2019/03 added; page Leftist/Communists was started 2020/05/19