By Andrew W. Griffin

Red Dirt Report, editor

Posted: August 14, 2012

reddirtreporter@gmail.com

OKLAHOMA CITY – Why is it when Mitt Romney heads down to Miami that he seems to “step in it”? 

A few days ago, The Huffington Post (and others, like Democracy Now!) reported that back in ’83-’84, Romney was courting known elites from El Salvador – then living in Miami – who were clearly linked to the brutal right-wing death squads that were reining terror among the campesinos and Salvadoran left-wing supporters alike.

Over the course of the 1980’s and into the early ‘90s, as many as 70,000 people were killed by the Salvadoran-oligarch-supported death squads.

And Romney? He was well aware of the right-wing death squads roaming the Salvadoran countryside, looking for victims. That didn’t stop this amoral, Gekko-like “entrepreneur” from going to Miami and seeking money to start Bain Capital, from Latino “businessmen” who supported the right-wing death squads in those days. He has since said these “businessmen” had clean backgrounds and that there were no “obvious signs of criminal activity.” Hmmm. Except that the millions he would end up getting from these Salvadoran families (and may still be getting, according to some reports) were colored crimson from the blood dripping off of them.

These were the same death squads that were responsible for the death of El Salvador’s Archbishop Oscar Romero – a prominent voice of the poor and a leading critic of the U.S.-backed military government. Romero is now viewed as one of the 20^th century’s leading martyrs, for daring to challenge, Christ-like, the ruling oligarchs and their murderous henchmen.

One wonders if Romney’s Catholic running mate, Paul Ryan, is aware of this chapter in Romney’s background. It's clear that Romney has close ties with the conservative Latin American business community in south Florida. Almost makes one wonder why he didn't choose Marco Rubio as a his running mate.

Romney’s old pals at Bain – like Harry Strachan – have said that Romney knew of their activities back in El Salvador and “pushed aside his own misgivings about the investors to accept their backing.” It seems that Romney really felt convicted about the dirty money he was getting to start up Bain.

And now, we see that yesterday (coincidentally, of course), Romney held a campaign event at juice shop, Palacio de los Jugos, owned by Reinaldo Bermudez, a guy, who according to reports, “pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in 1999 and served three years in federal prison.” Maybe that guy was Barack Obama's coke dealer in the late 70's onward.

The Romney-Ryan campaign is well aware of Bermudez’s criminal background and ties to cocaine trafficking – tied to a Colombian drug-smuggling operation. And they still used Bermudez’s fresh fruit and vegetable stand as a backdrop during a campaign stop there in south Florida.

To get a better understanding of exactly who Bermudez (aka “El Guarjiro”) ad the Miami New Times article “Mitt Romney is stumping in Miami at eatery owned by convicted coke smuggler.”

Will this help or hurt Romney in Florida? Considering that Ryan's views on Medicare are scaring old people, I can't see that Ryan being on the ticket is going to boost his support in the Sunshine State.

Interestingly, Romney also has stated that while ex-cons like Bermudez have served their time, “people who have committed violent crimes” should not be allowed to vote.

I guess El Guarjiro will be sitting this one out.

UPDATE: Of course it should come as no surprise that a clean-living Mormon like Mitt Romney is in favor of continuing America's failed War on Drugs. As such, he is absolutely against the legalization of recreational or medical marijuana, derisively saying in his book No Apology that the marijuana legalization movement is successful due to "the passion and zeal of those members of the pleasure-seeking generation that never grew up." Damn hippies!

Romney, in 2007, wants to continue combating "ruthless narco-terrorists." One wonders if he is elected president if he will then have the CIA discontinue their policy of shipping in the drugs and allowing the Mexican drug cartels to continue making life hell for the Mexican people and increasingly, the American people.

Romney does love Big Pharma and says next to nothing about alcohol or cigarettes. He doesn't like drunk driving, just to be clear. Are those who imbibe in a little whiskey also "pleasure seekers" who "never grew up"?

Editor's note* It's not lost on us here at Red Dirt Report that the Obama campaign is making hay (via the media morons at Big Stupid) on this Romney-coke dealer connection. Sure, the Everglades and surrounding environs were awash in blow in the neon Eighties. And Barry Seal and "the boys" were shipping it in like clockwork. Still, Romney, if he's smart, will distance himself from unsavory characters with shady backgrounds ... oh, wait, I guess he's just following Obama's playbook. Links to guys like domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, noted con-man Tony Rezko and the seedier elements of the Chicago mafia seemed to improve his stature amongst the electorate. Viva El Jefe!

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