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The U.S. Department of Defense took credit for an attack on a so-called terrorist organization.
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Claiming it had bombed a training and storage site.
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However, it turned out they had struck a dairy farm.
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Local media documented torture, burn homes, kill, livestock, and the bombing of civilian structures
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by boots on the ground, the Ecuadorian Army.
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The Grazon spoke to an eyewitness.
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Vicente Garrido, the community's vice president, described what happened.
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They had those guys tied up with black bags over their heads.
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This wasn't a mistake.
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It follows a familiar pattern, counterinsurgency tactics used against civilians.
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The workers were later released, no charges, no evidence, only a stark warning.
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They were told by the military they never wanted to see them in Ecuador again.
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And that if they returned, they would be killed.
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In a region with no police, no intelligence, no services, where the government should
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be building trust with the locals, it arrived with bombs.
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Imagine the U.S. military attacking and bombing towns on our own side of the border.
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Well, it seems that is how things run in Ecuador.
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Instead of protecting their border, they attack it without any intelligence of what is actually in there.
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While organized crime penetrates state institutions.
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There is no serious crackdown on money laundering, but there are military operations against farms.
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Security or spectacle.
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The United Nations Human Rights Group and even the New York Times have questioned the official narrative.
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This was not a guerrilla camp, it was a farm.
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Still, the government pushes forward.
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Back internationally, by Trump, while ignoring the community is affected.
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In San Martín, there is no state presence, so someone had to step in.
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Don Vicente is the community's vice president.
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The man people call when something happens.
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And for speaking out, he was targeted and is now under direct threat.
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At the last residence they raided.
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When they left, they told them that they're coming back for me because I made this public.
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Fredden, for talking to the press, for telling the truth, for exposing the government's lies.
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This isn't just a military operation.
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In a symmetric war on the population, where the state itself becomes a weapon of the few.
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An entire community is left defenseless.
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When we heard that blast, that bomb that landed right there,
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well, naturally, we weren't about to go anywhere near the place.
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Only to get blown to pieces by another bomb dropped right on top of us.
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After all, aircraft were circling overhead for about two hours straight, so no.
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We simply couldn't get anywhere close.
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Equally, we haven't had, so to speak, any dialogue with the military officers
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or with representatives of the government to find out why they did this to our community.
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In San Martín, they didn't find a guerrilla camp.
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They found farmers, and now they want them to be silent.