Definitions by Dancing with Fire
Medellin Cartel
During the 1980s, Pablo Escobar became known internationally as the Medellin Cartel gained notoriety. The Medellín Cartel is said to have controlled roughly eighty percent of the shipments that entered into the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic with shipments brought mostly from Peru and Bolivia, as Colombian coca was initially of substandard quality. Escobar's product reached many other nations, mostly around the Americas, although it is said that his network reached as far as Asia.
Escobar bribed countless Colombian government officials, judges and other politicians, and he often personally executed uncooperative subordinates and had anyone he viewed as a threat assassinated, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of individuals. Corruption and intimidation characterized the Colombian system during Escobar's heyday. He had an effective, inescapable strategy that was referred to as plata o plomo; Spanish for "silver or lead", intended to mean "accept a bribe or face assassination." Escobar was also responsible for the killing of three Colombian presidential candidates who were all competing in the same election, as well as the bombing of Avianca Flight 203 and a Bogotá security building in 1989. The Medellin Cartel was also involved in a deadly war with its main rival, the Cali Cartel, for most of its existence.
Medellin Cartel by Dancing with Fire July 9, 2011
Juárez Cartel
The Juárez Cartel is responsible for smuggling tons of narcotics from Mexico into the United States throughout its long and turbulent history, and the group’s intense rivalry with the Sinaloa Cartel helped turn Juárez into one of the most violent places in the world.
Despite recent news reports, the Juárez Cartel remains one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico and the region. Small cells carry out different types of operations ranging from transportation and distribution of drugs; gangs, mostly in the north, act as the enforcement wing and are involved in human trafficking and kidnapping operations.
Juárez Cartel by Dancing with Fire July 9, 2011
Product of the Environment
A caged animal becomes a product of his environment; mankind however builds his environments to suit his needs. If someone claims that you are a product of your environment, it means the environment you live in, has become your accepted norm, and now it influences you, rather than you influencing it.
Being a product of the environment is no different than saying you are the product of your own thinking.
Product of the Environment by Dancing with Fire July 8, 2011
Guerrilla Warfare
When a small irregular force takes on a large regular force through the use of hit and run tactics, the element of surprise, sabotage, destroying the enemies line of communications, etc.
For guerrilla warfare to work, the insurgent army must have the full support of the inhabitants in the area in which the guerrilla forces are trying to liberate. The enemy is also the source of the guerrilla army’s ammunition. Guerrilla is Spanish for "little war" and it originated with the actions of small bands of Spanish soldiers who fought against Napoleon’s French army in the Peninsular War (1807-1814).
Guerrilla Warfare by Dancing with Fire July 8, 2011
Tijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel is based in one of the most strategically important border towns in Mexico, and continues to export drugs even after being weakened from a brutal internal war during 2009.
Due to infighting, arrests and deaths of some of its top members, the Tijuana Cartel is a shell of what it was in the 1990s and early 2000s when it was considered one of the most potent and violent criminal organizations in Mexico. After the arrest or assassination of its founding members, the Arellano Felix clan, the cartel is now headed by Fernando Sanchez Arellano, a nephew of the Arellano Felix brothers who once bloodied Mexico and southern California with their brutish and authoritarian style. With the powerful Sinaloa Cartel moving into Tijuana in force, Sanchez Arellano is struggling to keep a grip on this lucrative drug and human trafficking corridor.
Tijuana Cartel by Dancing with Fire July 2, 2011
Vo Nguyen Giap
Giap served as minister of defense and commander-in-chief of the People's Army of Vietnam. With the outbreak of hostilities with South Vietnam, and later the United States, Giap led North Vietnam's strategy and command. In 1967, Giap oversaw the planning for the massive Tet Offensive. While initially against a conventional attack, Giap's goals were both military and political. In addition to achieving a military victory, Giap desired the offensive to spark an uprising in South Vietnam and show that American claims about the war's progress were wrong.
While the 1968 Tet Offensive proved to be a military disaster for North Vietnam, Vo Nguyen Giap was able to achieve some of his political objectives. The offensive showed that North Vietnam was far from being defeated and significantly contributed to changing American perceptions about the conflict. Following Tet, peace talks began and the US ultimately withdrew from the war in 1973. Following the American departure, Giap remained in command of North Vietnamese forces and directed General Van Tien Dung and the Ho Chi Minh campaign that finally captured the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon in 1975.
Vo Nguyen Giap by Dancing with Fire July 2, 2011
Vietnamization
The name given to President Richard Nixon's policy of gradually returning the primary responsibility for conducting the war to the South Vietnamese. As U.S. troops withdrew, South Vietnamese forces were increased in size and recieved additional training and equipment. Southern forces focused on both offensive operation and defensive measures taken to protest villages.
Vietnamization was used to encourage the South Vietnamese to take more responsibility for fighting the war. It was hoped that this policy would eventually enable the United States to withdraw gradually all their soldiers from Vietnam.
Vietnamization by Dancing with Fire June 30, 2011