South America
We have thought about writing a report on American PSYOP teams in South America for years. To be honest, the Special Forces keep rather quiet about what they are doing down there. There have been numerous articles in the military literature about Honduras and Guatemala because of the insurgent wars fought in those nations, but not much has been written about the other countries where the United States is heavily involved in humanitarian projects. Much of the battlefield data comes from the magazines Special Warfare and Veritas and I owe them both a debt of gratitude We don’t see a lot of publicity articles in the military newspapers and we rarely see any product (Posters, leaflets, etc.), produced and disseminated by American troops south of the border. We have never had sufficient images to make an article worthwhile.
In 2010, I visited Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, the home of the 4th PSYOP Group to do an interview. While there I got to visit several units and was able to actually obtain a few modern leaflets that were being used in South America at the time. With the addition of these few leaflets I thought that there might be enough to write a short, very general article on the subject. We will briefly mention several nations where the United States has been invited to help support the local governments. This is another of those articles where we ask the reader to send in comments, anecdotes, and of course more leaflets. The readers always become a major part of any story I write when they contact me to say, “I was there and I brought back a leaflet.” Let us hear from you so we can give proper credit to the troops that have suffered in the heat and the humidity in an attempt to help those nations with various projects like health, mine-clearing, drug interdiction and defeating insurgency and terrorism.
4th PSYOP Group Insignia
The U.S. Army regularly makes changes to make their forces more efficient and better able to complete their missions. The name itself has been changed from “Propaganda” to “PSYWAR” to “PSYOP” and most recently “Military Information Support Operations.” For the purposes of this article we will use the term PSYOP. The official mission of the 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne) is to deploy anywhere in the world on short notice to plan, develop and conduct psychological operations and Civil Affairs in support of coalition forces and Washington's government agencies. Battalions within the group have been given different tasks and areas of operation. The personnel of the 4th Group include regional experts and linguists who have a profound understanding of the political, cultural, ethnic, and religious subtleties of the target audience. They are also experts in technical areas such as journalism, radio operations, graphic design, newspaper business, illustration, and long-range tactical communications.
The subordinate unit of the Group assigned the responsibility of South America is the 1st PSYOP Battalion (Southern Command). Each PSYOP Battalion can support a corps. Within the PSYOP battalions are Tactical PSYOP Companies (TPC), each of which can support a division. The Companies are made up of Tactical PSYOP Detachments (TPD), each of which can support a brigade. The detachments can be broken up into Tactical PSYOP Teams (TPT), each of which can support a battalion.
Insignia of the 1st PSYOP Battalion
The 1st Psychological Operations Battalion has regional responsibility for Latin America; the southern hemisphere covered by Southern Command as well the region covered by Atlantic Command. The Battalion produces and disseminates written propaganda. It also has the ability to operate in the radio broadcast field. Their motto is “First with the Finest.” Although none of the items we will mention are marked, there is an assumption that they were disseminated by members of the 1st Psychological Operations Battalion.
PSYOP PRODUCTS FOR LATIN AMERICA
This exhibit produced by the U.S. Army’s 1st PSYOP Battalion to display their products depicts leaflets, posters, books, newspapers, magazines, records, calendars, cups, backpacks, book bags, shopping bags, T-shirts and other items. The nations targeted in this display are Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, Columbia, Peru and Bolivia. Some of the themes are eradication and interdiction of drugs, development of other crops, humanitarian mine assistance, nation building, and human rights.
The entire Southern Command area of responsibility includes the landmass of Latin America south of Mexico; the waters adjacent to Central and South America; the Caribbean Sea, its 12 island nations and European territories; the Gulf of Mexico; and a portion of the Atlantic Ocean. It encompasses 32 countries (19 in Central and South America and 12 in the Caribbean) and covers about 15.6 million square miles.
Looking through some of my old data I find that SOUTHCOM held training exercises in the year 2002 in Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Argentina, Nicaragua and Chile. This shows the extent of the American interest in Latin America. Additional data states that the following terrorist organizations were closely watched by the Americans: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC); the National Liberation Army (ELN); the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC); the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).
The above terrorist groups were known to use the following techniques: extortion; kidnapping; hijacking; infrastructure sabotage; bombing; intimidation; use of narcotics trafficking to fund other terrorist acts and assassinations and massacres.
Veritas volume 4, number 4, 2008 points out how the United States found itself involved in Latin America and lists the wars of national liberation being fought at that time; El Salvador, Argentina, Columbia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala and Peru.
Some of the major missions facing the PSYOP teams in Latin America are:
COUNTERDRUG
Two Decades…
The above poster depicts Columbian forces in a poppy field. In the background an aircraft sprays poison on the poppies. Hopefully it is not Agent Orange. The text is:
Support the Eradication
Two decades engaged in the national fight against drug trafficking
For a country free of drugsCounterdrug operations support detection, interdiction, disruption, or reduction of any activity that supports illicit drug trafficking. These activities include, but are not limited to decision making and actions, applicable materiel, weapons, and resources used to finance, support, secure, cultivate, process, and transport illegal drugs. To U.S. diplomats in Central and South America and the Caribbean, PSYOP is an effective tool in drug interdiction and eradication. In Columbia, PSYOP troops have worked against terrorist, narcotic trafficking groups and insurgents. They have planned and enacted information campaigns in Peru and Paraguay.
HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION
PSYOP soldiers handing out mine awareness materials
Humanitarian mine action consists of activities to reduce the social, economic, and environmental impact of land mines, unexploded ordnance, and small-arms ammunition, sometimes called “explosive remnants of war.” When approved by the Secretary of Defense, the PSYOP teams plan, coordinate, and execute humanitarian mine action programs. These programs include training the Host Nation in land mine clearance procedures, providing mine awareness education and victims’ assistance, and assisting in building a Host Nation capacity to sustain the programs after U.S. withdrawal. To U.S. diplomats in Central and South America it is an educational vehicle to publicize landmine awareness in schools and villages.
PEACE OPERATIONS
Military operations that support diplomatic efforts to reach a long-term political settlement are categorized as peacekeeping operations and peace enforcement operations. Peacekeeping operations are military operations undertaken with the consent of all major parties of a dispute; they are designed to monitor and facilitate implementation of an agreement (cease fire, truce, or other such agreement) and support diplomatic efforts to reach a long-term political settlement. Peace enforcement operations are the application of military force or the threat of its use, normally pursuant to international authorization, to compel compliance with resolutions or sanctions designed to maintain or restore peace and order.
FM 3-07.31, Peace Operations: Multi-service Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Conducting Peace Operations, provides additional information on peacekeeping operations:
During peace operations, military information forces are employed to create the conditions for diplomatic, economic, and humanitarian efforts to succeed and to transition the United States Government out of involvement. Multiple types of peace operations can occur simultaneously within an operational area.
PSYOP forces support peace operations by informing local populations about the availability of essential health and welfare services; Educating local populaces about peacekeeping agreements and the intent of operations; Influencing local populaces to cooperate with U.S. efforts to suppress anti-peace groups and their destabilizing actions; Directing the populace’s compliance with security measures and safety programs; influencing favorable attitudes toward U.S. policies among relevant groups; communicating humanitarian efforts such as medical and veterinary aid, construction, and public facilities activities to garner support for U.S. efforts.
COUNTER-TERRORISM
Terrorism has many faces
The above leaflet depicts five wanted terrorists. The text is in part:
Terrorism has many faces
The leaflet names and describes accused terrorists Luis Carlos Arango, Mantego, Alirio Remorado, Luis Oscar Usuga Restrepo and Alfredo Alarcon Machado. It ends with the text:
Terrorism has many faces
Report them!
End the nightmare of terrorism and get a reward of up to $ 5,000,000,000.
The back of the leaflet depicts children at school and farmers working the field. The text is:
What future would you want for your family?
Do not hesitate! Report them!
Counterterrorism operations are actions taken directly against terrorist networks, and indirectly to influence and render global and regional environments inhospitable to terrorist networks. Counterterrorism operations are the offensive component of programs established by the United States Government and friendly nations designed to preempt the actions of violent extremist organizations. PSYOP activities include influencing local populaces to decrease support for violent extremist organizations, and to provide time-sensitive, actionable information to target violent extremist organizations.
COUNTER-INSURGENCY
Guerrilla…
This leaflet to the guerrillas in the field depicts a young daughter at the left, a photograph of a happy family and a note. The text is:
Guerrilla, your family misses you.
“Poppa, Come back home and bring joy and brighten my life again...”
Come home and make a better life for your family.
The back of the leaflet depicts the same photograph in color and a child’s happy drawing of “My Family.” The text is:
Go back and live a decent life with your family.
Demobilize now.Counterinsurgency operations are comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to defeat an insurgency and to address any core grievances. An insurgency is an internal threat that uses subversion and violence to achieve political objectives. Insurgents usually benefit from solicited and unsolicited support from state and non-state actors, including international terrorist organizations that seek to capitalize on such opportunities. A comprehensive and concerted civilian and military effort is required to defeat an insurgency, and to redress the basis for the dissent. Generally, when insurgent movements receive significant external support, they pose an insurmountable threat, often greater than the affected nation’s ability to defeat it independently.
My Daughter…
The leaflet above depicts a family looking at a picture of a daughter who has joined a guerrilla band. The text is:
My daughter. Return home ...
Without you my life has no warmth.
Guerilla! Return home.
The back of the leaflet has three small pictures of a man whispering to a friend, talking to a guerrilla and holding a weapon. The text is:
Do not hesitate. Demobilize now. Plan to reclaim your life
INSTRUCTIONS
Demobilize, give your weapons to the nation.
We respect life and liberty. Do not hesitate, do it quickly!
Toll free phone: 128 ... Any of the authorities, unit of the military, or police will take your call.
1. Do not tell anyone your plans.
2. Do not talk in public about your intentions.
3. Bring us your arms and explosives and receive a reward.There is a theory that counter-insurgency in Latin America saved the Special Forces. Their numbers in Vietnam had declined from 13,000 to only 3,000 between 1969 and 1980. With the rise of Communist and insurgent activity in Latin America, there was a need for a trained elite force to help local nations resist and remain independent.rom 1980-1987 U.S. Special Forces helped fight seven small brushfire wars in South America.
There may be some truth to this theory since an article in the October, 1993 issue of Special Warfare states in regard to U.S. military aid to El Salvador in the early 1980s:
We should have weighted the development of national PSYOP and Civil Affairs campaigns much heavier in our initial concept. But there were no PSYOP or Civil Affairs units on active duty, the restructuring from Vietnam had virtually wiped them out.
Some Examples of both the military and humanitarian action are:
BOLIVIA
Che Guevara
The American presence in Bolivia is most remembered by the death of Che Guevara in that country by Bolivian Rangers trained by the American Special Forces. Guevara is revered by the Left who consider him a great charismatic leader and collect his images on posters and T-shirts. In fact, he was a poor leader, operated without much military logic and was never able to revolutionize the peasants and form a local army. He had failed in Guatemala, been quietly invited to leave Cuba by Castro when he insulted the USSR, failed in Argentina, and again in the Republic of the Congo where he called his communist-supported troops “lazy and undisciplined.”
The first American advisors were sent to Bolivia in 1967 tasked with the job of training a 650-man Ranger Battalion. This was exactly what Che Guevara wanted. He believed that the entrance of American forces would revolutionize the peasants and he envisioned another Vietnam in Latin America. Unfortunately for him, he got exactly what he wanted.
The Americans worked hard to gain the support of the people and besides the military training to the Ranger Battalion they took part in what we would now call civil affair actions, with medical treatment and lessons on sanitation and health. They initially did three MEDCAPs in Las Cruces and three in Los Chacos at the invitation of the Peace Corps. They also helped the native people keep their land when it was about to be sold to Japanese and Okinawan investors. Finally, they built a new school in Esperanza. These were not “ugly” Americans.
By September 1967, Che’s small band of revolutionaries had fought the Bolivian Army a number of times; taking losses in every battle and being slowly pushed back further and further into the hills. His civilian support group in La Paz had also been arrested. He was on his own with little food, ammunition, medicine and no way to communicate with Cuba. On 8 October 1967, Che and his remaining fighters were trapped and captured in the Churo Canyon. The following morning Che was executed on the orders of the President of Bolivia. Che Guevara wanted a war and he got one. He thought that the Bolivians had the weakest army in Latin America but with the training of the U.S. Special Forces, their Ranger battalion became a fine aggressive military organization that could win battles on their own.
COLUMBIA
The nation-building leaflet depicts a number of Columbian soldiers setting up an observation post on a hilltop while helicopters fly overhead. The text is:
Serving his people
The indigenous people and the Columbian Army united!
It was reported that the U.S. Army's 4th Psychological Operations Group regularly worked in operations against the Columbian insurgent army FARC.The Colombian army took the lead in the national response to the decades-old insurgency of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC. The Insurgents plan was to create a revolutionary army capable of taking on the security forces. To fund this endeavor and to gain manpower, FARC exploited the narcotics trade. It taxed all facets of the drug trade. By protecting and controlling production areas, it not only secured its income but recruited from the peasants. The goal was the creation of a 28,000-man army divided into 48 guerrilla fronts. Since FARC used cocaine to build an army, perhaps we should briefly look at the cocaine trade.
Cocaine is produced from the cultivation and processing of the South American coca plant. The coca plant is cultivated only in South America, with the major suppliers being Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. Despite massive efforts by the United States Government and local law enforcement and paramilitary organizations that have resulted in the seizure and destruction of over 46% of the world’s cocaine supply, the market for this drug continues to flourish. Historically, cocaine has followed the well-established trafficking routes through Central America, then Mexico and then into the US.
Captured American contractors
Three U.S. contractors were captured during an anti-drug operation in 2003 and have been held by FARC ever since. The leaflet above depicts Keith D. Stansell, Thomas H. Howes and Marc D. Gonsalves. The leaflet gives the phone numbers to call if any individual has information about the three. Some of the text is:
Their families and friends are seeking information that would allow the rescue of these people. They depend on you for their freedom.
Do you know where they are?
Veritas, Volume 2, Number 4, 2006 mentions the drug trade in Columbia:
In 1987, the United States launched Operation SNOWCAP…A coordinated 12-country effort to disrupt the growing, processing and transportation systems supporting the cocaine industry…The drug trade has a terrible impact on the United States. There are 50,000 drug-related deaths yearly in the United States – with 19,000 directly attributable to drugs….
Colombian Government PSYOP
This Fredy Builes Reuters photograph published in December 2011 depicts Colombian President Juan Manual Santos placing transparent spheres containing messages urging the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) members to come over to the government side. The spheres were placed in the Ortequaza River and contain a small internal battery that keeps them lit for up to six days.
The same issue of Veritas features an article on PSYOP in Columbia by Robert W. Jones Jr. Some of his comments are:
For many years U.S. PSYOP had provided support to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota through the auspices of the Overt Peacetime Psychological Operations Program (OP3)…U.S PSYOP support was limited to counter-drug operations…By 1992, the main component for U.S. PSYOP was the Military Information Support team (MIST)…
In 1997 Occidental petroleum lobbied Congress for help [against oil pipeline attacks]. A 7th Special Forces Group reinforced company trained the Columbian 18th Brigade to protect the pipeline…counter insurgency radio programs were developed and broadcast…After 9/11, under “expanded authority,” PSYOP could now assist not only the Columbian National Police, but also the Army, in the fight against narco-terrorists…The MIST now changed its name to PSYOP Support Element (PSE), but later changed back to MIST in 2006.
The Columbians now have their own PSYOP unit, the Groupo Especial de Operaciones Sicologicas (Psychological Operations Special Group). Each Army division headquarters is equipped with a tactical development center with a computer workstation and print risograph machine.
There is also a humanitarian demobilization (amnesty) program that looks like the Chieu Hopi (Open Arms) program of Vietnam. In addition to amnesty, the former guerrillas are entitled to job retraining, a small business loan, and a cash bonus. Other innovative techniques were a popular human rights card issued to Columbian soldiers that depicted a bikini model on the back and a series of ads using chess pieces along with the pictures of wanted guerrillas shown on nightly TV soap operas. The Americans also provided school notebooks for Columbian children with anti-drug messages on the front and back.
EL SALVADOR
El Salvador was controlled by a rich land-owning class up until the late 1970’s. The 1979 victory by Sandinista guerrillas in nearby Nicaragua served as a wake-up call that compelled a group of junior reform minded officers to oust El Salvador’s then government leader, General Carlos Humberto Romero. Sixteen separate leftist factions organized together under the political title of Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR). The FDR’s military counterpart was the FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front). Spurred on by the successes of communist revolutionaries in their takeover of nearby Nicaragua, in 1981 the FMLN launched what it called its “final offensive” in an attack on the Salvadoran junta with the expectation of a quick victory. The FMLN believed that their attack would inspire a popular insurrection that would sweep them into power. The FMLN was eventually driven off in a costly defeat. President Carter, not wanting to see the government of El Salvador fall, recommended US aid for El Salvador and hastily deployed three teams of advisors to assist the ESAF (El Salvadoran Armed Forces) in 1981. Efforts in El Salvador consisted of advisory support to the government in a counterinsurgent effort.
Propaganda leaflets distributed by the FMLN in the El Paraiso area.
Special Warfare, spring 2001 mentions a FARC attack at El Paraiso. In this case the Communist insurgents carried propaganda leaflets onto the base. Some of the comments are:
The FMLN had more than 1,000 armed guerrillas active in Chalatenango. In some villages, the guerrillas walked about openly, displaying their weapons and conducting propaganda sessions that often lasted for hours.
After the unsuccessful attack: [American advisor] Roth counted five dead Salvadorans, and the area was littered with unexploded charges and guerrilla propaganda.
The FMLN’s propaganda continued to claim success, but in the end, the people of El Salvador, the audience the guerrillas needed to win over, didn’t believe the propaganda. In the hinterlands and in the small villages of the north, the people saw firsthand what the rebels stood for. They knew the outcomes of the numerous combat actions.
Soldiers, the rich pay the officers…
Another FMLN propaganda leaflet was in the form of a cartoon with three panels on the front and three on the back. In the first panel an officer stands in front of a rich landowner receiving his orders; in the second panel soldiers point toward a farm and in the third a farmer’s wife holds a child while soldiers stand over her dead husband in the background. The text is:
Soldiers, the rich pay the officers so that they will kill the people! Desert!
The first panel on the back of the leaflet shows unwilling civilians being led by army troops; the second shows the civilians at basic training being beaten by the soldiers, and the third depicts the Communist rebels chasing fleeing military officers and one FMLN rebel shaking hands with a conscript who thinks of returning home. The text is:
Soldiers, they recruited you by force, they mistreated you. The FMLN fights for the people. Desert!
A Black Leaflet attacking the FMLN
Veritas, Volume 3, Number 3, 2007 discusses the battle in more depth and depicts a “black leaflet” depicting two armed FMLN guerillas. Apparently the rebels had originally produced the photograph for propaganda, but according to Veritas:
FMLN newspaper photos were “doctored” to highlight guerilla atrocities and win popular support for the government of South America.
The text of the leaflet is:
THIS IS the one who kills, steals, destroys and kidnaps your family.
YOUR ENEMY who wants violence.
Tell your community.
Report where he hides; your family is entitled to be together.
Two decades later in November 2009, U.S. military forces supported disaster relief efforts in El Salvador after heavy rains triggered floods and mudslides that caused widespread damage. About 40 U.S. troops and four helicopters from Joint Task Force-Bravo deployed to the Central American nation and worked with local officials and international relief organizations to airlift more than 373,000 pounds of aid, provide medical care to nearly 3,000 people and assist damage assessment efforts.
GUATEMALA
Because Guatemala borders on Mexico, drug traffickers have set up safe havens in this nation as well as used it for a safe corridor to move their product between Columbia and Mexico. It is almost reminiscent of the Vietnam War when North Vietnam used Laos and Cambodia as safe havens and to move their troops into battle through neutral countries that theoretically would not attack them. U.S. Special Forces worked with the local police and military in an attempt to stop the drug trade. PSYOP and Civil Affairs teams helped bring in medical support that treated over 2,000 patients. There is also talk of recruiting the local tribes just as the United States used Montagnards in Vietnam and Kuna and Embera tribesmen in Panama.
Southern Command reported that The U.S. military supported relief efforts in Guatemala after Tropical Storm Agatha caused widespread flooding and mudslides in late May 2010. A contingent of about 70 U.S. military personnel, USS Underwood and five helicopters deployed to the Central American nation and worked with local and international responders to provide humanitarian assistance to areas identified by the Guatemalan government. U.S. forces airlifted more than 160,000 pounds of food & water and provided infrastructure assessments.
NICARAGUA
One reason for the emphasis and support Reagan gave to operations in Nicaragua was that Central America was not South East Asia, but America’s “back yard,” one short step from the American homeland itself. The alarming gains made by communist influences in Central America, especially the Sandinista takeover in Nicaragua, forced America to “draw the line” against “communist aggression.” The United States was determined not to make the anti-insurgency an American War. Therefore, although the Reagan administration sanctioned military action, this action was to consist primarily of economic support, military hardware, and limited advisory support. In short, a conventional US Military response was ruled out as inappropriate.
PANAMA
Loudspeakers outside the Vatican Embassy
Most readers will remember the American invasion of Panama to rid the nation of General Manual Noriega. PSYOP troops were depicted playing loud music outside the Vatican nunciature (embassy) in a PSYOP campaign that became known around the world. The military mission was to defend the Canal Zone, evacuate civilians, and destroy or neutralize the Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF).
Safe Conduct Pass for Panamanian Forces
There were at least three safe conduct passes prepared by American PSYOP troops during Operation Just Cause. They are all in English on one side and Spanish on the other. One large 8 ½ x 5 ½ inch pass is all text:
Safe Conduct Pass Instructions.
This safe conduct pass is for use by the dignity battalions and codepadi. The bearer of this pass, upon presenting it to any U.S. Military member or public Panamanian force, will be guaranteed protection, medical attention, food, and shelter.
Major General Marc A. Cisneros,
Commanding General, U.S. Army South.Safe Conduct Pass Instructions.
Author’s note: The Codepadi was the “Institutional Committees to Defend the Country and Dignity members.” This same pass also was printed in a smaller version, 4 ¼ x 2 ¾ inches. The message is identical.
Operations Just Cause Lessons Learned - Soldiers and Leadership, 90-9, Volume 1, October 1990, says:
The 1st Battalion of the 4th PSYOP Group provided loudspeaker teams to maneuver battalions during D-Day operations. Its mission was to assist maneuver units in convincing the Panama Defense Forces elements to surrender by announcing the conditions of surrender after a show of force by the maneuver unit. Its efforts to convince the PDF to surrender saved American and Panamanian lives. Additionally, PSYOP elements were critical during stability operations by assisting in refugee control, disseminating information, and participating in programs such as money for weapons.
Loudspeaker Humvee in Panama
Operations Just Cause Lessons Learned - Operations, 90-9, Volume 2, October 1990, adds:
PSYOP were an integral part of JUST CAUSE. The loudspeaker teams deployed with conventional units proved effective in reducing resistance and controlling the local populace. Integration of major themes below joint task force level was slow at first, but picked up momentum as programs like “money for weapons” began impacting directly on tactical units.
Securing Ft. Amador, an installation shared by the U.S. and Panamanian Defense Forces was difficult. American dependents could not be evacuated in advance of the attack. PSYOP loudspeaker teams, from the 1st Battalion, 4th PSYOP Group, were a key asset. When initial appeals failed to persuade the PDF to surrender, the commander modified the broadcasts. The holdouts were warned that resistance was hopeless in the face of overwhelming firepower and a series of demonstrations took place, escalating from small arms to 105mm howitzer rounds. Subsequent broadcasts convinced the PDF to give up.
A more recent humanitarian action was “New Horizons Panama 2010,” a 12-week U.S. Southern Command humanitarian assistance mission designed to improve critical infrastructure and provide free medical care at various locations throughout Panama. During New Horizons more than 250 Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines participated in six construction projects and five medical missions. Engineers constructed new additions or improved existing facilities at four schools and two medical clinics in the Darien region, and medical professionals provided medical care to thousands of patients.
LAND MINE AWARENESS COMIC BOOKS
The Superman and Wonder Woman Mine Awareness Comic Book
The U.S. Government is strongly committed to land mine awareness throughout the Third World. As part of the program a number of comic books were prepared to be read by children. The first was entitled Superman - Deadly Legacy. It was prepared for children in the Former Yugoslavia and was printed in both the Cyrillic alphabet used by Serbs and the Roman alphabet used by Croats and Muslims. A Kosovo version of the comic book was released in the school system through UNICEF and through non-governmental organizations operating in the area.
A comic book in the Spanish language was released for children in Latin America on 11 June 1998 at UNICEF House at UN headquarters in New York City. It is entitled Superman and Wonder Woman - the Hidden Killer. Soldiers from the 1st PSYOP Battalion (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina, conducted assessments in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras, provided background information and photos and recommended a story line to the creative staff at DC Comics. The collaboration ensured accuracy and that Central American children would be able to identify with the villages, countryside and clothing depicted in the new book. Once the story and artwork were completed, the battalion tested the comic book in Central America to see if it conveyed the intended message. Members of the Army’s Special Forces, as well as the staffs of UNICEF, U.S. embassies and local governments, worked together to distribute the book throughout the region.
The comic books were distributed through U.S. embassies, and presented to the Ministries of Education in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. A U.S. Southern Command Mine Awareness Team assisted the host ministries of education in the distribution. The initial printing was Six hundred fifty thousand copies of the book, 560,000 in Spanish and 90,000 in English. Mine-awareness posters based on the comic book, 170,000 in Spanish and 30,000 in English, were distributed in Latin America. The Spanish-language comic book is 32 pages long and includes 24 pages of story and eight pages of activities targeting children between 8 and 15. Text on the back is:
Superman and Wonder Woman have come to help the children of Central America! But even when they cannot be here, you can keep yourself safe from landmines.
This book tells of the story of Brothers Miguel, Diego, and Sister Gabriella. One brother suddenly finds himself in a minefield. He is rescued by the super-heroes, shown some mine-warning signs, and then introduced to a military de-miner. Later, Gabriella washing clothes in a stream also comes upon a mine. She is saved by Wonder Woman. The children are shown signs and posters depicting different mines and meet a child who has been injured. They then kick their soccer ball into an area that sets off another mine. The book contains a number of mine warning stickers, and features a two-page scene depicting a countryside with various signs and clues of hidden mine fields. The reader is urged to place the stickers on those sites. It closes with a 10-point quiz and the warning:
Spread the word: Mines Kill!
I remind the readers that this is not meant to be an in-depth look at American PSYOP activities in Latin America. For the most part, little has been published about these activities and my main source of information has been from returning veterans. I need to see any leaflets or posters brought back from Latin America and hear any stories or anecdotes from veterans who served there with a PSYOP unit. If you can add anything to this article or care to comment I urge you to contact me at sgmbert@hotmail.com.
