Mission Rama: One of the most important contactee network of the 20th Century Joseph Burkes MD 2009, edited 2019

In 1993, the American Public Health Association (APHA) held its annual meeting in San Francisco. I was particularly eager to go to the Bay Area because I had learned that a network of contactees known as Mission Rama had an active working group there. Rama was at that time an international organization of contact workers that was established in Lima, Peru in 1974. Rama’s initial activities involved the ET contacts of a young man by the name of Sixto Paz Wells.

When I first spoke to Rama activists in 1993 I was told that their group had facilitated at total of over 25,000 individual human encounters with non-human intelligence of a presumed extraterrestrial nature, the type of experience that Dr. Greer decades later designated as “CE-5s,” Close Encounter of the Fifth Kind.

SIXTO PAZ WELLS WAS ONE OF MANY PROMINENT CONTACT ACTIVISTS

Prior to traveling to the APHA meeting in San Francisco, I had read several magazine articles outlining the exploits of Rama. Although the stories focused on Sixto Paz Wells’ leadership role, I was soon to learn that Rama’s continuing success relied on the efforts of scores of talented Latin American contactees from many countries. Most of them were recruited into the Rama contact network as young people in their 20s and early 30s. Rama leaders were not only well versed in advanced meditation techniques, but also possessed impressive psychic abilities.

THOUSANDS OF HUMAN INITIATED CONTACT EXPERIENCES

During the mid 1970s many published accounts in the Spanish language media served to promote Mission Rama’s campaign across Latin America. Through emigration of Rama activists to Europe and North America, their project spread around the world. Given this international dimension to their work going on for many decades, I strongly suspect that the 1993 figure of 25,000 encounters would now be a gross underestimate of their track record. A more accurate current figure would be in the hundreds of thousands of individual human encounters with extraterrestrial intelligence.

BACKGROUND IN SOLIDARITY WORK IN LATIN AMERICA

Throughout my youth I had an interest in Latin American affairs. I grew up in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in Manhattan and learned Spanish in high school. Later in no small part due to the influence of my leftist mother, I did international solidarity work with Latin American peace and social justice movements during the 1960s and 1970s.

When I was 19 years old I spent 2 months in Mexico and Guatemala. During that year the Mexican student movement was on the defensive and was still reeling from the massacre in Mexico City that occurred during the 1968 Olympics. In one bloody encounter, hundreds of anti-government demonstrators were gunned down by the Mexican military at Tlaltelolco, in the Plaza of the Three Cultures. Given my participation in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War student movements back at home, I was very sympathetic to the leftwing sentiments of Latin American youth.

My background in Latin American solidarity activities and contact work made me eager to meet a Peruvian leader of Rama while visiting in San Francisco. For 20 years I called him Dr. Ricardo, a pseudonym. In 2014 he gave me permission to finally use his true name, Dr. Fernando Limaco. He is a retired dental surgeon and back in 1993 he agreed to stop by the CSETI booth that I had rented at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting. Given the audacity of setting up a UFO table at a large health professional meeting, I anticipated that he might decline the offer. I was pleasantly surprised when Dr. Limaco agreed to join me.

MY COLLEAGUE’S STRIKING PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.

I shall never forget meeting Fernando for the first time. Short, robust, with copper colored skin, he was the very image of the indigenous people of the Andes. His dark eyes were set deep into his face. When he spoke his eyes shinned with a passionate intensity. I had no doubt that the individual standing before me possessed enormous physical strength and personal determination. We spent the afternoon at the booth chatting in Spanish and English. My new friend witnessed me “working the crowd,” drawing health professionals over to see UFO videos and passing out CSETI literature. I also met with several other members of RAMA that impressed me with their idealism and dedication to the cause of peaceful contacts with non-human intelligence of a presumed ET nature.

INTERNATIONAL UFO LIBRARY MAGAZINE ARTICLE CHRONICLED RAMA’S BEGINNING

I gave Fernando and his friends a photocopy of an article about Mission Rama that was published in a past issue of the “International UFO Library Magazine.” The journal ceased started publishing in 1992. I did not have the original magazine in which article had been appeared. The account that follows is based on that printed material. It displayed no author or publication date on title page. My new Rama friends told me after reading the article that the author was Yolanda Marcino, who according to them at one time was the “United States Rama President.” In addition, they vouched for the narrative’s accuracy. It corresponded to other written accounts about Sixto Paz Wells and correctly reflected the early history of their contact network.

Dr. Limaco was not in Rama during the early years but became more active after he emigrated to the US during the late 1980s. He was forced to do so after armed guerrillas attempted to kidnap his daughter from their home. This reportedly was done to many middle-class families, not for necessarily political purposes but merely to raise money for a violent campaign against the Peruvian government. Dr. Fernando Limaco had accompanied Sixto Paz Wells on an arduous journey deep into the Andes jungle in 1990. There they reportedly met with the ETs in a remote district called Paititi.

The following account of how Rama contact network was established is based on an International UFO Library Magazine article that I received from a friend. The magazine was a low circulation publication that printed a small number of issues around 1990 to 1992. The Mission Rama article did not have a publication date or an author under the title. Internet searches that I conducted over the years failed locate a copy of the magazine that contains the article about Mission Rama. Raphael Zurita, a Rama friend of Dr Limaco told me that the author was ….. She was a president of the Rama organization in the USA during the late 1980s and early 1990s. . Several Mission Rama activists told me that the article was an accurate portrayal of the history of Rama group.

My aim is to inform readers about a little known but important piece of contact network history. Few articles and even fewer books have been published in English describing the important activities of Mission Rama. In my opinion, their decades of dedicated work have had a on major impact in Spanish speaking countries when it comes to human initiated contact with UAP intelligence. Their activists in the USA continue to lead groups of contact workers with an annual fieldwork investigation at Mount Shasta every August.

LIMA PERU JANUARY 1974

In 1974 Sixto Paz Wells was a first-year university student in Lima. His father Carlos Paz Garcia had a long-standing interest in the paranormal and metaphysics and was a participant at meetings where the possibility of telepathic communication with extraterrestrials was discussed. His son Sixto was also interested in this subject and was an avid practitioner of Yoga. He attended a conference with his father where telepathic exercises designed to contact ETs were described. After the meeting, Sixto meditated, attempting to serve as a kind of human “antenna” hoping to receive a telepathic message from “los extraterrestres” (ETs).

FIRST COMMUNICATIONS VIA AUTOMATIC WRITING

On January 22, 1974, while at home with his mother and sister, Sixto attempted the technique of automatic writing. First, he meditated. Holding a pen, his hand moved across a piece of paper. It was just scribbling at first. According to Sixto, his hand then moved by a consciousness other than his own. The message identified its source as an “extraterrestrial.” That being reportedly called himself “Oxalc.” Furthermore, this “ET” claimed that he was communicating from distant extraterrestrial base located on “Morlen,” a moon of Jupiter that we know as Ganymede. Sixto reported that in his mind’s eye he saw a middle-aged man sitting at a white desk with his hands on his temples.

Had Sixto really made contact by just asking for it? He reportedly was full of doubts. Sixto’s mother and sister called some friends and set up a meeting for the following night. Confused and dubious about his capacity to establish contact, Sixto again carried out relaxation exercises to prepare himself for possible communications with extraterrestrials.

THE CHANNELED ENTITY WAS PUT TO A TEST

The following night with mostly young people present, Sixto’s automatic writing (aka psychography) spelled out another message from Oxalc. The alleged ET proposed to prove that the automatic writing was not just a product of Sixto’s imagination. Oxalc reportedly suggested that he be given a series of questions from the audience. At first Sixto’s friends asked them verbally, with Sixto giving the answers via automatic writing. Later the questions were reportedly posed to Oxalc via telepathy. As the UFO Library account stated, to everyone’s amazement each question was answered correctly! One skeptic even reportedly asked Oxalc, via Sixto, to name the author and title of the book that she was reading. In addition, she requested that Oxalt reveal the page that she was currently on. The alleged extraterrestrial, communicating through Sixto, not only replied correctly, but also accurately described what her opinion was of the book.

To prove that the source of communication was indeed extraterrestrial, it was suggested that Oxalc should give them a time and place where a physical group encounter might take place. The channeled reply set the time as 9 p.m. February 7, 1974. The location was out in the desert, some 60 km south of Lima. It was a place known as Chilca. On the appointed night, a silvery light appeared over a nearby hill. At first, the group of young people reportedly thought it the moon. By 9 p.m., it became apparent that this was a disc shaped UFO. The object flew towards them. Then a shaft of light shot out from the craft illuminating the ground where the witnesses stood.

FLYING SAUCER OVERHEAD

According to the account in the UFO Library Magazine, the UFO appeared to be shaped like a hamburger with a metallic skin. It silently hovered 80 feet overhead. On the upper section of the craft the young people reportedly could see six windows. Sixto’s friends were hardly prepared for this momentous occasion. They completely panicked. Sixto, via automatic writing, was told that they would have to learn to control their emotions before further contact could be achieved. The UFO hovered over them for 15 minutes and then started to spin. It suddenly flew away to the west towards the Pacific Ocean and was gone. Thus began the initial encounters of what would soon become an international network of contactees. Although the initial interactions took place in Peru, their network spread throughout Latin America, and via emigration of Rama activists, to far flung corners of the world.

INTERNATIONAL CONTACT NETWORK

Learning these details I was immediately struck by the similarities between CE-5 Initiative and Rama. They both took an overwhelming positive view of human-ET interactions. It was and still is their collective hope that peaceful contact will issue forth a new era of enlightened human development. For both groups the principal mode of communication between humans and the alleged ETs is consciousness/mind, i.e., telepathy. Both groups use meditation or relaxation techniques to enhance a consciousness link during attempts at making contact. And most importantly the networks were primarily founded on the contact experiences of one young contactee. For Rama it was Sixto Paz Wells, for CSETI, Dr. Steven Greer. There were many philosophical, cultural and organizational differences between the two groups, but their shared features in my opinion reveal the handiwork of an advanced non-human intelligence that is determined to interact with humanity.

INTENSE MENTAL PREPARATION FOR CONTACT

Following that poorly prepared first encounter in the Peruvian desert, Sixto and his supporters intensively practiced meditation in order to overcome their fears. According to the magazine narrative, thy approached contact work in a serious, almost reverent style. The next psychographic (automatic writing) communication contained an important warning. Sixto was told that he should not try to convince others outside of his small team, of the reality of their experience. This prohibition was applied especially to family members. Apparently Sixto chose to ignore the warning and insisted that his father Paz Garcia should be allowed to participate in an upcoming planned or programed encounter (encuentro programado in Spanish). In consultation with the alleged ETs, it was agreed that only Sixto’s father, along with the original group of young people would be permitted to have contact during the next outing.

IN CHLCA, A PARTY TURNS INTO PANIC

On February 14, 1974 at 6:45 PM, Sixto and his young supporters eagerly awaited contact on a mountaintop in the Chilca region near Lima. His father had told them that he would meet up with the group later. Soon a large 150-meter craft approached in the sky, but instead of just their father being present, several vehicles appeared moving down a mountain road near their site. Sixto and his brother, Carlos rushed to investigate. To their dismay and in violation of the agreed plan, they discovered that their father had invited some of his friends to join them in the desert. These individuals were now actively conducting their own contact efforts in a party like atmosphere. Some individuals were clearly intoxicated having brought several cases of beer. Others were reportedly attempting to make contact by holding hands and using a trance medium approach. Soon two small UFOs descended upon the group of partiers. Once again panic ensued. This time the terrified merrymakers knocked over tables and chairs while charging into their tents and cars to hide. Reportedly for Sixto, it was a humiliating disaster. The huge craft that they had first sighted in the distance slowly flew over the group at a height of less than 50 meters. After this incident, Paz Garcia’s friends were allegedly in a state of shock.

IMPOSING HUMAN PRIORITIES NOT A SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY

The fiasco however was highly instructive for the young Peruvian contact workers. Instead of blaming Sixto’s father, they looked into themselves. Sixto’s group attempted to understand how perhaps their own faults had contributed to the chaos at Chilca. They had attempted to impose on the ETs their human priorities, their need to convince others, despite being cautioned against such a course by their alleged extraterrestrial contact. Sixto’s team continued their spiritual work and chose to consider the ETs as friends and even called them “hermanos mayores,”(elder brothers) or guides. In preparation for more contact, Sixto’s team was instructed to modify their diet with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables, eliminating all meat. The contact team was to be limited to no more than seven individuals, the original group. On a cloudless night during the first week of July 1974, they again drove out into the Chilca desert. Their destination was a place called “La Mina,” (the mine). It was some twenty minutes walking distance from their jumping off point.

While slowly trudging along in the sand, Sixto somehow became separated from his companions in the darkness. After what seemed like only a few minutes, he suddenly found himself at La Mina. He reportedly coldn’t understand how he had arrived so quickly. Sixto saw a strange luminescence in the distance. Thinking that it might be his friends’ lantern, he walked towards it. As he approached, the eerie light took the form of a half moon. As he closed in, suddenly the figure of a man with his arm raised came out of the light. Frightened and confused Sixto tried to run, but a strange paralysis overtook him.

INTER-DIMENSIONAL PORTAL AWAITED SIXTO

Telepathically he received the simple command, “Come!” Controlling his fear, he stepped into the light. Sixto reportedly experienced vertigo and nausea. His forehead and neck were gripped by a strong pressure. Heat flowed through his entire body that suddenly felt much lighter. Engulfed in brilliant light he was however able to see before him the very extraterrestrial being that he had envisioned the previous January.

According to Sixto, Oxalc was tall, about 6 feet 2 inches in height, with oriental features. He had whitish-blond thin hair, which reportedly flowed down to his broad shoulders. The ET explained to him that they had entered an inter-dimensional portal called a “Xendra.” It allegedly converted their atomic structure to light energy and thereby could be transported rapidly over enormous distances.

A UTOPIAN “ET” BASE ON A MOON OF JUPITER

According to the UFO Library Magazine article, Sixto emerged from the portal and found that he was no longer in the Peruvian desert. Instead he could see mountains in the distance that cradled a city composed of transparent domes and igloo like structures. They were on “Morlen”, allegedly the ET name for Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter. Sixto was told that this base had been established as a mining colony thousands of years ago. Their civilization allegedly hailed from the star systems known to us as Betelgeuse and Rigel of the constellation Orion. The atmosphere had been supposedly modified to allow them to move around without space suits. A type of solar energy was supplied as well to allow trees and vegetables to grow in the many valleys that were colonized.

A council of respected elders working for “The Great Confederation of Stars” ruled Morlen. Their goal was to give generous assistance to all worlds in evolution. In this idyllic setting, Sixto was told that individual colonists could experience personal growth without “prejudice or vice.” This ET civilization was not only technologically advanced, but according to Oxalc had achieved an advanced state of spiritual development.

Sixto was reportedly given a description of life on Morlen. The colonists all worked about 4 hours per day. Supply houses allegedly took the place of stores. People simply took what they wanted. There was no mention of money. Sixto was told that their food was composed of plant extracts that had little taste but met all bodily needs. Reportedly there were close to a million people living there dispersed into a few cities.

SIXTO WAS SHOWN IMAGES FROM HIS PAST AND FUTURE

At the end of his tour, Sixto was taken to a place where he allegedly was able to view images from his past drawn from his own memory. He allegedly witnessed a very special event that had occurred in 1966. While walking to school, he had seen a circular shadow on the ground, presumably made by an ET craft. A wave of heat and a strange sound frightened him; instead of fleeing he had suddenly become paralyzed.

Sixto recalled being shown images that were supposed to reflect his future as well. In these, he allegedly played a leadership role in a worldwide contact movement. He saw himself appearing on television, giving newspaper interviews and experiencing the emotional turmoil that comes from being a leader. In that future, he allegedly would face heavy responsibilities, and experience great fellowship as well as betrayal.

In parting, Oxalc reassured Sixto that he would only retain those memories that would support him in his future mission. With tears in his eyes, Sixto envisioned a bright and positive future for humanity. Feeling exhausted and peaceful at the same time, Sixto reentered the inter-dimensional portal and found himself back in the Peruvian desert at La Mina. For Sixto Paz Wells it had seemed like he had been on Morlen for many hours. When he found his companions, he was informed that he had only been separated from them for 15 minutes.

VEGETARIANISM AND MENTAL EXERCISES PREPARED THEM FOR MORE CONTACT

His friends questioned him about the strange light that they had seen; they wanted to know where he had been. Sixto told them about his experience of going through the “Xendra” and that they too would have a similar experience in two weeks. He advised them that they must prepare themselves by meditating, eating a strict vegetarian diet and by doing certain prescribed “concentration” exercises. Two weeks later, Sixto and his team returned to the designated contact site at La Mina. A banana shaped UFO reportedly appeared in the sky and seven youths entered the inter-dimensional portal. They felt a kind of weightlessness and found themselves in an enormous auditorium. They were led to believe that this was the meeting place of an interstellar council known as “the Twenty-four Elders.” The ceiling reportedly was a colossal cupola covered with symbols that included the Star of David and an image of a trident. On both sides of the hall were ideograms that appeared similar to Chinese writing. Seated in the council chairs were an assortment of beings, many of who appeared to be non-human.

The Elders then stood one by one and reportedly communicated to Sixto’s group telepathically. The information they share covered several philosophical themes in detail. These included the “ETs’” concept of God, what death is and their unfolding plan to create a “new humanity” on Earth. Sixto and his followers were instructed to carry out a mission under the title of “Rama”, meaning Sun on Earth. They were supposed to be teachers, who if sufficiently dedicated, would help prepare humanity for a dramatic spiritual transformation. The ongoing communication with the extraterrestrials was to continue as it had started, via automatic writing. With these final account the UFO Library Magazine’s article ended.

The initial Peruvian group expanded its numbers in order to meet the enormous challenge of their “mission.” Latin American and European press coverage served to attract new activists that created an international network of contactees. During the initial years Sixto Paz Wells was the most prominent participant. As the years passed, Rama was rife with internal battles, but despite these challenges the contact work has continued.

SIXTO PAZ WELLS’ ROLE DIMINISHED

During the 1990s, New Age media coverage continued to focus on Sixto. However according Rama activists, who quietly were organizing at the grassroots level, his importance diminished. For a number of years he reportedly ceased being a “good antennae” in terms of receiving accurate messages. Other leaders, who operated outside of the media glare, continued to attract ET craft to the delight and wonderment of new followers. As a North American representative of the network that I somewhat whimsically call the “Contact Underground”, I have been privileged to do fieldwork with Rama on a handful of occasions. For twenty years starting in the 1990s, I kept Rama informed of the ongoing efforts of our North American contact teams. Captain Joe Vallejo helped me in this liaison capacity. At public lectures and in personal conversations I have encouraged the next generation of English speaking contact workers to do fieldwork with Rama, now called Rahma. This is now a regular occurrence in a yearly joint fieldwork at Mount Shasta. I feel a sense of accomplishment for having been given the opportunity to have serve in liaison with the Latin American Rahma network.

About the author: Joseph Burkes MD volunteered as a Working Group Coordinator for the Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind-5 Initiative from 1992 till 1998. He has continued to study the flying saucer phenomenon working with the Mutual UFO Network, MUFON, the Peruvian based contact network now called Rahma and more recently as a medical consultant for the Foundation for Research into ET Experiences, (FREE). He is co-author of the book “Paths to Contact” edited by Jeff Becker. With researcher Preston Dennett he co-authored a chapter on UAP associated medical healings in FREE’s compendium “Beyond UFOs: Volume One.” Dr. Burkes retired from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group after thirty years of service in 2008. He is a board-certified internal medicine physician and is licensed to practice in California.

Comments:

On a social media page a commenter asked about the Rama practice of vegetarianism with the understanding that contact networks from other parts of the world might have similar successes by adopting Rama’s protocols. From the same individual I was asked how can one make sense out of the bewildering and often contradictory messages received from NHI via channeling. Here is my response.

“Thank you for the question concerning the role of vegetarianism as practiced by Rama and the value of channeled material. Rama now called Rahma was, and still is a project between advanced non-human intelligences and spiritually oriented contact activists from primarily Latin America. The methods used to set up this kind of programed long-term liaison don’t necessarily apply to other contact networks within different cultures.

As far as making sense out of channeled material . I suggest you look at the work of John Keel with a critical eye. UAP intelligences and all the other NHI from what we might call “other dimensions” or “non-material realms” don’t make sense because they are not meant to make sense. Some accurate predictions about the future typically entice experiencers. Following this “the others” sometimes receive a blank check from UFO fans. Then the “fun” begins and they put into the mix of accurate information that we receive, the most outrageous baloney, and unfortunately many people eagerly gobble up this tainted material as if it were up “truth.”

Keel was an atheist. He had little use for the spiritual development that is associated with contact. The FREE data shows that for many experiencers, contact involves a radical transformation of consciousness. Contact as described by over 4000 responders often triggers a change in world view that supports environmental protection, altruism, less materialistic attitudes and behaviors. The role of flying saucers may not be to teach us merely the existence of extraterrestrials, but instead to facilitate an expansion of consciousness that will allow us to avoid the destruction of Earth Civilization. John Mack MD chose this as one of the central themes of his analysis of so-called “abductees.” Although I don’t particularly like my former colleague’s methods involving hypnosis, I admire his courage to delve into this subject with a compassion form of social responsibility. In my judgment this approach has allowed him to reveal a central truth about our interactions with UAP intelligences. Unless humanity experiences a radical expansion of its collective consciousness, one which increases our sense of protectiveness for the planet that sustains us, humanity will not take the necessary steps to control global warming. Nothing short of such a radical spiritual change will prevent the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of millions of people from starvation and wars that will be fought over dwindling material resources. In my opinion, only a social movement, linking contact with the need for world peace based on social and environmental justice, will humanity take the necessary steps to avoid a kind of barbarism that will result from billions of us starving and senselessly fighting among ourselves because we were so stupid and selfish to see a better path.

Joseph Burkes Yes, the entire Rama (now Rahma) cosmology has a kind of certainty in terms of what is going on that can be very attractive. I think of it more as a brilliantly created cover story that UFO intelligences push forward when dealing with a violent and self-destructive race of beings. It is a message of hope and ultimately might result in the liberation of humanity. In my judgment this can only occur if choose to follow their advice and spiritually evolve.

There are terrible times coming to this planet and I am convinced that we are getting limited assistance from NHI (non-human intelligence). It seems likely that the rise of authoritarian regimes around the world, and the strengthening of existing ones serving the needs of oligarchs, makes any responsible action to blunt global warming impossible. The scientists with each passing decade have been underestimating the destructiveness of global warming. The positive feedback loops are manifesting in ways that the conservative scientific establishment has had difficulty predicting. And those few that do are being ignored as “alarmists.” In my judgment there is likely going to be a major die-out in the next 100 years. Rising oceans, desertification, floods and other results of human induced global warming will likely cause famine, more wars and even nuclear ones as starving nations fight over limited resources.

So, if the so-called ETs have access to non-polluting energy sources, then why not give them to us? The obvious answer for me is that we would immediately use such awesome power to slaughter one another more efficiently. Following this rather unpopular form of logic, only a world peace based on social justice and promoting strict environmental policies would induce a “higher intelligence agency” to download into our technological culture the secret of the saucers.

Champion remote viewer Joe McMoneagle in his “Ultimate Time Machine” foresaw an Earth in the year 3000 with only about 700 hundred million living on her . They had world peace, strict environmental controls and limited cultural and economic exchange with several ETs civilizations. It is a beautifully hopeful vision that our civilization will not only survive the dark days before us, but we might even thrive. I repeat a slogan I learned from Steven Greer so long ago.

Additional question: Did Dr Greer get much of his contact protocol from Rama? It has a lot of similarities.

Additional Comment:

The question has been asked did Steven Greer get his protocols from Mission Rama. As far as I know, Dr. Greer never mentioned Rama with one exception. When he stated that “if they knew what they were doing they would not have to eat vegetarian food and meditate for several days before going to the field.” According to my friend Joe Vallejo, during a CSETI presentation in San Francisco, a high-level activist Rama activist Dr. Fernando Limaco was politely greeted by Dr. Greer. Limaco had accompanied Sixto Paz Wells to Paititi where they had an onboard experience. Greer reportedly expressed no interest in the Rama mission. In my opinion UFO Intel brought Dr. Greer to his assignment along parallel lines to what Rama was tasked to accomplish. So in conclusion, Dr. Greer did not get his contact protocol from Rama. I suspect that someday there will be thousands of prime contactees all over the planet that will receive similar guidance from UFO Intel and will build contact networks of contact workers. Some of these independent activists have been told not to associate with Dr. Greer for security purposes I assume. Dr. Greer’s association with the CIA and Naval Intelligence is frightening to people from Latin America, I suspect. In third world countries both the US and the former USSR’s intelligence services and those of their allies have been responsible for the imprisonments and deaths of thousands of innocents.