cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/41293279
source: gift link to NYT live blog (here is an archive.is link for later when the unlocked_article_code expires)
Where did this term come from? The Cartel of the Suns wikipedia article explains:
(reference [13] points to this article about it from 1993: Anti-Drug Unit of C.I.A. Sent Ton of Cocaine to U.S. in 1990)
![screenshot of wikipedia text: The term Cartel of the Suns was first used in 1993 as a journalistic label following a political scandal involving Venezuelan military officials who were implicated in a CIA plot to smuggle cocaine into the United States in order to infiltrate Colombian cartels.[13] The term was inspired by the "soles" (sun emblems) on Venezuelan generals' uniforms.[1] Apart from drug trafficking,](https://lemmy.ml/pictrs/image/cf30ca07-c9aa-43fb-9023-f58c86e9c8bb.png)
they’ve figured out that they don’t need to hide things so long as its in dry af legalese so that no one but tankies and intellectuals will bother read it.