ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the use and sponsorship of state terrorism by liberal democratic states from the North following the events of 9/11. While efforts to entrench neoliberalism through the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and various state aid initiatives increased after 9/11, there was also a resurgence in the use and sponsorship of state terrorism by the US and other liberal democratic states from the North, ostensibly to combat international terrorism. I begin by examining developments in Latin America since 9/11. While the US favoured legitimation strategies to achieve its objectives, it also turned a blind eye to anti-democratic actions including a further coup d’état in Haiti. While coups do not in and of themselves necessarily constitute state terrorism, the violence and intimidation that often ensues at the hands of military forces against supporters of the overthrown government should be understood as state terrorism. As I will show, the US knew of the likely coup and potential for human rights violations, and did little to stop it, particularly because the overthrown government had been acting in ways inimical to US elite interests. The US has also continued to provide extensive military aid to the Colombian state, despite knowing of the widespread acts of terror committed by members of the Colombian armed forces against civilians with no links to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), including extrajudicial killings and various forms of intimidation. Furthermore, the US attempted to increase its military presence in Latin America. While this is not itself a form of state terrorism, it is indicative of a foreign policy which prioritises military solutions to perceived problems over other strategies, as I will show.
