Lessons From Colombia the U.S. Must Learn Before It’s Too Late | Opinion

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On Jan. 24, as Latinas deep in the reproductive justice fight, we were closely monitoring the annual March for Life in D.C. We held our breath to see if that was the day the Trump administration would announce the re-launch of the Global Gag Rule. That news came later that night—what shocked us instead was what we saw in broad daylight.

A video surfaced that sent a chill down our spines. Hundreds of masked men in identical khakis and navy jackets moved toward the extremist rally in perfect formation, their boots hitting the pavement in synchronized steps. It wasn't just a march—it was a demonstration of militarized power.

The group is the Patriot Front, a white nationalist organization that believes only those of European descent are truly American. Their sizable presence at an anti-abortion rally isn't random; it is a deliberate assertion that they no longer exist in the shadows. For us, as Colombian-Americans, this display of discipline and coordination was disturbingly familiar. We've seen this before—far-right paramilitaries in Colombia started much the same way.

Members of the Patriot Front hand out leaflets to anti-abortion demonstrators gathering on the National Mall for the 52nd annual National March for Life, on Friday, Jan. 24, in Washington, DC. Members of the Patriot Front hand out leaflets to anti-abortion demonstrators gathering on the National Mall for the 52nd annual National March for Life, on Friday, Jan. 24, in Washington, DC. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images The Early Signs of Paramilitarization

In 1995, amid Colombia's long-running conflict, the government authorized private security groups known as "Las Convivir." These groups received government support and training but were not directly controlled by the state. Their mission was also to fight an enemy within—insurgents the government had failed to contain.

What started as a state-sanctioned initiative in Colombia spiraled into a network of armed militias that ruled through fear and brutality. The AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) emerged from these groups and became one of the worst perpetrators of human rights violations in Colombia's history. Paramilitary forces were responsible for at least 205,028 homicides, 63,029 forced disappearances, and systematic sexual violence as a weapon of control. By the time the government recognized the danger, it was too late—the AUC was already entrenched, operating autonomously and beyond official control.

The U.S. on a Similar Path

The Trump-condoned armed attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was not an endpoint—it was a test. Since then, the far-right has only grown bolder. President Donald Trump's recent promise of "retribution" and his blanket pardon of all Jan. 6 rioters are signals to extremist groups that political violence will not only be tolerated but celebrated.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, as of 2023, there are 835 anti-government groups and 595 hate groups actively organizing in the U.S. These groups don't just promote violence; they coordinate, train, and strategize. They are directly aligned with movements that seek to strip away reproductive rights, attack LGBTQ+ communities, and undermine democracy itself. As Colombians, it is hard to look away as these groups mirror the patterns of other paramilitary movements, using political violence to enforce rigid moral hierarchies and expel those they deem undesirable.

And unlike in Colombia, where paramilitary groups often operated with illegal weapons, far-right extremists in the U.S. have broad legal access to military-style rifles—arming themselves with the tools for mass violence. Without swift intervention, we are hurtling toward a future where these armed factions will no longer need to test the limits of their power. They will impose it.

Before the March for Life even began, Trump had issued another blanket pardon. This time for abortion clinic protesters, including violent offenders.

On one hand, Trump keeps emboldening right-wing vigilante actors by excusing and glorifying political violence when he sees them as allies. On the other, he has doubled down on rhetoric that wholesale criminalizes and dehumanizes people for moving to this country. That is, immigrants, and increasingly, those who seek reproductive health care.

Restricting people's bodily autonomy—particularly women, LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups—is a hallmark of extremist movements. The far-right's war on reproductive rights isn't just about abortion—it's about enforcing control. Their fight against reproductive freedom is just one part of a broader push to roll back rights and establish dominance, and they are emboldened to act violently when state forces routinely look the other way and, in fact, actively encourage it.

We are not just tracking how fast the far-right in America is radicalizing—we are witnessing its militarization in broad daylight. As in Colombia, the longer the government looks away, gives tacit approval, the harder it will be to stop. For now, it is the Patriot Front's militarized presence at the March for Life and the Jan. 6 attack. But these groups are not just spreading dangerous ideas; they are actively organizing, conditioning the public for a future where they impose their ideology through violence.

A Warning We Cannot Ignore

Too often, those raising alarms are dismissed as paranoid. But those of us who have lived through this before know how quickly democracy erodes when paramilitary groups are tolerated or encouraged.

If we could go back in time, we would have demanded that Colombia reject paramilitary formations outright. We know what happens when these warnings are ignored. We've lived it. We've fled it. And now, we see the U.S. standing at the same dangerous crossroads.

The U.S. government will not save us—it is we the people who must act. The choice is not whether we recognize this threat, but whether we peacefully organize against it before it is too late.

Paula Ávila-Guillén is a Colombian-American human rights lawyer and the executive director of the Women's Equality Center, where she leads efforts to advance reproductive rights across Latin America.

Paola Mendoza is a Colombian-American filmmaker, author, and activist known for her work at the intersection of storytelling and social justice. A co-founder of the Women's March, she continues to use art as a tool for activism. Her books Sanctuaryand SOLIStell the story of a near-future dystopian United States.

The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.

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