US Announces Visa Curbs On Members Linked To "Far-Left Terrorist" Groups
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new visa restrictions targeting individuals linked to far-left extremist groups. The administration emphasized a need to combat political violence, though critics note the policy ignores the higher statistical prevalence of right-wing domestic terrorism.
Why it matters
This marks a significant shift in US foreign policy and domestic security priorities, focusing on ideological threats that the current administration views as previously overlooked.
The United States on Thursday launched a scathing attack on left-wing extremists, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for global cooperation to fight a "new wave of this old evil."In opening remarks at a ministerial meeting on "The Resurgence of Political Terrorism," Rubio said that "far-left terrorism" had become a "blind spot" after the scrutiny on jihadist extremism following the September 11, 2001 attacks."Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream or, worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy," he said.Citing an increase in leftist attacks in Europe and the United States since 2016, Rubio called for boosting cooperation to combat an ideology he described as "a poisonous resentment cloaked in the language of equality and justice."Rubio -- a fierce anti-communist whose parents fled Cuba -- said leftist extremism draws its inspiration from a "hatred for civilization itself."More…
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