Criminal Drone Evolution: Cartel Weaponization of Aerial IEDs ed. by Robert J. Bunker & John P. Sullivan (review)

inside communist party structures to understand how militants organized themselves to advance their political agenda” (183). “The 1950s were a period of continual transitions for the communist party in Ecuador” (93) and, ultimately, the “intense and continuing organizing efforts in the years after the Second World War laid the groundwork for subsequent militant mobilizations that would not have happened were in not for those earlier, less visible actions” (5). That CIA surveillance documents illuminating these earlier and less visible actions became such an important source for Becker’s narrative is, as stated above, an ironic consequence of the mass of paper generated by extensive surveillance efforts. These records reveal, in extensive although often inaccurate detail, things about both Ecuador and the US. Furthermore, they provide a historian working several generations after their creation with a rich source base to tell the history of the Ecuadorian left during an understudied period. The CIA did not ignore the Western Hemisphere. Ultimately scholars should be thankful they did not, because “CIA surveillance provides insights into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the party confronted. Our understanding of the past is richer for the documentary record they left behind” (25). Once again Marc Becker has taken a trove of documents, read them against the grain, and produced a compelling study of the Ecuadorian left during the 1950s. Anyone interested in the Cold War, Ecuador, and the relationship between the United States and Latin America will find much to appreciate in this volume. In addition, Becker’s discussions of the surveillance documents themselves are also important and should be read by aspiring historians, particularly in graduate seminars. In sum, The CIA in Ecuador deserves a wide readership.