RADICAL ISLAMIST EXTREMISTS, OFTEN CALLED "FUNDAMENTALISTS", WERE U.S. FAVORITES IN THE 1980s, BECAUSE THEY WERE THE BEST KILLERS WHO COULD BE FOUND. IN THOSE YEARS, A PRIME ENEMY OF THE U.S. WAS THHE CATHOLIC CHURCH, WHICH HAD SINNED GRIEVOUSLY IN LATIN AMERICA BY ADOPTING "THE PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POOR."