La Unidad ("The Unit") was a military police special forces unit of the Bolivian Army that was active from 2017 to 2019 during the Bolivian Drug War. La Unidad was created from the strongest and most aggressive soldiers in the Bolivian armed forces, and Major-General Juan Pablo Baro Rebolledo led La Unidad in a militarized crackdown on the Santa Blanca Cartel in 2017, resulting in thousands of deaths in a futile war. Ultimately, Baro was forced to negotiate a ceasefire with the well-entrenched cartel, and La Unidad was unable to stop the cartel's campaign of disappearances and assassinations. Some elements of La Unidad even collaborated with the cartel, with Baro helping direct Santa Blanca's security wing. La Unidad was accused of assassinating whistle-blowers, journalists, and snitches; extorting the cartel for money which would be sent to the President's cabinet and to bribe customs officials, journalists, and local police; and of merely monitoring drug trafficking from their rural outposts. Unidad forces fought against both the cartel and the American Ghost Recon "special forces" team during Operation Kingslayer in 2019, and the unit was shut down after an exposé revealed the Bolivian government's corruption and Unidad's war crimes.
