Because there's nothing hyperbolic about "theft and destruction and rape and torture and murder were routine." As we see, this kind of hyperbole is so normative in your social context that it passes entirely unnoticed. To respond to hyperbole with nuanced moderation is entirely inappropriate, misleading and ineffective.

I think you'll find that in all functioning societies everywhere, including the United States today, the weak are ruled by the strong, and rebels are repressed and/or killed. Try setting up your own liberated zone in Montana and see how far you get. When this principle breaks down, the only thing that can follow is chaos.

Historical research is hard work, but hard work isn't always useful work. When the purpose of your hard work is the service of a political agenda, it's just busywork. The perspective of Western academia in 2012 is a valid one, certainly, but also a very narrow one by historiographic standards. It is much more work to step outside this tradition - especially in the narrow area of Latin American studies - but when you do so you may be surprised at what you find.