The School of the Americas

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The School of the Americas (SOA), renamed the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation” in 2001, is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia.

HISTORY

Initially established in Panama in 1946, it was kicked out of that country in 1984 under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. Former Panamanian President, Jorge Illueca, stated that the School of the Americas was the “biggest base for destabilization in Latin America.” The SOA, frequently dubbed the “School of Assassins,” has left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned. Over its 56 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor.

THE SOA TODAY

SOA graduates are playing key roles in civilian-targeted warfare campaigns against poor and indigenous communities in Chiapas, Colombia, and throughout Latin America who won’t submit to an exploitative system that views them as expendable.

Chiapas: Corresponding to uprising of indigenous peoples in Chiapas, the numbers of Mexican soldiers being trained at the SOA rapidly escalated. At least 18 high-level Mexican officers involved in the ongoing civiliantargeted warfare campaign in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca were trained at the School of the Americas.

Human Rights: SOA graduates consistently head the lists of perpetrators in Human Rights reports from and about Latin America. For example the Human Rights Watch report “State Terrorism in Colombia”, which is the definitive work on Colombian military officials responsible for violations in that country. Of the 247 cited, 124 were SOA graduates. Although the US claims to be the defender of democracy, the military often supports rogue nations free of all democratic process. The SOA consistently produced soldiers and officers to bolster fascist governments and death squads, sometimes even training men who would overthrow democratically elected governments. In total, the School has produced at least twelve Latin American dictators.

(IN) FAMOUS GRADUATES AND GUEST INSTRUCTORS

General Hector Gramajo: Architect of genocidal policies from 1980-1991 which resulted in the rape, murder, torture and displacement of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people in Guatemala. After US courts found him guilty of numerous war crimes, Gramajo was a guest speaker at an SOA graduation ceremony, as an “honored guest.”

General Rios Montt: Author of the “scorched earth” policy in Guatemala which resolved in over 625 indigenous villages being completely eliminated. After gaining power in 1982, he led the country during some of its most repressive years. He is now being charged with genocide.

Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and made refugees by those trained at the School of Assassins.

So we demand:

• Close the School of the Americas / WHISC

For more information visit www.lasolidarity.org, write to LASC@afgj.org or call 202-544-9355.