ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY STOP SENDING MILITARY TO TRAIN AT THE U.S. SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS.

The governments of Uruguay and Argentina have decided to stop sending troops for training at the US military academy formerly known as the School of the Americas (SOA), now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). Groups that have campaigned for the closure of the military school praised the move.

Argentine and Uruguayan defense ministers decided in March to stop sending soldiers to train at the SOA/WHINSEC, a military academy based at Fort Benning, Georgia, according to a statement by Washington-based School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch). In the past, both countries regularly sent soldiers to Fort Benning for training.

A spokesperson for the Uruguayan Embassy in London confirmed the decision April 5. Argentina reportedly had one student at the institute but would not be sending any more.

The institute, attended by between 700 and 1,000 students annually, replaced the SOA when the latter was closed in 2000. SOA became notorious when it became known that some of its graduates had gone on to become brutal military leaders in Latin America's "dirty wars," using SOA manuals on illegal interrogation and counterinsurgency techniques. In 1996, the Pentagon was forced to publicly release training manuals that promoted torture, extortion, and summary executions. Despite that, say SOA Watch representatives, there has been no independent investigation of the institution.

SOA graduates included the late Salvadoran right-wing militia leader Maj. Roberto D'Aubuisson, known as Blowtorch Bob for his interrogation methods; former Guatemalan President Efrain Rios Montt (1982-1983), later accused of genocide; Leopoldo Galtieri (1981-1982), the late Argentine junta leader jailed for human rights abuses; Bolivian dictator Hugo Banzer (1971-1978, 1997-2001), accused of serious human rights violations; and Manuel Noriega (1983-1989), the former Panamanian leader now serving a 40-year sentence in the US for drug charges.

In 2001, following a long campaign against it, the school was officially...

Para continuar leyendo

Solicita tu prueba

VLEX utiliza cookies de inicio de sesión para aportarte una mejor experiencia de navegación. Si haces click en 'Aceptar' o continúas navegando por esta web consideramos que aceptas nuestra política de cookies. ACEPTAR