The School of the Americas (SOA), renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Secruity Cooperation (WHINSEC), is a U.S. government-funded training camp for Latin American soldiers at Fort Benning, Georgia. Since 1946, over 64,000 soldiers have been trained in courses such as counterinsurgency, pyschological warfare, and interrogration tactics. Graduates of the School of Americas have been linked to human rights violations and the suppression of social movements in their countries. The Eugene-based Latin American Solidarity Committee (LASC) organized a fast and rally in support of closing the School of Americas. LASC is a chapter of the School of Americas Watch, an indepedent grassroots organization that seeks to close the SOA. Last Thursday, May 21, 2009 U.S. Represtentative James McGovern (D-MA) and 42 other House Representatives reintroduced a bill that aims to close the School of the Americas. The bill is known as the Latin American Military Training Review Act (HR 2567). For more information on local SOA activism, visit the Latin American Solidarity Committee’s Website: www.efn.org/~ciscap/ To learn more about the School of the Americas, visit the SOA Watch website, www.soaw.org
Stopping the School of Assassins
Daily Emerald
July 9, 2009
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