…now known as the “Western Hemisphere Institute For Security Co-operation”. For those of you who have not heard of this Institution, it was created in 1946 by the United States, then formed a base in Georgia in the 60’s. The stated purpose of the Institute is to bring in Latin American military students and teach them on the issue of Human Rights. The training does not end there however. It also teaches combat techniques, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. These sound like nobel causes, one must then ask why some of the members pictures in the “Hall of Fame” found at the base, have later on come to commit the most offensive acts of Human Rights violations after their training, and once they have returned back to thier homelands in South America. Instead of aiding their people, they use their newly obtained knowlege to suppress, torture, or form ‘death squads’ against them. This institute has been unofficially named as ‘one of the biggest bases for destabiliztion in Latin America’.
Each year, the SOA watch (a group of protestors against the school) has a memorial service for all of the people who have either disappeared or who have passed away at the hands of the graduates from the Institution. You can find their site at http://www.soaw.org where they have more detailed information on both the SOA and the SOA watch.
So my question then is, why is Congress allowing this school to be open for business despite the reputation, and secondly, should your tax dollars be placed into an Institution that “maintains democratic values” with seemingly ‘undemocratic’ results.
As a side note, I came to learn about this institution through my Human Rights course at my current University.