My notes: The name of the US Army’s School Of Americas was changed in 2000, by Congress, because it was under scrutiny by human rights groups such as SOA Watch. They hadn’t changed anything else, such as their training manuals or actual training. In 2013, it was determined that the school was more transparent and now has a rigorous human rights training program.
It’s interesting that Venezuela’s Minister Of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, attended this school between February and May 1995, for a “Psychological Operations” and “Advanced Officer training” course. During the 2002 coup d’état attempt, he was a colonel in the Simon Bolivar Infantry Battalion, and remained loyal to Hugo Chávez.
Published 12-07-2015
On November 22, thousands gathered at the gates of Fort Benning, GA at the 25th annual protest of the School of the Americas to memorialize the tens of thousands of people who lost their lives at the hands of the U.S. Empire’s brutally repressive juntas it used to rule Latin America by force.
The dictators and death squad leaders, who committed acts of genocide, were trained within the gates of Fort Benning, at the School of the Americas – otherwise known as the “School Of Assassins.”
Abby Martin investigates this notorious school that is largely hidden from the American public; it’s crimes around the world, its star graduates, why it exists and the movement to shut it down.
Featuring interviews with School Of the Americas Watch founder Father Roy Bourgeois and other SOAW leaders. [Follow @SOAWatch and visit SOAW.org for more info on the movement]
FOLLOW // @EmpireFiles // @AbbyMartin // @telesurenglish
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 