SCHOOL OF AMERICAS

WHAT IS IT?

• Combat training school for Latin American soldiers
• Historically dubbed nickname is "School of Assassins"
• Has trained over 64,000 soldiers since 1946
• Located at Fort Benning, Georgia

SOA Watch

• Graduates of this school become violent and cruel
• Used learned skills to wage war against own people
• Targeted educators, religious workers, and other rights activists
• Involved in the murder of 6 Jesuit priests in El Savadore, 1989
• Marked turning point: pressured peace agreements and caught worldwide attention

WHINSEC

• Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
• Changed its name in 2001, but their curriculum remains the same
• Alumns include Manuel Noriega, former Panamanian dictator jailed for drug dealing
• School remains symbol for the flaws in US foreign policy