Uruguay & Argentina Cease Training at U.S. Army’s School of the Americas

[Judi Lynn]

Uruguay & Argentina Cease Training at U.S. Army’s School of the Americas
Defense Ministers of Both Countries Cite SOA Legacies of Torture and Social Repression in Meetings with Human Rights Advocates; Congress Soon to Decide Fate of Controversial Pentagon School

WASHINGTON - March 28 - This week two South American countries sent a strong message of support for human rights and military accountability by ceasing all military training of their troops at the controversial U.S. Army’s School of the Americas. Nilda Garré, the Defense Minister of Argentina, and Azucena Berrutti, Uruguay’s Minister of Defense, decided this week to stop sending soldiers from their countries to train at the military school based at Fort Benning, Georgia and now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/ WHINSEC).

The critical decisions by the two countries followed meetings with Uruguayan & Argentinean human rights groups and the SOA Watch activists church worker Lisa Sullivan, torture survivor Carlos Mauricio and Maryknoll priest Reverend Roy Bourgeois.

“Everywhere we’ve traveled this month in South America, we’ve been amazed to realize that people are fully aware of the reality of the School of the Americas,” said Sullivan. “They have experienced firsthand the horrors of the tortures, detentions, imprisonments and ‘disappearances’ caused by its graduates.”

Argentina and Uruguay become the second and third countries to announce a cessation of training at the SOA/ WHINSEC. In January of 2004, Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela would no longer send troops to train at the school.
(snip/...)

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0328-15.htm

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Oh my gawd..... who will fill the classrooms?? Who will run and play

in the schoolyard at recess?? Who will take responsibility for the terrah this school has unleashed upon S. America?? No one.

www.Soaw.org

The case against López Grijalba marks the first time a Honduran military leader has been held responsible for human rights abuses committed in the Central American nation. During this period, a special military intelligence unit known as Battalion 316 carried out a series of abductions, disappearances and killings against Honduran civilians. The death squad operated in conjunction with the DNI and under the command of the intelligence section of the Armed Forces, known as G-2. As the head of the DNI in 1981 and the chief of military intelligence in 1982, López Grijalba exercised command over the soldiers who tortured Oscar and Gloria Reyes and murdered Manfredo Velásquez and Hans Madisson.

Lopez Grijalba was an SOA student on four separate occasions between 1963 and 1975. After the existence of the murderous Battalion 3-16 became public and Lopez Grijalba was implicated in its activities, he was still invited to speak at the School of the Americas in 1991 and 1992. Lopez Grijalba moved to the Miami area in 1998 where he lived until immigration officials arrested him in 2002.

[saigon68]

9. THESE THUGS ARE NEGROPONTE'S PUPILS

He is a Man who obtains sexual arousal at thoughts of Nuns being raped and children Disemboweled by right wing Hairy Deviants

[SoCalDem]

11. I am ashamed to tell you that MY father taught at the SOA and one

of HIS students was Manuel Noriega..:(

[freefall]

12. The fact that you made this post is an indication that sometimes

the apple does fall pretty far from the tree. Keep your head up and be true to yourself, SoCalDem.

Peace,

freefall

[SoCalDem]

13. I was just a little kid and never knew why he would leave

in the middle of the night and then months later he would come back from :

Chile, Dominican Republic, Peru, Miami(April 61), Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti..

As an adult, I can connect the dates and know why he left and what they were "up to"..

[freefall]

14. This brings tears to my eyes, SoCalDem. It must be very difficult for

you to deal with. Is your father still living? If so, what is your relationship with him? Does he have difficulty dealing with what he did?

As I read the news from Iraq, I worry about the effect on the folks at home of the return of many who have become war criminals to our society. What was your father like at home? At the same time it is true that many monsters are good to their own families. I think it was either Stalin or Beria (sp?) who was considered a wonderful family man. I can only repeat, keep your head up and be true to the goodness within.

Peace,

freefall

[SoCalDem]

15. He died a while back.. and nope.. he was not a "good " dad

He mellowed in his old age, and I forgave him for my traumas (at least came to terms with it)...He was abully and I had a weak mother who always "looked the other way". It was only after his death, looking through his paperwork that I discovered a lot of it.. The "yearbooks" from the SOA are still around here in boxes somewhere.. Talk about a rogues gallery:(

[freefall]

16. Bless you. I hope you have been able to come to terms with this and

move on to live your own life to the fullest. Don't let the past interfere with your future. I too had an abusive parent, my mother, and I know how difficult it can be to overcome. It took me years and severely affected my relationship with my own children. We have decent relationships now but keep the closet door firmly closed on the skeletons. I wish you the best.

Peace,

freefall

[movonne]

2. This is a good thing..

[IndianaGreen]

3. Bravo! Bravo!

The only people still in denial as to the true nature of SOA are in the US.

Published on Saturday, January 17, 2004 by the Boston Globe

Facing Questions, Clark Backs Army School

by Joanna Weiss

CONCORD, N.H. -- Retired General Wesley K. Clark sometimes downplays his Army background, and criticizes the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays. But there is one military institution he vigorously defends: the controversial academy once known as the US Army School of the Americas.

Opposition to the school, which trains military officers from Latin American countries, has long been a cause celebre among some Democrats and liberal activists, who say the academy has trained some of the most notorious criminals of the region and teaches skills that Latin American armies sometimes use against their own citizenry. Supporters of the school point to reforms from the 1990s, and say its courses teach foreign soldiers about democracy and human rights.

But many critics have not wavered in their opposition, and voters on the campaign trail -- in New Hampshire and elsewhere -- have been questioning Clark about his support.

Clark never headed the school but had dealings with it when he led the US Southern Command from 1996 to 1997. He delivered a graduation speech there in 1996 and has praised the school before Congress. George Bruno, the cochairman of Clark's New Hampshire campaign and a former ambassador to Belize, was a paid adviser to the school when it reopened with a new charter in 2001.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0117-01.htm

[Pastiche423]

6. YEA!

This is wonderful news! I hope vehemently that more S.A. countries will follow.

The #1 reason why I couldn't and can't support Wesley Clark is due to his praise and support of the SOA.

[JNelson6563]

10. But the school changed it's name!!

So it's a force for good now!! :sarcasm:

[Lostnote06]

4. If I recall the S.E.Kentucky Order of Nuns were short

....one Nun while she sat out a yr of her life in a Fed.Prison (80+yrs old).....geeesh....couldn't they have just "ordered" a day of social redemption at a day care center.....supervised by the court of course

[Peace Patriot]

5. Have heart, my friends! Democracy is alive and well in Latin America!

Chile: just elected its first woman president, socialist Michele Batchelet, who was tortured by the US-supported dictator Pinochet.

Bolivia: just elected its first indigenous Indian as president, a former coca leaf grower opposed to the murderous US "war on drugs"; helped throw Bechtel out of Bolivia for privatizing the water and jacking up prices to the poor.

Brazil: former steel worker is president, Lula da Silva, who led the third world revolt at the WTO meeting in Cancun.

Argentina and Uruguay: see above. Also, Argentina's left/center government has vowed never again to let the country get in hock to the IMF/World Bank, and had help from Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who bought up a third of their debt, so that social programs can go forward.

Venezuela: Hugo Chavez elected and re-elected by big majorities in the most heavily monitored elections in the world; believes some of Venezuela's oil resources should help the vast poor population, imagine that.

Peru: indigenous Indian and socialist, Ollanto Humala, ahead in the polls.

Mexico: the leftist mayor of Mexico City, Andres Manual Lopez Obrador, ahead in the polls.

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"The time of the people has come." --Evo Morales

----------

It can happen here, too. What do you think this Bushite anti-immigrant thing is all about? Limit the brown vote--in fear of the huge and profound leftist revolution that is occurring in Latin America. Also, to have a 'talking point' to explain Bushite victories in the '06 Congressional elections, where rightwing Bushite corporations will be 'counting' all the votes with 'trade secret,' proprietary programming code and virtually no audit/recount controls--just as they used 'gay marriage' to explain Bush's 'win' in 2004, when these non-transparent, Bushite-controlled, electronic voting machines were first tested out nationwide.

One of the keys to the peaceful, democratic, leftist revolution in Latin America is TRANSPARENT elections--the result of a lot of hard work by grass roots activists, community groups, the OAS, EU election monitoring groups and the Carter Center. We have to do that work here. Then we will be a democracy once again.

If it can happen in Latin America--where so much suffering has occurred at the hands of the US and US-supported dictators--if they maintained the hope, the spirit, the optimism, the heart, to reform their countries and recover from fascist juntas--so can we, here in the birthplace of modern democracy.

Start locally--your county registrar, city council, board of supes, secretary of state. Demand transparent elections!

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And here is a good tool to use: (see DU front page today)

The Voter Confidence Resolution
Dave Berman, author, “We Do Not Consent”
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]
http://tinyurl.com/rlnr2 (“We Do Not Consent”)
http://guvwurld.blogspot.com (GuvWurld blog main page)
http://tinyurl.com/amryg (Voter Confidence Resolution

----------

Additional resources for American Revolution II:

Hopeful signs - latest news:

California voters sue the state over Diebold:
www.VoterAction.org--just announced--is suing the state of California and 18 Calif county registrars on behalf of 25 California voter/plaintiffs, on the illegal Diebold "certification" by Schwarzenegger appointee Bruce McPherson.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2180496

Maryland rejects Diebold:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x418263

Florida - anti-trust accusations against Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, re: heroic Florida election official Ion Sancho:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2183630
http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/MGBKSY8W8LE.html

-----

www.votersunite.org (MythBreakers - easy primer on electronic voting--one of the myths is that HAVA requires electronic voting; it does not.)
www.verfiedvoting.org (great activist site)
www.votetrustusa.org (news of this great movement from around the country)
www.UScountvotes.org (statistical monitoring of '06 and '08 elections)
www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml (fab compendium of all election info)
www.freepress.org (devoted to election reform)
www.bradblog.com (also great, and devoted to election reform)
www.TruthIsAll.net (analysis of the 2004 election)* :patriot: :applause: :patriot:
Sign the petition (Russ Holt, HR 550, great bill-has 169 sponsors). http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html
www.votepa.us (well-organized local group of citizen activists in Pennsylvania, where important legal issues are at stake, including state's rights over election systems)

www.debrabowen.com (Calif Senator running for Sec of State to reform election system)
www.johnbonifaz.com (running for Massachusetts Sec of State on strong election reform and antiwar platform)

*Some tributes to TruthIsAll, who is very ill:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417007
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417231
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x675477

Also of interest:

Bob Koehler (-- four recent election reform initiatives in Ohio, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over, on election day, into 60/40 LOSSES!--the biggest flipover we've seen yet; the election theft machines and their masters are now dictating election policy!)
www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20051124ctnbk-a.txt&catid=1824&code=ctnbk

Bob Koehler's latest: "Take this box and stuff it" (3/16/06)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htm

Amaryllis (Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia lavish lobbying of election officials - Beverly Hilton, Aug. '05)
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340

------------------------------------------------

Throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

:think: :patriot: :woohoo: :patriot: :think:

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"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." --Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

[malaise]

18. Michele Batchelet's father was tortured

No doubt that was torture for a child.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Argentina & Uruguay Say NO to the SOA!

Argentina & Uruguay Say NO to the SOA!
Por coyote - Tuesday, Mar. 28, 2006 at 7:21 PM


SOA Watch Breaking News & Update March 28, 2006 Argentina & Uruguay abandon SOA! Critical victory for human rights organizations across the Americas....

We are thrilled to tell you that in the past week the government of Argentina decided to stop sending soldiers to train at the School of the Americas, and the government of Uruguay affirmed that it will continue its current policy of not sending soldiers to the SOA/ WHINSEC!

These decisions are a critical victory for all those struggling for human rights, justice and military accountability across the Americas! Argentina and Uruguay are the second and third countries to take this vital step; they join Venezuela, which announced in January of 2004 that they would no longer send soldiers to the school.

This past Friday, Roy, Carlos and Lisa met with the Defense Minister of Uruguay, Azucena Berrutti. Minister Berrutti is a former human rights lawyer. During the long dictatorship in Uruguay she defended numerous political prisoners.

Lisa Sullivan writes:

"From the beginning of the conversation, Minister Berrutti told us that there was no need to explain the atrocities of the SOA, as she, and the people of Uruguay, were fully aware of this reality, having experienced first hand the horrors of the tortures, detentions, imprisonments and 'disappearances' caused by its graduates. Over and over here in Latin America we have been humbled and realize that we do not need to explain these things to our public, but rather they have much to tell us, to put faces and emotions on the statistics which we have memorized so efficiently...."
(snip/...)

http://argentina.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/390759.php

[goforit]

So much for US recruiting intellegence personnel....OUCH!!!

[Judi Lynn]

8. Latin America's Leftist Shift: Hopes and Challenges

Latin America's Leftist Shift: Hopes and Challenges
by Benjamin Dangl
www.dissidentvoice.org
March 28, 2006

~snip~
Latin America is currently waking up from a decades-long nightmare brought on by military dictatorships which came to power throughout Latin America in the 1970s and 80s, including Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Jorge Videla in Argentina and General Rios Montt in Guatemala among others.

Under such dictators, hundreds of thousands of innocent people, labeled as "leftist insurgents" by the military, were kidnapped, tortured and murdered. Much of this nightmare was funded by the US government and some of the architects of the repression were trained by US teachers in such places as the School of the Americas in Georgia.

Besides implementing this terror, dictators worked with Washington and multinational corporations to introduce neoliberal economic policies to the region. This economic model, often referred to as the Washington Consensus opened up markets for investment, put public works in the hands of private corporations, rejected government intervention in the economy, worked to dissolve unions and involved impoverished nations borrowing millions through the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The debts accrued by military dictators are crippling Latin American countries to this day.

For decades this economic model has ravaged Latin America while IMF officials and free market enthusiasts continue to say, "just wait a little longer, the market will fix everything." Of course, the market hasn't fixed everything. In many ways the current leftist shift in Latin America is a reaction to the failures of these policies.
(snip/...)

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Mar06/Dangl28.htm

[Judi Lynn]

17. Uruguay Rejects FTA with US

Uruguay Rejects FTA with US

Montevideo, Mar 27 (Prensa Latina) Some Uruguayan leaders and media have been talking about a possible signing of a Montevideo-Washington Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but that notion has been rejected by President Tabare Vazquez.

During a recent Vazquez’ visit to Venezuela, he told press that a FTA with United States is not included in his government’s agenda.

The Uruguayan statesman insisted on this because “he expected not to find someone in Montevideo who said his statements on the FTA were not clear.”

Vazquez’ expressions seemed to definitively clear that his administration will continue discussing the issue, although comments are still in the parliament’s halls.
(snip/...)

http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B24660257-3BAA-4A20-A957-E42C050BD1A6%7D&language=EN