In the next two days, Congress will vote on an amendment to close the notorious School of the Americas/WHINSEC. The School of the Americas, funded by our tax dollars and located at Ft. Benning Georgia, has trained -for more than 60 years- over 60,000 Latin American Soldiers in torture, psychological warfare and war against civilian populations. Many of the tactics of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay began at the SOA to be used on civilians and those working for justice in Latin America. This school has graduated the worst human rights abusers in Latin American History. Rep. McGovern (MA) and Rep. John Lewis (GA) will introduce an amendment to the Foreign Operations appropriations bill to cut funding for the SOA/ WHINSEC and stand up against the legacy of torture as a part of US Foreign Policy!
Last year, in a similar vote, ANSWER activists made a decisive difference in challenging the school. We are continuing to support the work of the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW), which has carried on a long campaign to shut this institution down.
