Argentina, Uruguay shun US military academy

Two Latin American countries are to stop sending troops for training to a controversial military academy in the US. The move was welcomed by groups that have been campaigning against the academy since it was accused, in its previous incarnation, of training Latin American soldiers in illegal interrogation techniques. The defense ministers of Argentina and Uruguay have decided to stop sending soldiers to train at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC), the military academy based at Fort Benning, GA, according to a statement by a Washington-based organization, School of the Americas Watch. In the past both countries regularly sent soldiers to Fort Benning for training. A spokesman for the Uruguayan embassy in London confirmed the decision on Apr. 5. It is understood that Argentina has one student at the institute at present but will not be sending any more. The institute, which is attended by between 700 and 1,000 students annually, replaced the School of the Americas (SOA) when the latter was closed in 2000. SOA became notorious when it emerged that some of its graduates had gone on to become brutal military leaders in Latin America's "dirty wars" using SOA manuals. Graduates included the late Salvadoran right wing militia leader Roberto D'Aubuisson, known as "Blowtorch Bob" for his interrogation methods; Efraín Ríos Montt, later accused of genocide in Guatemala; Leopoldo Galtieri, the late Argentinean junta leader jailed for human rights abuses; and Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian leader now serving 40 years for drugs offenses in the US. In 2001, following a long campaign against it, the school was officially closed and WHISC was created. SOA Watch argue that, despite the changes, it should still be closed. The decision by the two countries to end their involvement with the school followed meetings with Uruguayan and Argentinean human rights groups and SOA Watch activists. According to one, Father Roy Bourgeois, the defense ministers told him they were discontinuing their involvement with the institute. "To Latin Americans, the SOA/WHISC represents nothing but the gravest violations," said Bourgeois, founder of SOA Watch. "No amount of reforms will repair those relationships. We must close this school if we want to show that the United States is serious about human rights." The two countries join Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chávez, ended his country's involvement with the school in January 2004. Currently, Colombia has the highest number of students enrolled there.