The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas, is a U.S. training center for dictators and torturers located in Fort Moore, Georgia. It has trained 84,000 Latin American police officers and soldiers and 16 heads of state.[1]
History
The School of the Americas was founded in 1948 in Panama and was expelled from Panama 1984.[1]
Torture manuals
In 1996, the DOD released the school's training manuals, almost 1,200 pages long, which describe how to torture and kill dissidents, especially communists. The manuals identify people who refuse to pay rent or taxes, strike, protest, criticize the police or courts, sign petitions, or complain about poor living conditions as "communists."
The school often kidnapped civilians from Panama to use as torture subjects.[1]
Famous graduates
Dictators
- Hugo Banzer: Venezuela (1971–78)
- Raoul Cédras: Haiti (1991–94)
- Leopoldo Galtieri: Argentina (1981–82)
- Juan Melgar Castro: Honduras (1975–78)
- Efraín Ríos Montt: Guatemala (1982–83)
- Manuel Noriega: Panama (1983–89)
- Guillermo Rodríguez: Ecuador (1972–76)
- Omar Torrijos: Panama (1968–81)
- Jorge Rafael Videla: Argentina (1976–81)[1]
Others
- Roberto D'Aubuisson, a Salvadoran fascist who killed 30,000 people
- Franck Romain, leader of the Tonton Macoute death squad in Haiti[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Alan MacLeod (2023-07-05). "How a Notorious Georgia Army School Became America's Training Ground for Global Torture" MintPress News. Archived from the original on 2023-07-09.