…The decisions by Venezuela, Uruguay and Argentina to cut all ties with the SOA and its legacy of terror and repression is an expression of the growing power of grassroots organizing within those countries. Popular movements have swept leaders into power who adhere to the will of the people.

Chile and Bolivia might very well be next to reject SOA training. While civil society in Latin America never had a doubt about it, there’s now also a number of new Latin American presidents like Chile’s Michelle Bachelet and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, for whom the SOA stands synonymous with torture and the repressive military regimes that killed their loved ones. When Augusto Pinochet came to power with the help of SOA-trained generals in the September 11, 1973 coup, Michelle Bachelet’s father was detained under charges of treason. Following months of daily torture at Santiago’s Public Prison, he suffered cardiac arrest and died. In Bolivia, SOA graduates played key roles on every level of the repression campaign against the social movements of which Evo Morales is a part.
soaw.org

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