Venezuela, a South American country that's twice the size of California with a population of over 26,000,000, is starting to grow apart from the United States. In 2004 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stated that all training of of Venezuelan Soldiers at the School of the Americas will cease. Chavez stated "This school deformed the minds of many Latin American soldiers, who from there went on to become dictators" when, in 1996, the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals that argued in favor of torture, extortion, and execution. Chavez experienced the SOA graduates first hand when, in 2002, when a 48-hour coup, with SOA graduates Efrain Vasquez Velasco and General Ramirez Poveda, threatened to overthrow the the democratically elected government. In January of 2002 Chavez met with Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of SOA Watch, in a meeting set up by the Maryknoll Office for Global Concern. A few months later the ban was declared on soldiers from Venezuela being sent to the SOA.
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4 comments:
Good job. Great use of event detail.
Far too many lives were taken or destroyed before this. This is one of the reasons that Venezuela dislikes the US and continually votes and acts against our national interests. Remember, violence begets violence.
Hugo Chavez is a "homegrown" dictator and should have been removed by pro American forces.
Good job. The events that happen in Venezuela are not right at all!
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