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Entrenamiento militar �Made in USA�

 

Por Pablo Ruiz*

 

El a�o 2016 la Escuela de las Am�ricas entren� a 1749 uniformados del Ej�rcito, de la Marina y de la Fuerza A�rea de Am�rica Latina pero tambi�n a 15 civiles y 190 polic�as.  

Sabemos que Costa Rica y Panam� enviaron a sus polic�as a recibir entrenamiento, por el simple hecho que ambos pa�ses no tienen ej�rcitos; pero entre estas dos naciones el total suma 44 el 2016 �Qu� otros pa�ses enviaron tambi�n a sus polic�as a recibir entrenamiento militar a una academia militar? No lo sabemos, esa informaci�n no est� disponible. 

Lo que sabemos es que esto puede influir negativamente en las llamadas �Fuerzas del Orden� y es muy posible que el aumento de la militarizaci�n y represi�n de las polic�as en Am�rica Latina, hacia el movimiento social, se deba a la doctrina promovida por EEUU que b�sicamente sigue legitimando que se puede hacer todo por la �seguridad nacional�. 

En Costa Rica por ejemplo, apelando a sus leyes de transparencia y acceso a la informaci�n p�blica, se conoci� que entre los cursos que tomaron los polic�as de este pa�s en la Escuela de las Am�ricas, en los �ltimos a�os, figuran �Curso de An�lisis Contra Terrorismo�, �Curso Operaciones de Inteligencia�, �Curso Operaciones informaci�n�, �Curso Antidrogas y Antiterrorismo�, �Curso B�sico de Inteligencia para Oficiales� y �Curso Analista de Informaci�n�, entre otros.

 

Ya sabemos de sobra que entiende EEUU sobre terrorismo y c�mo lo enfrenta. Ya sabemos que en la lucha contra la droga y el terrorismo que ellos promueven morir�n siempre, porcentualmente, m�s civiles. Ya sabemos que son las �operaciones de inteligencia� y de �informaci�n�; listas negras, infiltraci�n a movimientos sociales, noticias falsas, etc. 

Por otro lado, de los datos oficiales, dos de los principales pa�ses que enviaron m�s tropas a esta academia militar, el 2016, fueron Colombia y Honduras donde se siguen registrando graves violaciones a los derechos humanos. 

 

Colombia, que por a�os ha sido el pa�s que m�s soldados env�a uniformados a formarse a EEUU, entren� el a�o 2016 a 862 efectivos m�s en la Escuela de las Am�ricas. Es lejos, desde a�os, el n�mero uno en env�os y en violaciones a los derechos humanos. 

De acuerdo a un Informe del Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz (INDEPAZ) el a�o 2016 se registraron en Colombia 117 asesinatos contra defensores de los derechos humanos, m�s de 350 amenazas, 46 atentados y 5 casos de desaparici�n forzada.  

En Colombia el conflicto armado dej� al menos 220.000 personas asesinadas, 25.000 desaparecidas y 4.744.046 desplazadas en el periodo comprendido entre 1958 y 2012 de acuerdo a las cifras reveladas por el Informe ��Basta ya! Colombia: memorias de guerra y dignidad�. El 82 % de las v�ctimas fueron civiles. 

El segundo pa�s que m�s uniformados envi� a la Escuela de las Am�ricas a recibir entrenamiento fue Honduras, registrando 261 efectivos el a�o 2016. 

De acuerdo al Informe �Honduras: El lugar m�s peligroso para defender el Planeta�, de Global Witness, �desde el golpe de Estado de 2009, 123 activistas de la tierra y el medio ambiente han sido asesinados en Honduras; muchos otros han sido amenazados, atacados o encarcelados�.  

El Informe recuerda el asesinato de Berta C�ceres, sucedido el 2 de marzo del 2016. Meses despu�s el diario El Heraldo de Honduras inform� que entre los detenidos por este caso figuran �Un militar activo, dos oficiales retirados y un t�cnico ambiental�. 

De acuerdo al diario The Guardian, dos de ellos, el mayor Mariano D�az Ch�vez y el teniente Douglas Giovanny Bustillo recibieron entrenamiento antiterrorista el 2005 en EEUU. Bustillo adem�s recibi� entrenamiento en la Escuela de las Am�ricas. Tambi�n, el a�o pasado, un ex soldado hondure�o, miembro de las unidades de �lite, dijo que hab�a visto el nombre de Berta C�ceres y otros en una �lista negra� que circul� dentro del ej�rcito.

 

Nada de esto nos puede sorprender porque detr�s de las muertes de defensores de derechos humanos, aunque las realicen sicarios o paramilitares o delincuentes, y quisieran pasarlas como hechos comunes, se esconde la mano del poder. 

Por otro lado, M�xico, donde actualmente se registran las m�s graves violaciones a los derechos humanos en Am�rica Latina, si bien figura haber enviado 46 uniformados el a�o 2016 - y en los �ltimos cinco a�os 130 efectivos- a la Escuela de las Am�ricas lo cierto es que EEUU est� comprometido, por otras v�as y acuerdos, con el entrenamiento de sus soldados y polic�as. 

Un art�culo de John Lindsay-Poland, indica que tan s�lo en el periodo 2013 y 2014 �Los Estados Unidos dieron entrenamiento militar a m�s de 5700 polic�as y soldados mexicanos en unas 45 localidades estadounidenses y al menos diez sitios en M�xico durante los �ltimos dos a�os, seg�n datos publicados por el Departamento de Estado�. 

En M�xico de acuerdo a datos oficiales del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas, en la �ltima d�cada hubo 151.233 asesinatos hasta agosto de 2015. Al 30 de septiembre de 2015, el Estado mexicano reportaba 26.798 personas desaparecidas y la Procuradur�a General de la Rep�blica (PGR) contaba, al mes de abril de 2015, con 2420 investigaciones �en tr�mite� por casos de tortura, y s�lo 15 sentencias condenatorias por este delito. 

La acad�mica, polit�loga y escritora mexicana Denise Dresser, sin embargo, se�ala que los �a�os de guerra� han dejado al menos 213.000 muertos  

�Un �ndice de letalidad en el cual el Ej�rcito mata a ocho personas por cada una que hiere. 12.408 quejas ante la CNDH y el involucramiento de manos militares en Tlatlaya y Ayotzinapa�, se�al� Dresser. 

Pero no s�lo Colombia, Honduras y M�xico env�an sus tropas a la Escuela de las Am�ricas tambi�n lo hacen Brasil, Chile, Costa Rica, Rep�blica Dominicana, El Salvador, Guatemala, M�xico, Per�, Panam�, Paraguay, entre otros.   

Sin embargo, no todos env�an sus tropas a la Escuela de las Am�ricas, este 2016 no lo volvieron a hacer Venezuela, Argentina, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia y Uruguay pa�ses que se comprometieron de no seguir enviando a sus soldados ni polic�as a esta cuestionada instituci�n. 

Venezuela, por ejemplo, retir� sus soldados el a�o 2004 dos a�os despu�s del intento fallido de golpe de estado contra el presidente Hugo Ch�vez donde entre sus cabecillas figur� el general Efra�n V�zquez graduado de la Escuela de las Am�ricas. 

Venezuela, como otros pa�ses no vivieron dictaduras militares, anteriormente. Sin embargo, antes de que asumiera Hugo Ch�vez se registraron graves violaciones a los Derechos Humanos que poco o nada se conocieron en Latinoam�rica y el mundo.  

De acuerdo a la Comisi�n por la Justicia y la Verdad en Venezuela, entre los a�os 1958 y 1998, se registraron 10.071 v�ctimas de asesinato, torturas y desapariciones por motivos pol�ticos. 

Finalmente, la Escuela de las Am�ricas, que hoy se conoce como  Instituto de Cooperaci�n y Seguridad del Hemisferio Occidental (WHINSEC, en ingl�s), tiene m�s de 70 a�os de existencia, fue fundada en 1946 en Panam�, y por sus aulas han pasado m�s de 80 mil soldados de toda Am�rica Latina a la fecha. 

Muchos de sus �graduados� se transformaron en dictadores, torturadores y asesinos y otros guardaron un silencio c�mplice cuando suced�an desapariciones y asesinatos contra el pueblo que juraron defender.

 

* Pablo Ruiz, periodista, es parte del Observatorio para el Cierre de la Escuela de las Am�ricas.

 

Military Training �Made in the USA�

In 2016 the School of the Americas trained a total of 1749 members of the Armies, the Navies,  and Air Forces of Latin America � and it also trained 15 civilians and 190 police officers.

We know that Costa Rica and Panama sent only police officers to receive training at WHINSEC, from the simple fact that neither of these two countries possesses an army.   Between these two countries, the total enrollment in 2016 came to 44. What other countries also sent their police officers to receive military training at a military academy?   We can�t know, as that information has not been made available.

What we do know is that this military training could negatively influence so-called �Law Enforcement Bodies� and that it is possible that the increase in militarization and repression seen towards social movements by police forces in Latin America may be due to the US-promoted doctrine that continues to legitimize the idea that these forces are allowed to do anything and everything for �national security.�

For example, by utilizing the Costa Rican transparency and public information access laws, it became known that among the courses taken by Costa Rican police at the School of the Americas in the last few years were courses in �Counterterrorism Analysis,� �Intelligence Operations,� �Information Operations,� �Anti-drugs and Anti-terrorism,� �Basics of Intelligence Operations for Officers,� and �Information Analysis,� among others.

We also know all too well about how the US understands and confronts terrorism. We know, in the struggle against drugs and terrorism which they promote, that proportionately more civilians will die. We also know what is really meant by �intelligence operations� and �information�: blacklists, social movement infiltration, false news reports, etc.

Furthermore, according to official 2016 data, the two countries which sent the most troops to this military academy were Colombia and Honduras, both countries where grave human rights violations continue to be documented.

Colombia �  the country which for many years has sent the most troops to the US for training � in 2016 sent 862 students to the School of the Americas/WHINSEC. Colombia continues to be the number one country in both troops sent and in human rights violations recorded, by far.

According to a Report from the Development and Peace Studies Institute (INDEPAZ), during 2016 there were 117 Colombian human rights defenders murdered.   More than 350 death threats, 46 attempted murders, and 5 forced disappearances were also reported.

In Colombia, the armed conflict has left at least 220,000 people killed, 25,000 disappeared and 4,744,046 people displaced in the years between 1958 and 2012.  These figures are revealed in the report, �Enough! Colombia: memories of war and dignity.�   Eighty-two percent of the victims were civilians.

The country in second place in 2016 for sending forces to the School of the Americas for training is Honduras, with 261 students enrolled.

According to the report, �Honduras: the deadliest place to defend the planet,� by Global Witness, �123 land and environmental activists have been murdered in Honduras since the 2009 coup, with countless others threatened, attacked or imprisoned.�

That report describes the assassination of the respected human rights and environmental activist Berta C�ceres, which took place on March 2, 2016.  Months later, the Honduran newspaper El Heraldo reported that among those arrested for this case appear �an active member of the military, two retired officials and an environmental engineer.�

According to The Guardian newspaper, two of those arrested, Major Mariano D�az Ch�vez and Lieutenant Douglas Giovanny Bustillo, received anti-terrorist training in 2005 in the United States.  What�s more, Giovanny Bustillo received training at the School of the Americas. And in 2016, a Honduran ex-soldier, member of an elite unit, reported that he had seen Barta C�ceres� name on a �blacklist� that was being circulated within the army.

None of this should surprise us.  Behind the killings of human rights defenders, although carried out by hired assassins or by paramilitary forces or criminals � and while frequently passed off as ordinary incidents � hides the hand of power.

From Mexico, a country where currently the gravest of human rights violations in Latin America are being documented, 46 troops were sent in 2016 and 130 troops in the last five years to the SOA, if we are to believe published figures.  It is known that the US is committed, through other means and agreements, to the training of their soldiers and police.

An article by John Lindsay-Poland indicated that in just the period between 2013 and 2014, �the United States gave military training to more than 5,700 Mexican police officers and soldiers in 45 locations across the US and at least ten sites in Mexico during the last two years, according to information published by the Department of State.�

According to official data from the United Nations High Commission, during the last decade until August 2015 there were 151,233 murders in Mexico.  On September 30, 2015, the Mexican government reported that 26,798 people had been forcibly disappeared in the preceding years.  The Attorney General of Mexico reported, in April 2015, that 2,420 investigations were in progress for cases of torture.  Of these, only 15 sentences have been handed down.

Mexican professor and activist Denise Dresser, however, tells us that the �war years� have left, at a minimum,  213,000 people dead.

�The army has the highest percentage of lethality, in which eight people are killed for every one that is wounded:  as shown by the 12,408 complaints before the National Commission on Human Rights and the military involvement in the cases of Tlatlaya and Ayotzinapa,� reported Dresser.

But not only Colombia, Honduras and Mexico send troops to the School of the Americas.  Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, Panama, Paraguay, Canada, Taiwan and other countries do so as well.

Nevertheless, not all Latin American countries send troops to the School of the Americas.  By 2016, Venezuela, Argentina, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia and Uruguay publicly committed to no longer sending soldiers nor police to the institution in question.

Venezuela, for instance, withdrew its soldiers in 2004, two years after the failed coup d�etat against President Hugo Ch�vez.   Among the leaders of that coup d�etat was General Efra�n V�zquez, a graduate of the School of the Americas.

Unlike other Latin American countries, Venezuela had not previously lived through military dictatorships.  However, prior to Hugo Ch�vez assuming power, it had documented grave human rights violations of which few, if any, were known in Latin America or the world.

According to the Venezuelan Truth and Justice Commission, between the years 1958 and 1998, there were 10,071 victims of assassination, torture and politically-motivated disappearances documented.

In summation, the School of the Americas, today known as the Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), has operated for more than 70 years since its founding in 1946 in Panama.   To date, more than 80,000 soldiers from across Latin America have passed through its gates.

Many of its �graduates� became dictators, torturers and assassins.  Many others kept or still keep a complicit silence when the people they are sworn to protect have been forcibly disappeared and assassinated.

� Pablo Ruiz, journalist, is a member of School of the Americas Watch.

http://www.alainet.org/es/node/184176