Dear Dr. Bello:
I read your article posted on Znet [ed: also published in Focus on Trade #116], and wish to point out one particularly incorrect sentence. "Probably also critical, says Gott was that, for some reason, Venezuela appears to have sent far fewer officers than many other Latin American countries to the US Army-run School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia, which is the main conduit of counterinsurgency training to the western hemisphere’s military forces."
In looking at the USARSA (SOA) web site: http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/usarsa/, I find that Venezuela has sent an average number of soldiers to the courses there. Secondly, counterinsurgency was only one of many courses offered at the school, and then primarily from the late ’60s to the early ’90s. The sentence makes the comment sound current.
I question the validity of selectively mentioning the SOA, now closed, which was only one of perhaps 150 Department of Defense schools that accepted international students.
I also welcome you (or anyone) to visit the institute, sit in our classes, talk with students and faculty, and review our instructional materials.
Sincerely,
Lee A. Rials
Public Affairs Officer
Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
