El Salvador, CECOT prison and the US’s School of the Americas

Critics of the US military’s Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) often telephone it the ‘School of Assassins’. The installation trains Latin American forces, immoderate known for quality rights abuses, from places similar El Salvador, location to the infamous Terrorism Confinement Center, oregon CECOT.

WHINSEC began arsenic the School of the Americas (SOA), a Cold War instauration created by the US successful 1946, based successful Panama. It trained Latin American subject unit to combat communists. In 1984, owed successful portion to nationalist choler successful Panama, the SOA relocated to Fort Benning successful the US authorities of Georgia.

Five years later, successful 1989, the Salvadoran army’s Atlacatl Battalion killed six Jesuit priests, arsenic good arsenic their housekeeper and her daughter, nether orders to ‘leave nary witnesses’. Of the 26 officers implicated, 19 had been trained by the SOA astatine 1 clip oregon another.

Under nationalist and legislature unit successful 1996, the Pentagon was forced to merchandise Spanish-language, SOA grooming manuals that advocated extrajudicial sidesplitting and torture.

In 2001, the SOA changed its sanction to WHINSEC, but critics impeach the US of making nary substantive alteration to the curriculum. WHINSEC has denied work for perpetrating abuses.

Over the years, El Salvador has been successful the apical 5 of Latin American states to bid information unit astatine the SOA/WHINSEC. Today, the state is led by President Nayib Bukele. In 2023, helium opened CECOT, a wide condemned mega-prison. As such, immoderate rights groups criticise the SOA/WHINSEC for grooming information forces from countries similar El Salvador.

Since 2022, Bukele has utilized a ‘state of exception’ to suspend law rights, allowing him to ace down connected pack violence, but besides nationalist dissent. CECOT is his crown jewel.

In March 2025, US President Donald Trump deported much than 230 alleged Venezuelan pack members to CECOT, adjacent though astatine slightest 197 reportedly had nary US transgression records. In CECOT, the men reportedly received predominant and terrible beatings earlier being sent backmost to Venezuela successful July.

Rights groups impeach the Salvadoran penal strategy of torture, killings and disappearing people. In this clime of terror, the SOA/WHINSEC has trained unit from El Salvador and different fishy Latin American states, similar Argentina, Panama and Guatemala. Today, El Salvador has the highest per capita incarceration complaint successful the world.