School of Americas Debated Again

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Via Cursor, I see the House is debating yet again whether to close the School of Americas (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). Here’s a good, totally objective place for background. Here too. Already, four South American countries (Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay) have in recent years stopped sending their officers for training at the school, which has graduated 62,000 officers and 11 dictators throughout its history, including Efraín Ríos Montt, Augusto Pinochet, and Roberto D’Aubuisson, the founder of death squads in El Salvador. Odds are, the House won’t vote to shut the school down (Rep. Jim McGovern has been trying to get this done for years now), but might as well note the effort…

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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