School of the Americas

The School of the Americas (SOA) was a U.S. military training facility established in 1946, aimed at teaching Latin American military personnel counterinsurgency and combat skills. Located in Panama initially, it later moved to Fort Benning, Georgia. Critics have accused it of promoting human rights abuses, as some graduates allegedly engaged in authoritarian practices and violence in their home countries. The SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in 2001, and its activities continue under new management, focusing on security cooperation and training for Latin American and Caribbean military forces.