An interesting site about the School of the Americas

[roody]

http://www.soaw.org/presente/

[Judi Lynn]

1. SOAW has something on Gen. Montoya I never saw before. Damned creepy:

SOA Graduate Cited in Parapolitica Scandal PDF Print E-mail
The government of Colombian president Alvaro Uribe continues to be plagued by the parapolítica ("parapolitics") scandal, in which some 60 members of Congress have been linked to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a rightwing paramilitary group that is now officially demobilized. The majority of these politicians are in Uribe's governing coalition, and some are in the president's extended family. On August 12, 2008, a former paramilitary, Luis Adrián Palacio ("Diomedes"), gave testimony to the Attorney General's Office linking SOA graduate and instructor: Gen. Mario Montoya UribeGen. Mario Montoya, the head of the Colombian military and a graduate and former instructor at the School of the Americas, to the AUC. Diomedes said that in April 2002 Montoya, who then commanded the Army's Fourth Brigade, personally delivered a "present" of six AK-47 rifles and an M-16 rifle to the AUC's Bloque Mineros. Montoya denies the charge.

An agreement between Uribe and the administration of US president George Bush has helped diffuse the scandal. Some paramilitary leaders are now being extradited to the US to stand trial for drug trafficking, and many analysts think this will keep Colombian investigators from getting valuable information about paramilitary links to politicians. Ever Veloza ("H.H."), former leader of the Bloques Calima and Bananero paramilitary units, has begun to talk about these ties, and Senator Gustavo Petro (himself threatened with investigation in the farcpolítica scandal) is urging Uribe to hold up Veloza's extradition until he has told his story. SOA Watch along with 25 other international organizations denounced the extraditions as a ploy by the US and Colombian governments to deny justice to the victims of crimes in Colombia.

http://www.soaw.org/presente/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=173&Itemid=74

He denied it, all right, but he's outta there now, I believe. He was too hot, politically. Too many people knew about him. Otherwise, he'd still be exactly where he was. Clearly, he was completely acceptable to the Colombian government. His name had been notorious for years before this story came out.

It's a good site to check regularly.

Thanks.