Costa Rica leaves ex-School of the Americas

Costa Rican president Oscar Arias announced on Friday that his country will no longer send police officers to train at the institute former known as the School of the Americas (SOA). Despite having only three policemen currently training at the ex-SOA, Arias arrived at his decision after meeting with activists representing an anti-SOA group.

Now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, the institute has trained former leaders who were infamous for overseeing widespread human rights abuses including Roberto D’Abussion, Augusto Pinochet, and Leopoldo Galtieri.

Costa Rica joins Venezuela, Argentina, and Uruguay as the fourth Latin American country in three years to withdraw from the ex-SOA.

Sources- Macon.com, TVNZ, Wikipedia, Yahoo! News

Image- Metro (2003 protest against the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation)