Hidden Agenda: U.S. Influence in Latin America Through the School of the Americas

The intention of this paper is to demonstrate a continuing pattern of behavior on the part of the United States regarding Latin America, using the U.S. Army School of the Americas as the link between them. The United States has trained the militaries of Latin America in order to promote its foreign policy objectives in the region. These objectives have included the containment of communism, counter-insurgency, the war on drugs and, currently, the war on terrorism. The School of the Americas has been the vehicle for the endorsement of a military solution to these problems. It was employed by the United States to enlist the support of the Latin Americans in these endeavors and to impat1 a particular methodology for their resolution. The United States also advocated military means of obtaining its objectives in Latin America due to the fact that it was utilizing the School of the Americas, a military institution, to achieve its goals. Over the years at the School of the Americas, the changes in Latin America have been reflected in its student body, as well as in how it has structured its training programs. Additionally, the leaders of our armed forces have proposed military action in order to ensure the continuation of large-scale military programs and budgets