ja_mageia

For a summary of the most notorious grads from Bolivia click here

Name: Sub. Tte. Luis Arce Gomez
Country: Bolivia
Dates/courses: 1958, Communications Officer; 1958, Tactical Officer, Radio Repair
Info: Armed insurrection (convicted), 1980: With Garcia Meza Tejada, Arce Gomez plotted and executed a bloody coup, which occurred on July 17, 1980. (Garcia Meza became "president" and Arce Gomez minister of the Interior.) Prior to the coup, Arce Gomez was in charge of assembling a paramilitary force to overthrow the government. (One of his recruits was Klaus Barbie.) (Americas Watch Report, Bolivia: The Trial of Responsibilities: The Garcia Meza Tejada Trial, 1993) Drug trafficking (convicted), 1989: Arce Gomez, who was declared a fugitive from justice in 1986, was captured by Bolivian police in 1989. With the approval of the Bolivian government, he was handed over to the United States and is currently serving a 30-year sentence in Miami for drug-trafficking. (Americas Watch Report, Bolivia: The Trial of Responsibilities: The Garcia Meza Tejada Trial, 1993)

Name: General Hugo Banzer Suarez
Country: Bolivia
Dates/courses: Attended the SOA in 1956
Info: Military general and dictator of Bolivia after seizing power in a violent coup in 1971.  He closed universities and banned all political activity, participated in Operation Condor, and his rule was repressive with numerous labor leaders and members of the opposition exiled, jailed and killed. Several thousand Bolivians sought asylum in foreign countries, 3,000 political opponents were arrested, 200 were killed, and many more were tortured. In the basement of the Ministry of the Interior or "the horror chambers" around 2,000 political prisoners were held and tortured with many others disappeared.  For all this, Banzer was included in a photo gallery called the “Wall of Fame” at the SOA.

Name: Captain Filmann Urzagaste Rodriguez
Country: Bolivia
Dates/courses: Attended the SOA/WHINSEC in 2002 for a 49-week course
Info: Was one of those responsible in 1997 for the kidnapping and torture of Waldo Albarracin, then the director of the Popular Assembly for Human Rights in Bolivia and now the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman). In 2006, SOA/ WHINSEC officials and the supporters tried to discredit this research linking the “new school WHINSEC” with admitting known human rights abusers by claiming Waldo had recanted his story and did not accuse Captain Rodriguez of the crime.  A letter from Waldo was submitted to the Congressional Record by Congressman Jim McGovern on the House floor to corroborate the research and expose the attempts to silence Waldo’s story.

Name: Miguel Alvarez Delgado
Dates/courses: 1977 Joint Operations
Info: Links to drug trafficking: Accused in the "Narconavales" case of cashing checks that came from a drug-trafficking ring. The proceedings against him were stayed in 1997. (Andean Information Network)

Name: Grover Bilbao Terrazas
Dates/courses: 1967 Cadet Course
Info:Drug-trafficking: Accused and sentenced in the "Narcoavion" case (1995) as a drug supplier. (Andean Information Network)

Name: Luis Caballero Tirado
Dates/courses: 1990
Info: Mistreatment of prisoners: When the president of the Human Rights Commission visited the headquarters of UMOPAR (Mobil Rural Patrol Units), he discovered 93 detainees, including two minors and one prisoners with fractured ribs and a punctured lung from being kicked by UMOPAR agents under Caballeros’ command. Caballero has also publicly admitted that 40% of the operations carried out under his command involve human rights violations such as excessive use of force. (Violaciones a los derechos humanos civiles bajo la ley 1008, Red Andina de Información, 1996)

Name: Isaac Chavarria Diez de Medina
Dates/courses: 1968 Cadet Course; 1970 Officer Gen. Supply
Info:Drug-trafficking: Primary defendant in the "Narcovinculos" case (1994-6). Died in 1995 in a La Paz jail due to lack of medical attention. (Andean Information Network)

Name: Captain Gonzalo Cuellar Justinio 1990,
Dates/courses: General Staff Officer Course
Info: Mistreatment of prisoners, 1990: Cuellar Justinio has been charged with illegal detention of prisoners, assault, soliciting pay-offs in exchange for releases, forcing prisoners to sign false confessions. (Andean Information Network)

Name: General Mario Escobari Guerra
Dates/courses: 1959, Engineer Officer Course
Info: Issuing unconstitutional decrees (convicted) in cooperation with armed insurrection, 1980: Convicted in April 1993 signing for unconstitutional decrees in cooperation with Garcia Meza. (Bolivian Supreme Court Document: Sentencia Pronunciada en los Juicios de Responsabilidad Seguidos por el Ministerio P?blico y Coaduvantes Contra Luis Garcia Meza y sus Colaboradores, April 12, 1993)

Name: Carlos Fernandez Gonzalez
Dates/courses: 1961, Military Intelligence
Info: Links to drug trafficking: Fernandez Gonzalez was relieved of his position as Undersecretary of the Interior under the government of Lidia Gueiler (1980) due to concrete evidence of his links to drug trafficking. Later he regained his image and was named President of the National Council for the Struggle Against Drug-Trafficking. However, in 1983, he was accused of involvement with the disappearance of 150 kilos of cocaine. He also was relieved of his duties as head of the Special
Security Forces of the Ministry of Interior after he was accused of covering up drug-trafficking. (Andean Information Network)

Name: Ruben Dario Guzmán Hurtado
Dates/courses: 1970, Small Unit Warfare
Info: Issuing unconstitutional decrees and fraud (convicted) in cooperation with armed insurrection, 1980: Guzmán Hurtado was sentenced in April 1993 on charges related to Garcia Meza's             1980 coup. (Bolivian Supreme Court Document: Sentencia Pronunciada en los Juicios de Responsabilidad Seguidos por el Ministerio Público y Coaduvantes Contra Luis Garcia Meza y sus Colaboradores, April 12, 1993)

Name: Captain Carlos Helguero Larrea
Dates/courses: 1970, Small Unit Warfare
Info:Armed insurrection (implicated), 1980: Implicated in cases of murder committed in association with the Garcia Meza coup in 1980. (Bolivian Supreme Court Document: Sentencia Pronunciada en
los Juicios de Responsabilidad Seguidos por el Ministerio Público y Coaduvantes Contra Luis Garcia Meza y sus Colaboradores, April 12, 1993)

Name: Pablo Oswaldo Justiniano Vaca
Dates/courses: 1986, Comando y Estado Mayor
Info: Drug trafficking: Primary defendant in the "Narconavales" case, accused of running a drug trafficking ring in the Navy since 1975. Detained in 1995. Also implicated in the exchange of Brazilian tin for cocaine in 1989. (Andean Information Network).

Name: Freddy Lopez Arispe
Dates/courses: 1962, Infantry Officer Course
Info:Illegal arms trafficking: Detained in 1993 on charges of arms trafficking to the ex-Yugoslavia. (Andean Information Network)

Name: Captain Tito Montaño Belzu
Dates/courses: 1970, Small Unit Warfare
Info: Armed Insurrection, murder (convicted), 1980: Paramilitarist Montaño Belzu was sentenced (on April 21, 1993) to 30 years in prison for murder, and 20 years for genocide, in connection with Garcia Meza's bloody 1980 coup. (Americas Watch Report, Bolivia: The Trial of Responsibilities: The Garcia Meza Tejada Trial, 1993)

Name: Colonel Avelino Rivero Parada
Dates/courses: 1977, Joint Operations
Info: Issuing unconstitutional decrees (convicted) in cooperation with armed insurrection,   1980:Convicted in April 1993 for signing unconstitutional cooperation with Garcia Meza - Including
annulments of democratic elections, abnegation of trade union rights, purging university teaching and administrative staff, illegal purchases of land, vehicles and aircraft for the armed forces, and dismissal and replacement of the Bolivian Supreme Court. Rivero Parada was minister of public
health and social security under Garcia Meza. (Americas Watch Report, Bolivia: The Trial of Responsibilities: The Garcia Meza Tejada Trial, 1993)

Name: Lieutenant Colonel Freddy Quiroga-Reque
Dates/courses: 1980, Joint Operations Course
Info: Armed insurrection, murder (convicted), 1980: Sentenced (on April 21, 1993) to 30 years in prison for murder in connection with Garcia Meza's bloody 1980 coup (Americas Watch Report, Bolivia: The Trial of Responsibilities: The Garcia Meza Tejada Trial, 1993)

Name: Vice-Admiral Alberto Saenz Klinsky
Dates/courses: 1973, "O-4"
Info:Minister under Garcia Meza: Saenz Klinsky was a member of Garcia Meza's second cabinet, but was never formally charged with issuing unconstitutional decrees. (Americas Watch Report, Bolivia: The Trial of Responsibilities: The Garcia Meza Tejada Trial, 1993)

Name: Colonel Rogelio Vargas
Dates/courses: 1990, General Staff Officer Course
Info: Mistreatment of prisoners, 1990: 240 prisoners were beaten, denied food, forced to stay on their knees for hours on November 7, 1990. (Andean Information Network)

Name: General Guido Vildoso Calderon
Dates/courses: 1962, Infantry Weapons and Tactics
Info: Military dictator, 1982: Achieved power by military appointment. (The Washington Post, 5/19/94)