Vladimiro Montesinos is known to be a leader in various death squads in Peru. Yet up until now he was the most trusted military advisor to President Alberto Fujimori. Numerous other Peruvian School of the Americas grads have been implicated in death squads, drug trafficking, torture and corruption.
Isn't it time for U.S. legislators to close this atrocious "school"?
Barbara E. Trott
San Francisco
I am outraged that the Clinton administration is endorsing the asylum bid in Panama of Vladimiro Montesinos, Peru's recently ousted intelligence chief.
Instead of demanding his arrest for the bribery of members of the Peruvian Congress, the United States and and the Organization of American States asked Panama to let him enter.
Their logic? His exit from Peru would "facilitate" the democratic process in that country.
Why does the U.S. government seem much less concerned about the democratic process in Peru for one of its own citizens?
Where has our government been while Lori Berenson has spent nearly five years in jail for crimes she did not commit?
Her sentence was nullified by Peru's Supreme Military Council, yet the Clinton administration stands by while she faces a new "show trial" that has already started to shred due process.
Did the White House even try to bargain for Berenson's release or was the administration just happy to help out Montesinos, another graduate of the infamous School of the Americas?
All of these questions demand immediate answers.
Hold the administration accountable for this inexcusable double standard.
Lindasusan Ulrich
San Francisco