LETTERS
NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS letters Getting Personal: Cuéllar and the ILEA we, the undersigned, write to express seriousconcernsaboutthearticle“another soa? a u.s. police academy...
...let me begin with a brief update on the story: in March, the department of Homeland security rejected a Freedom of information act request filed by naCla as a part of the reporting for the article...
...base at guantánamo...
...this would serve, in fact, to foreclose debate in the name of urgency and obfuscate the properly political question of how the united states achieves regional hegemony in latin america through a variety of practices...
...audiences could easily dismiss its argument...
...it was nothing of the kind...
...But agree or disagree, it is unjust and false to suggest, as the article does, that idHuCa’s work at the ilea implies a blanket endorsement of the academy and all its practices, or an indifference to concerns about transparency and accountability...
...these are all important questions raised in my article...
...perhaps this explains the letter’s assertion— unsupported by a single citation longer than one word—that my article was a “personal attack” on Cuéllar...
...idHuCa thought it important to offer the human rights training and believed that access to the institution would allow it to examine the curriculum and materials, and thecoursesoffered.idHuCasawthisasan opportunitytoreviewthecontentandscope of the courses being given and to press for greater transparency and accountability within the institution...
...other organizations in the human rights and legal community in el salvador chose not to participate in the ilea...
...support for police assistance and training has been a controversial issue in NACLA Report on the Americas 38 Greene Street, 4th floor The North American Congress (ISSN 104839) is published bimonthly New York, NY 10013 on Latin America (NACLA) is an by the North American Congress on Tel: (646) 613-1440 independent nonprofit organization Latin America (NACLA...
...Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo is Professor of History at the University of Chicago and Associate Professor at the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), Mexico City...
...treatment of prisoners in iraq and concerns about the treatment of prisoners at the u.s...
...Cuéllar’s work at the ilea is of par ticular interest to those concerned about human rights in latin america because it exemplifies a new and troubling facet of u.s...
...policy in the region...
...NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS letters Getting Personal: Cuéllar and the ILEA we, the undersigned, write to express seriousconcernsaboutthearticle“another soa...
...am bassador, the director and program manager of the ilea, and a pnC agent...
...there are real disagreements about how to achieve those goals, and differing views on whether and how the united states and others in the international community should play a role in that process, but it is a process that needs to happen...
...there has been debate in el salvador about the recently established u.s.-sponsored international law enforcement academy (ilea) in el salvador, and the article reports on real and legitimate concernsabouttransparencyandaccountability at the academy...
...the debate over how best to professionalize the police forces of countries with histories of gross human rights violations and to promote much needed reforms is a valid one...
...Meanwhile, conservative academic and public opinion may find Castañeda’s call for a mutual commitment and comprehensive reform too radical to swallow, and it could consider his call for a dialogue of equals irreverent...
...since december 2005, wola has met with a series of former u.s...
...Manual de uso (Mexico City: Tusquets, 2008...
...the letter says that the idHuCa participated in the ilea in order “to press for greater transparency and accountability within the institution,” and that “one may agree with this strategy or not...
...transparency, as we all agree, remains a problem for the ilea...
...if the signatories sincerely want a “real debate,” they must consider this reality...
...so it is in the spirit of full disclosure that i must inform NACLA Report readers that this letter may not be the disinterested critique it purports to be...
...Finally, the overwhelmingly culturalist, identity-centered concerns of U.S...
...www.nacla.org and U.S...
...Whether or not one agrees with Castañeda’s prognosis, Ex Mex ought to be commended for demarcating the discussion within the plebeian but meaningful and unavoidable confines of realpolitik—centered on lasting justice and equality for Mexican workers in the United States, leaving questions of cultural identity for Mexicans to work out...
...as the article notes, there are concerns about all these issues at the ilea in el salvador...
...i said his specific “belief that the [ilea] will reform the [national Civilian police (pnC)] seems misguided,” and i provided evidence for this view...
...Fax: (646) 613-1443 founded in 1966 to research the Views expressed herein do not E-mail: nacweb@nacla.org political economy of the Americas necessarily reflect the views of NACLA...
...as director of idHuCa he has fought tirelessly for accountability of the security forces through advocacy, public denunciation, and local and international litigation...
...as the article notes, idHuCa decided to engage with the ilea, offering a human rights course to police trainees similar to a one it has offered since the early 1990s...
...However, the article removes the ilea discussion from an institutional context, instead focusing on Cuéllar as an individual, emphasizingitsviewofhimasalonerinengaging with the academy, calling his beliefs “misguided,” painting him as secretive and unwilling to work with others, and questioning his legitimacy as a human rights defender...
...By claiming they constitute a personal attack on Cuéllar, the letter effectively takes them off the table...
...police academy in el salvador worries Critics,” which appeared in the March/april edition of the NACLA Report on the Americas...
...However, it frames its criticism of the ilea as a personal attack on Benjamín Cuéllar, director of the Human rights institute at the university of Central america (idHuCa), who decided to offer human rights trainings at the academy...
...ambassadors to el salvador with the idea of establishing an initiative, as Cuéllar told me, in which “wola and the idHuCa would be working together, as partners, to monitor the ilea...
...politics and academia would miss the identity anguishes and essentialisms that are absent from Castañeda’s book...
...Not much to do about that...
...there ought to be serious debate in the human rights, activist, and solidarity communities about those issues...
...H3H 1J9 Tel: 514 933-6797 Individuals Can$46/year, Can$85/two years, Can$116/three years Institutions Can$70/year, Can$122/two years, Can$175/three years Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mail offices...
...Unfortunately, despite the book’s many insightful ideas and testimonies, it faces a difficult destiny, given that different U.S...
...i did not say, as the letter claims, that Cuéllar has displayed an “indifference” to such concerns...
...the rejection letter states that granting the request to declassify course materials used at the ilea “could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law...
...Box 77, Hopewell, PA 16650-0077 JULY/AUGUST 2008 letters el salvador and other countries in latin america, particularly given the history of u.s...
...why hasn’t the idHuCa, as the only organization in the position to do so, shared secret information (like school’s course materials) with the broader human rights community...
...in interview after interview, i listened to salvadorans describe feeling slighted continued on page 47 JULY/AUGUST 2008 reviews Mexican = Terrorist...
...there is nothing “personal” in that...
...these training and reform efforts, of course, must include civilian oversight mechanisms, no military involvement, and a focus on the professionalization of police across the board...
...this is unfair to Cuéllar...
...in fact, recent events in the region underscore that, however it is done, it is critical that Central americanpoliceforcesbetransformedinto more transparent, accountable, and rightsrespecting organizations...
...one therefore wonders if beneath the letter’s “serious concerns” lies a more self-interested concern: rebuffing the critique, implicit in my article, of wola’s interest in monitoring the ilea...
...i merely pointed out that his presence at the school appears to have thus far accomplished little toward these ends...
...The academic left, which used to love the güero bueno, now hates whatever the güero malo writes...
...i also quoted Cuéllar at length explaining his position, and i men tioned his standing as an honored and courageous activist...
...continued on page 47 Wes Enzinna Replies i welcome the opportunity to defend my article from this spurious censure...
...unfortunately, it is not just a matter of “agreeing or not”—this strategy is not working, because the ilea continues to operate with little accountability...
...police training programs ought to be conducted transparently, there should be civilian oversight, and there should be clear assurances that both students and trainers will be civilians, rather than military personnel...
...and if Cuéllar remains unable to make the ilea more accountable and transparent, at what point will the idHuCa withdraw its support from the academy...
...it is fair to ask: why hasn’t Cuéllar explained these failures to the public...
...Indeed, Castañeda’s book provides plenty of proof that for mainstream U.S...
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...Getting Personal, from page 3 unfortunately, enzinna’s article obscured this real debate, substituting a personal attackonCuéllarandsimplisticcriticismofthe idHuCa for a consideration of the issues...
...i accurately portrayed Cuéllar and idHuCa as isolated on the ilea question, at least in el salvador, and noted that “many are questioning his legitimacy as a human rights defender,” as indeed they are...
...i did not, for example, call Cuéllar’s “beliefs” misguided...
...this was a summation of my reporting, which involved interviewing more than a dozen members of the salvadoran human rights community, none of whom had anything good to say about Cuéllar’s ilea collaboration...
...Postmaster: Send address changes to NACLA Report on the Americas, P.O...
...politicians, any attempt at dealing with Mexicans as equals in rights, intelligence, interests, and obligations is still a cultural (maybe even racial) taboo...
...He is the author of six books, including the forthcoming Historia y celebración...
...that concern has been exacerbated by u.s...
...Human rights activists agree that el salvador and many other countries in latin america have much to do to consolidate a democratic police force...
...i challenge the sponsors of this letter to find one member of the salvadoran human rights community who supports Cuéllar’s position on the ilea...
...one may agree with this strategy or not...
...i interviewed thale in december about this, and he said the plan would ideally be a “regular institutional arrangement” and that it had “already been verbally agreed to” by the ex-ambassadors he had spoken with...
...it is relevant to note for those less familiar with el salvador that idHuCa has personally felt the tragic effects of abuses by security forces, notably the murder of six Jesuits, their housekeeper, and her daughter, on the university of Central america campus by u.s.-trained members of the salvadoran military in 1989...
...Joy Olson Executive Director Washington Office on Latin America Viviana Krsticevic Executive Director Center for Justice and International Law William LeoGrande Professor of Government American University George Vickers Director of International Operations Open Society Institute Charles T. Call Assistant Professor American University mark Ungar Associate Professor Graduate Center City University of New York David holiday Program Officer, Latin America Program Open Society Institute Lars Schoultz Kenan Professor of Political Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Alex Wilde Research Associate, Centro de Ética Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile Carlos heredia Iniciativa Ciudadana Mexico City raúl Benitez manaut Researcher Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Gino Costa President Ciudad Nuestra, Peru Joseph Eldridge American University Wes Enzinna Replies, from page 3 by Cuéllar and alienated from the idHuCa...
...editor’s note: a more robust description of Cuéllar’s bravery appeared in the original ver sion of the article and was abridged, at my request, for space reasons.] the only people i found in el sal vador who supported Cuéllar and the idHuCa’s position were the u.s...
...at the top of the list of signatories is Joy olson, executive director of the washington office on latin america (wola), and the letter seems to have been coordinated by her office, having been sent for publication by wola program director geoff thale...
...intervention in the region: the co-optation of hu man rights discourse and the paid involvement of local human rights authorities in u.s.-sponsored po lice and military training programs...
...Castañeda would do well to seriously consider the possibility of this nightmare...
...Cuéllar is a distinguished human rights defender with a long history of selfless and courageous dedication to the cause of promoting human rights in el salvador, many times at grave personal risk...
...policy toward the region...
...what’s more, such a de bate ought not to be circumscribed by narrow questions of achieving expeditious police reform, “however it is done...
...i’m willing to bet they can not do this, since it wasn’t possible for the purposes of the letter: not a single salvadoran’s name appears on the list of signatories, most of whom are north american intellectuals...
Vol. 41 • July 2008 • No. 4
