What is Schol of the Americas?

"The SOA was established in 1946 with the purpose of training Latin American men to promote democracy in their native lands, but, according to SOA Watch, graduates of the school have perpetrated many of the worst human rights violations in recent Latin American history, necessitating its immediate closure. In addition to conducting its annual vigils and educating the public about abuses committed by graduates of the academy, the SOA Watch continues to lobby Congress to shut down the school. In 2004, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez agreed to withdraw all troops from WHINSEC, which has trained over 4,000 Venezuelan soldiers. Several of the officers involved in the failed 2002 coup d'etat were School of the Americas graduates[2]. On 2006, the governments of Argentina and Uruguay decided to stop sending soldiers to the School of the Americas as well [1]. SOA Watch is pressing other South American leaders to follow the examples of these countries." Quote taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_the_Americas_Watch SO I guess that bumper sticker has a point

I have never heard of this, but it's an interesting topic. I would like to know more. It's hard to believe that something like this has existed since the 1940s with such a lack of publicity. I wonder what they do in Latin America that Latin America's own people don't already do to themselves?