Specialized Agencies - Harvard Model United Nations

JCC: Special Reunion of the School of the Americas
Guillermo Rodriguez — Ecuador
Guillermo Rodriguez was the military dictator of Ecuador from 1972-1976. Rodriguez was born in 1924 in Pujili, Chile. He
studied at Eloy Alfaro Military School of Quito and later studied engineering. He taught at College Eloy Alfaro, at the School
of the Americas in Panama in 1964, and in 1966 joined the staff of the Military Academy with honors from the President. In
1971 Rodriguez was appointed commander in chief of the Army under the presidency of Jose Velasco. In 1972, Rodriguez
overthrew the government of President Velasco after he was appointed chairman of the Military Council of Government;
he then exiled Velasco to Argentina. Rodriguez took power at the time of a large oil boom in Ecuador and used oil profits
to fund infrastructure construction. He announced military control, though many held out hope that his reinstitution of the
1945 Constitution would lead to constitutional order once more. In 1974 Rodriguez withstood the attempted coup of General
Gonzalez Alvear. Weakened from that attempt, the military peacefully removed Rodriguez from power in 1976. Rodriguez
maintains a lot of political power in Ecuador, and holds the ear of most of the military and political elite within in the country.
Roberto D’Abuisson — El Salvador
Roberto D’Abuisson was a major in the El Salvadorian army and right-wing opponent of the Revolutionary Government Junta
(JRG). He was born in 1944 in Santa Tecla and graduated from the military academy in 1963, becoming a rightist National Guard
officer. In 1970 and 1971 he studied in Washington, D.C. at the International Police Academy (which was later closed due to
claims of it teaching torture techniques). In 1972 he attended the School of the Americas, taking courses in communications.
D’Abuisson joined the Salvadorian military intelligence and became part of the armed forces general staff in El Salvador in 1975.
In following years he staunchly opposed pushes for land redistribution in El Salvador, particularly from Roman Catholic leaders.
He formed the Union of White Warriors just before the start of the 1979 El Salvadorian civil war; this group was believed
to be a death squad because of its role in the killing and torture of many, including a Roman Catholic bishop. As the head of
paramilitary groups, and a talented officer, D’Abuisson is a trusted representative of the El Salvadoran government.
Policarpo Paz Garcia — Honduras
Paz has been President of Honduras since 7 August 1978, when he took control of the country in a bloodless coup d’état.
Before that, he was a general and had recently been made head of the armed forces. Until a new president is elected, Paz will be
the interim head of state. If these plans go ahead, it will be the end of 20 years of military rule in Honduras. These seemingly
noble aims seem at odds with the reality of the actions of Paz’s government. There has been a marked increase in the use of
state force in assassinations and torture of political opponents, and corruption permeates the highest levels of government. A
drug lord financed the 1978 coup, and the current administration takes a cut of all the cocaine and marijuana trafficked through
the country from Colombia. Policarpo Paz Garcia has the complete control of the Honduran government, and amicable
relationships with drug cartels within Honduras.
Efrain Rios Montt — Guatemala
Ríos Montt attended the School of the Americas in 1951. He went on to play a role in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état
organized by the CIA, which replaced the left wing President Jacobo Argun Guzman with the inept Colonel Castillo Arnos. This
led to a series of coups, which ended in Guatemala breaking out into Civil War in 1960, in which it remains today. Ríos Montt
was made Chief of Staff for the military in 1970, during the midst of the war. He is currently in charge of all military operations
for the government, and holds tremendous political power within the country.
4 Specialized Agencies