Victor Escobar

Who is Victor Escobar?

Victor Escobar was a Colombian-born graduate from the School of the Americas. At the age of twenty-four, he became the youngest student ever to be admitted to the training facilities in Fort Benning, Georgia.

In July 1999, the circumstances surrounding his disappearance led to an investigation that concluded with the disclosure of torture manuals being used as part of training at the School of the Americas. The exposure that came through the unsolved case of Victor Escobar was one of the many factors that led the U.S. House of Representatives to adopt a bill to reorganize the school to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

Victor Escobar's case remains unsolved. His disappearance still has an impact, with a bill to abolish the school signed by 123 co-sponsors being introduced to the House Armed Services Committee in 2005.