ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the Latin American counter-insurgency business occurred in Venezuela in the 1960s. President John F. Kennedy’s response to President Romulo Betancourt’s pleas was to send in Special Forces trainers to help the ‘Vennies’ to put the guerrillas out of business. In the long run American help was appreciated while the Venezuelans could take full credit for their success. The chapter suggests that Washington’s greatest contribution to the Latin American counter-insurgency era was not the brilliant tactical and operational training and advice provided during that era, nor was it the millions in military hardware. It focuses on an idea of how to encourage both United States (US) Special Forces and its Honduran military counterparts to think more cleverly about counter-insurgency. What seemed so hard for the US to convey was the practical side of the human rights counter-insurgency.
