The French role in spreading torture to Latin America appears modest, in terms of geographic scope and seniority of the officers involved, relative to local and other foreign sources. During the 1960s, the U.S. started spreading the use of torture to its allies in Latin America, specifically torture using electrical generators, with Brazil and Andean cone countries first.[67] The training of Latin American officers, including a number of future tortionists and leaders who ordered torture, was conducted on a large scale via the formal education programs of the School of the Americas. This U.S. pathway leads directly to SOA graduate Leopoldo Galtieri, the Argentine dictator and commanding officer of Luis María Mendía.