SOA Watch

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Nov. 21-23, 2008: Thousands will converge on Fort Benning, Georgia for the November Vigil to Close the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC)

Join torture survivors, community organizers, and social justice activists from across the Americas and converge at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, to start building the world that we hope for. The annual November vigil to close the School of the Americas will follow the election of President Obama by two weeks. It will be an opportunity for the progressive movement to push for the closure of the SOA/WHINSEC and to set an agenda for a new direction in U.S. foreign policy.

Change is coming and we are going to close the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC)!
Click here for the Schedule of Events

Click here to download the November Organizing Packet

SOA Watch Protest at the U.S. Southern Command

On Sunday, November 9, 90 people marched to the gates of the Headquarters of the United States Southern Command in Miami, Florida.

Ray, of SOA Watch: South Florida & Pax Christi: St. Maurice, opened the rally by linking the SOA & South Com (via the curriculum & training manuals), with attention to Posada Carilles & other

"students" living in Miami. Linda, Miami for Peace & CODEPINK: Miami, addressed the Cleveland connection (Dorothy Kazel & Jean Donovan), with a second-hand witness from a Salvadoran refugee there. Orlando, Veterans for Peace & The Bolivarian Circle, talked of daily piles of bodies dumped throughout the city he visited (in Guatemala). Cruz, a native of Guatemala, currently with the CIW, pointed out that the oppression in Central American is what drove many to the tomato fields of Immokalee. Ken, of Veterans for Peace, spoke of six friends from Syracuse who crossed the line in Ft. Benning and served six months each for their efforts. Pedro, the southeastern coordinator for the SOA Watch, explained the role of the SOA & SouthCom in protecting corporate interests in Central & South America & connected our action to the SOA Watch national effort. Fathers Roger, Paul, and Frank, with the Reverend Lucy, transitioned from the rally to the march by offering up powerful prayer for justice in the Americas. Aylin took charge of garbing participants in shrouds & masks for the march, while some young Just Faith students assisted in application of fake blood.

The march itself, with coffins, shrouds, signs, crosses, chants & singing, was lively & determined. At the gates of SouthCom, the clergy, Pedro-Jesus, and Warren of the Miami Friends Meeting read the lists of names, as the rest of us responded "Presente!" It was very moving; that is a powerful piece of the SOA Watch action!

The participants were multi-ethnic, multi-racial, young and old, with the able-bodied and some who had to roll wheel-chairs uphill for the rally. Your e-mail to the Florida SOA list definitely brought out part of our crowd; we had people from St. Pete, Orlando, and Michigan! The CIW brought 2 vans of participants--25 people! Orlando's work with the Veterans for Peace & the Bolivarians brought diversity to participating activist groups. Dave's work with Pax Christi in Palm Beach County, along with Ray's involvement at St. Maurice, brought out the faith community.

Upcoming regional events in the lead-up to the November vigil:

November 15-16 at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, on November 20 at Drummond in Alabama and on November 20 in Atlanta, Georgia.

About the School of the Americas / Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation

The US Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American security personnel in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. SOA graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-level SOA graduates have participated in human rights abuses that include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians. (See Grads in the News).

In an attempt to deflect public criticism and disassociate the school from its dubious reputation, the SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2001.

The name change was a result of a Department of Defense proposal included in the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal 2001, at a time when SOA opponents were poised to win a congressional vote on legislation that would have dismantled the school. The name-change measure passed when the House of Representatives defeated a bi-partisan amendment to close the SOA and conduct a congressional investigation by a narrow ten-vote margin. (See Talking Points, Critique of New School, Vote Roll Call.)

In a media interview, Georgia Senator and SOA supporter the late Paul Coverdell characterized the DOD proposal as a "cosmetic" change that would ensure that the SOA could continue its mission and operation. Critics of the SOA concur.

SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works through creative protest and resistance, legislative and media work to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America, to close the SOA/WHINSEC and to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy that institutions like the SOA represent. We are grateful to our sisters and brothers throughout Latin America and the the Caribbean for their inspiration and the invitation to join them in their struggle for economic and social justice.