Thousands to Oppose U.S. Terror Training at SOA/WHINSEC
by Vera, SOA Watch media working group Monday, Nov. 17, 2008 at 11:02 AM

The annual November vigil to close the School of the Americas at the gates of Fort Benning will follow the election of President Barack 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 against oppressive U.S. foreign policy.

See the Schedule of Events
Download the November Organizing Packet


For over a decade, students, religious, labor, veterans, human rights, and social/global justice groups have been converging every November at the gates of Fort Benning, GA to speak out in solidarity with the people of the Americas and to engage in nonviolent direct action. We will gather again this year November 21 - 23, 2008 and continue together in the struggle until the School of the Americas/ Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHINSEC) is closed and the policies it represents are changed forever. The rally and vigil this year will be accompanied by teach-ins, trainings and caucuses that begin Friday, November 21.

The spirit of liberation is rising up in the people all around the globe. It cannot be silenced by threats and violence any more than it can be contained by prison walls. We call on everyone to speak out against the continuous atrocities perpetrated by graduates of the SOA/WHINSEC throughout Latin America and to come to Georgia in November.

What you can do:

Volunteer with puppetistas, the logistics working group, peacemakers, the development working group and many other groups. Please contact the SOA Watch office in DC at 202.234.3440 or info@soaw.org if you will be able to help out during the vigil action.

Download and Distribute the Mobilization Flier

Please download the November 2008 flier, make copies and distribute them at events, meetings, bookstores, coffeeshops, schools etc.:

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Join the Organizing!

Order videos about the SOA to educate your family and friends about the School of the Americas/WHINSEC - Organize a video showing and a discussion in your school, place of worship or community center.

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

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as 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/WHINSEC 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/WHINSEC'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/WHINSEC 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).

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/WHINSEC 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.

Contact SOA Watch: PO Box 4566 ~ Washington, DC, 20017
Phone: (202) 234 3440 ~ email: info@soaw.org

www.soaw.org

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