School of the Americas Watch 2007 Vigil
Join CRLN Members at the SOA Vigil November 16 - 19
Please join us and thousands of others at the gates of the SOA/WHINSEC at Ft. Benning on Friday, Nov. 16 - Monday, Nov. 19, 2007 to protest the brutal consequences of their military training.
What is the November Vigil and Direct Action to Close the SOA?
November marks the anniversary of the assassinations of 14-year-old Celina Ramos, her mother and six Jesuit priests in El Salvador in 1989. Nineteen of the 26 Salvadoran army officers cited by a UN Truth Commission as responsible for this atrocity were trained at the School of the Americas (SOA). Each year, more than 10,000 people gather at the gates of Ft. Benning to memorialize those who have died at the hands of soldiers trained at the SOA as well as to take action in opposition to this training and the U.S. foreign policy it represents. Refer to http://www.soaw.org/ for updated schedules.
What is the SOA?
The Ft. Benning, Georgia based School of the Americas (SOA), renamed in 2001 the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers. The SOA, frequently dubbed the "School of Assassins," has left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned. The SOA/WHINSEC has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. Graduates of the school have been consistently linked to human rights violations against educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, "disappeared," massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.
Vigil Schedule
- Friday, November 16: Trainings; Labor and student caucuses; Colombia teach-in; meetings of groups such as Veterans for Peace, Witness for Peace, Catholic Worker Communities and more; Anti-racism trainings, film showings, gender caucuses and direct action planning.
- Saturday, November 17: Rally at the gates during the day; Cultural events, concert at night, organizing meetings, Ignation teach-in, Women Religious Communities meet; Final direct action preparation.
- Sunday, November 18: Memorial service and solemn funeral procession followed by puppets and festival of resistance; 8 p.m. CRLN group reflection on experiences of the weekend.
For more information, contact Sharon Hunter-Smith at shunter-smith@crln.org or 773-293-3680.
