The military coup by SOA graduates in Honduras has once again exposed the destabilizing and deadly effects that the
School of the Americas has on Latin America. The actions of the
school’s graduates are unmasking the Pentagon rhetoric and reveal the
anti-democratic results of U.S. policies. It is time for a change
towards justice.
From November 20-22, 2009,
thousands will vigil at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, to stand up
for justice, to shut down the School of the Americas and to end the
oppressive U.S. foreign policy that the school represents.
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.