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What is the School of the Americas? The School of the Americas (SOA), in 2001 renamed the ‘Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation,” is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. Initially established in Panama in 1946, it was kicked out of that country in 1984 under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. Former Panamanian President, Jorge lllueca, stated that the School of the Americas was the “biggest base for destabilization in Latin America.” The SOA, frequently dubbed the “School of Assassins,” has left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned. Some graduates served as bloody dictators in Panama, Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia. SOA graduates participated in the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador and in the massacre of 900 civilians at El Mozote, also in El Salvador. Over its 57 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are 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 and continue to be tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins. SOA trains the military muscle to enforce exploitative economic policies Economic Oppression & Military Repression: Flip Sides of the Same Coin Multinational corporations and the wealthy elites in North and Latin America are the very ones for whose interest terrorist training camps like the School of the Americas (SOA) exist. SOA graduates are trained to kill Latin American people who are resisting the same economic policies, power structures and corporations that we are struggling against here in the United States. In Mexico… At least 18 high-level Mexican officers involved in the ongoing civilian-targeted warfare campaign in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca were trained at the SOA. The voices, of and for the poor, represented by the Zapatistas and others – like Bishop Ruiz from the San Cristobal Diocese – threaten the powerful and wealthy. Corresponding to the growing economic justice movement in Mexico, the numbers of Mexican soldiers being trained at the SOA rapidly escalated. In Colombia… • Banana workers murdered: 20 striking banana workers were brutally murdered. Eight of the 11 Colombian military officers cited for the slayings were SOA grads. The US has pledged $1.3 billion in aid to Colombia (which will primarily be paid to US weapons manufacturers and chemical corporations) in the form of military training, helicopters, and fumigation related expenses — as a part of “Plan Colombia.” This plan, known throughout Colombia as “Plan Death,” has already resulted in countless human rights atrocities and has had serious ecological ramifications. Although “Plan Colombia” is promoted as an initiative against drugs, the Plan clearly provides the military backing for the exploitation of the poor and Colombia’s resources by multinational corporations. To learn more about “Plan Colombia” visit http://afsc.org/colombiaoil/ |
