fast to close the SOA/WHINSEC
Close the SOA Fast!
A three day fast to bring attention to the atrocities of the School of the Americas begins tomorrow, April 25th. As Congress prepares to vote on the SOA/WHINSEC, local fasts nationwide will educate new members and put pressure on members who continually have not worked with our movement to close this school of shame. It’s not too late to join this solidarity action! Click on the image below (used to identify fasting participants) for more information, including fasters near you and instructions on beginning a juice fast.
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 Illueca, 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.
Over its 59 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 tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.
