School of the Americas protest information meeting in Wausau

[Broca]

School of the Americas Protest in Fort Benning, Georgia
Educational Send-Off Meeting
this Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00 pm at UWMC
(flyers will be posted at entrances to lead you to the correct room)

A group from the Wausau area will join thousands of others this weekend as they head down to Fort Benning, Georgia to take part in the protest gathering at the School of the Americas (SOA). This Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00 at UWMC, we will have a brief meeting to educate ourselves and others about the SOA, to send off our friends, to stand with them in solidarity, and hopefully to foster the beginnings of a local group in the Wausau area to continue addressing this issue throughout the year. We will be showing a 20 minute film, School of Assassins, narrated by Susan Sarandon and nominated for an academy award, and if time allows we will also show another 20 minute film: SOA, Guns and Greed. We will also have refreshments! Please come to learn more about this important issue and to send-off our friends. See you there!

Please feel free to forward this email to other people you think might be interested... Questions about the meeting? Call Jen McEwen @ 843-7826 or email [email protected]

What is the SOA?

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.