Opposing the School of the Americas
by Bill McNulty, February 1998. *
As a programmer here at WUSB 90.1 FM Stony Brook (Lunch on Thursday, a show of politics and social commentary, Thursdays at Noon to 2pm), I have learned over the years about the existence of the U.S. Army School of the Americas.
The SOA was established in Panama in 1946, supposedly to promote stability in the region. But the school's nickname, "Escuela de Golpes", or "School of Coups".
In 1984 the SOA was kicked out of Panama under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. Then President Jorge Illueca called it "the biggest base for destabilization in Latin America", and a major Panamanian newspaper dubbed it "The School of Assassins".
Today the School is located at Fort Benning, Georgia. It trains nearly 2,000 soldiers from Latin America and the Caribbean each year in combat skills such as counterinsurgency operations, military intelligence, sniper fire, commando tactics, and psychological operations.
But Latin American soldiers at the SOA are not taught to defend their borders from invasion. They are taught to make war on their own people.
In its 47 years, the SOA has quietly readied over 56,000 troops from Latin America and the Caribbean. It is an institution that can only exist in secrecy.
On November 16, 1997, to bring this school to the attention of the general public, over 2,000 people from all over the United States assembled at the main gate of Fort Benning, SOA's home. 601 of them entered the base in solemn funeral procession, to deliver petitions signed by thousands, calling for SOA closure to the school headquarters. They were all arrested. There were 31 "repeat offenders" who marched on the school the year before (November 16, 1996). Of this number, 25 must serve six months in prison and pay a fine of $3,000. Three pleaded "no contest" on November 19 and twenty-two were pronounced guilty at trial on January 20-21, 1998. Six had charges against them dismissed.
The demonstrators had chosen November 16 for this vigil because on that date in 1989, government officials in San Salvador, El Salvador had murdered six Jesuit priests who were working for peace and democracy in Latin America. They also murdered their housekeeper and her sixteen-year-old daughter. Graduates of the SOA were connected to those murders and other violations of human rights throughout Latin America, including the assassination of Archbishop Romero. The Pentagon has admitted that SOA training manuals contained instructions on torture, extortion, and other human rights violations.
* The original text was written hastily, and information was unintentionally omitted. Portions were rewritten to be more inclusive and to show the participation of all of the demonstrators, and not just the "SOA 25"...
Other Resources
School of the Americas-related sites on the Internet...
School of the Americas Watch at
Clearinghouse of information on the movement to shut down the School of the Americas. Also contains information about the trial and sentencing of the "SOA 22".
Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation (WHISC) Wikipedia link click here.
The new name for the School of the Americas.