----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2000 4:43 PM Subject: [STOPNATO] stop SOA, aka Defense Institute for Hemispheric SecurityCooperation STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM eGroups : floridaleft Messages :Message 4006 of 4010 http://www.egroups.com/message/floridaleft/4006?&start=3981 ----- From: reporter2 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sat May 20, 2000 5:21pm Subject: [Take Action] Shut Down the Army School of the Americas! 1) House Votes To Keep Army's School of Americas Open But With A Name Change 2) NATIONAL DAY OF RESISTANCE TO CLOSE THE SOA! MAY 24, 2000 To learn more, visit The School of the Americas Watch, http://www.soaw.org The US Army School of Americas, based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. Graduates of the SOA have been responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. 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 from 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. SOA Watch is an independent organization that seeks to close the US Army School of the Americas through vigils and fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, as well as media and legislative work. ******************************************************************************** ****** Published on Saturday, May 20, 2000 in the New York Times House Votes To Keep Army's School of Americas Open But With A Name Change by Steven Lee Myers Dogged by years of controversy over its mission and its graduates, the Army's School of the Americas is on the verge of getting a new charter, a new curriculum and a new name. It appears likely, however, to face the same old protests. The Army's plans to reorganize the school, which has trained generations of soldiers from Central America and South America, cleared a major hurdle this week when the House narrowly rejected an amendment that would have closed it down. If the Senate goes along, as expected, the school that critics have linked to human rights violations by former students will officially "close" and "reopen" later this year as the Defense Institute for Hemispheric Security Cooperation. The Army proposed the changes last month, prompted by rising opposition to the school from religious groups and, more importantly, from some members of Congress, who nearly succeeded in cutting off the school's financing last year. Opened in Panama in 1946 and moved to its current location at Fort Benning, Ga., in 1984, the school has been the primary training ground for more than 60,000 Latin American military and police. Some were later implicated in the region's most notorious abuses, like the murder of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador in 1989. The secretary of the Army, Louis Caldera, said in an interview that critics have unfairly tarnished the school's reputation because of the actions of very few. Nonetheless, he said, the changes would give the school a focus that was more academic and less strictly military. "I thought it would be a mistake to close the school down," Mr. Caldera said, "because that would be turning our backs on the countries of Latin America." Because Congress chartered the school, the Army had to seek approval for its changes. In addition to having a new name, the school would have an advisory board to review its curriculum and report to Congress. Authority over the school would be transferred from the Army to the Department of Defense, and students would be required to have at least eight hours of instruction in human rights in each course. Mr. Caldera said the Army would try to increase the number of civilian students, and emphasize training political and military leaders in the proper role of the military under the region's emerging democratic governments. The school would remain at Fort Benning and still offer courses involving purely military tactics and strategies, prompting opponents to denounce the changes as cosmetic. When the Army's proposal came before the House on Thursday as part of the defense authorization bill, four members sponsored an amendment to shut the school and create a committee to review military training for Latin Americans. "Even with a new coat of paint, the School of the Americas has trained far too many killers of innocent people to remain a part of our foreign policy," said one of the sponsors, Representative John J. Moakley, Democrat of Massachusetts. But the amendment lost on a roll-call vote of 214 to 204 after lobbying by Army, Pentagon and Clinton administration officials. A day before the vote, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright sent members a joint letter saying the Army's proposal would "allow us to move past what had become a contentious annual debate on the school's legacy and focus on the question of how best to engage militarily our friends and allies in the hemisphere." The Army's proposal won approval when the House overwhelmingly approved the larger authorization bill late Thursday. The Rev. Roy L. Bourgeois, a priest who has organized protests against the school for a decade from his apartment at Fort Benning's main gate, said the changes would not diminish the movement against the school. The protests have grown from a handful of opponents to a crowd in November that was estimated at more than 8,000. "After thinking this thing out, we realized what they're really talking about is a name change," he said in a telephone interview today. "For us, this is the same old school doing what it's always been doing." Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company ************************************************************************** [from http://www.soaw.org] We are calling on affinity-groups from all over the country to organize and act on Wednesday, May 24, the NATIONAL DAY OF RESISTANCE TO CLOSE THE SOA! WEDNESDAY MAY 24th "Nothing but organized nonviolence can check the organized violence" of the United States Government!-- Gandhi On Thursday, May 18, the U.S. Congress dismissed the Moakley Amendment, accepted the Pentagon proposal to close the SOA and open an SOA Clone the very next day. The House opted to change the SOA's name rather than close its doors. The name is basically all that is changed. The Pentagon's deceptive proposal is not a move towards responsible policy for Latin America. It is merely an attempt to silence those working for human rights and justice. It is an attempt to silence the bloody truth about the School of Assassins, but THE TRUTH CANNOT BE SILENCED! Support in the House was strong and the amendment lost by only ten votes! All week long people fighting to close the SOA lobbied on Capitol Hill, but human rights activists weren't the only ones lobbying. Secretary of the Army Caldera, Col. Weidner and Colin Powell were there lobbying to keep the SOA open at any cost. This shows we are the threat of a good example, we are winning and now is the time to rise up! Register your outrage at the congressional vote to accept the Pentagon's SOA Clone. Let the White House, the Pentagon and Congress know that we are not falling for the Pentagon deception and we REJECT THE SOA CLONE! Come to Washington to participate in civil disobedience and demonstrations at the White House, Pentagon and other locales, hook into organizing in your own community or organize yourself! Bring your spirit of hope and resistance, bring your outrage, bring your passion, bring your creativity and bring your puppets and banners and help send the message that the SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS MUST BE CLOSED! DAY OF ACTION MAY 24 --White House ~ Pentagon ~ Capitol and more! Planning Meeting/Non-Violence Training Church of the Brethren 4th and N.C. Ave, SE, Washington, D.C. More Details available on the web site Monday Please contact us and let us know if you will organize an event in your community. Events will be held in the following Communities and Cities: Washington, D.C ~ SOAW ~ 202.234.2440 ~ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Chicago, IL</strong> ~ Kathleen Desautels or Dorothy Pagosa ~ 312.641.5151 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Action: 4pm Federal Plaza, Adams & Dearborne ~ Emergency Meeting Tues May 23 6PM 8th Day Center for Justice, 205 W Monroe Boston, MA ~Ann Eno ~ 978.692.5483 St. Louis, MO ~ Christie Hauck ~ 314.721.2977 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Syracuse, NY ~ Ed Kinane 315.478.4571 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Erie, PA ~ Eric LeCompte 814.453.4955 Philadelphia, PA ~Linda Panetta 215.473.2162 or 215.477.5892 [EMAIL PROTECTED] San Antonio, TX ~ Timon ~ 210.271.3630 ~ Meeting 4pm Alamo Norfolk, VA ~ Patrice Schwermer 757.583.0291 or 757.858.8176 Takoma, WA ~ Bruce Triggs 253.572.6582 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright � 1998-2000 eGroups, Inc. All rights reserved. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Support Antiwar.com http://Antiwar.com and also the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk. +Make nonviolent peace. Speak truth to power. Pray for one another. Be merciful. Love your enemies. Forgive those who've hurt you. Come Lord Jesus Christ. Deo Gratias.+ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________________________________ Advertisement: 15% off Ashford Collection jewelry for Mother's Day! Mom will love these gorgeous pieces handpicked by our expert jewelry buyers - now 15% off and shipped FedEx overnight FREE! Spoiled as a child? Return the favor - get her gift at Ashford.com. http://on.linkexchange.com/?ATID'&AID31
