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2010 Delegations to Latin America
Travel with Father Roy Bourgeois to El Salvador, Learn about ALBA in Venezuela, and Stand in Solidarity with the People of Honduras and Colombia.
El Salvador
Travel to El Salvador - land of martyrs, with Father Roy Bourgeois on an Oscar Romero Legacy Delegation, from March 19 to 26, 2010.  Join Fr. Roy in events commemorating the 30th anniversary of Monse�or Romero�s  assassination at the hands of SOA graduates. Walk in the footsteps of martyrs Ita Ford, Maura Clark, Fr. Ignacio Ellacuria, Celia Ramos and others. Accompany SOA Watch's Partnership America Latina (PAL) Coordinator Lisa Sullivan in visiting high level Salvadoran government officials in asking that El Salvador send no more soldiers to this school of assassins. For more information and to apply, write Lisa Sullivan at LSullivan@soaw.org
Click here to download the delegation flyer (pdf).
Venezuela
Come to Venezuela from April 9-18 on the anniversary of a people's victory in overturning a coup d'etat and learn about how the 8 member countries of ALBA  are forging a new and exciting new economic model of cooperation and solidarity. Join SOA Watch's Lisa Sullivan in getting a different view from within of this country where she has lived for 25 years. Meet with Colombians in exile in Venezuela and hear from them and from Venezuelans about their concerns for US militarization along the Colombian border of Venezuela. For more information and to apply, write Lisa Sullivan at LSullivan@soaw.org
Click here to download the delegation flyer (pdf).
Honduras
Respond to the request of human rights leaders in Honduras to come to their country to help prevent further atrocities from taking place.  World attention towards Honduras has diminished after US-approved November elections legitimized the June coup, while assassinations of resistance members has increased.  Leaders of the human rights community have requested a constant presence of international visitors to bring attention to this situation and help protect the lives of Hondurans. We are urging SOA Watch activists to join the Task Force on the Americas delegation to Honduras from March 13-20, 2010 (for more information write Dale Sorensen, geodale1@earthlink.net), a Quixote Center delegation (contact Jenny Atlee, jennya@quixote.org) or the January 24-31, 2010 Rights Action delegation (contact Grahame Russell, info@rightsaction.org)
Colombia
With over 10,000 troops trained at the school, Colombia is the SOA's largest customer and has the worst human rights record in Latin America.  The 8th Day Center for Justice and Witness for Peace are organizing a delegation to Magdelena, Colombia from August 7-17, 2010. The delegation will focus on human rights, corporate abuse, military repression and internal displacement. Delegation participants will meet with community leaders, displaced persons, and human rights defenders.
For more information: Contact Erin Cox, Erin@8thdaycenter.org, 312 641 5151 or Ashley Valchek, Ashley@8thdaycenter.org or email wfpmagdelena@gmail.com.
SOA/ WHINSEC legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives! Check out the Legislative Action Index for more information...
Click here to sign the petition to Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega.
Click here to download petition forms - Click here to sign the petition online
About the School of the Americas / Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
 The US Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American security personnel in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. SOA graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. 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 of 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. (See Grads in the News).
In an attempt to deflect public criticism and disassociate the school from its dubious reputation, the SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2001. The name change was a result of a Department of Defense proposal included in the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal 2001, at a time when SOA opponents were poised to win a congressional vote on legislation that would have dismantled the school. The name-change measure passed when the House of Representatives defeated a bi-partisan amendment to close the SOA and conduct a congressional investigation
by a narrow ten-vote margin. (See Talking Points, Critique of New School, Vote Roll Call.)
In a media interview, Georgia Senator and SOA supporter the late Paul Coverdell characterized the DOD proposal as a "cosmetic" change that would ensure that the SOA could continue its mission and operation. Critics of the SOA concur.
SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works through creative protest and resistance, legislative and media work to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America, to close the SOA/WHINSEC and to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy that institutions like the SOA represent. We are grateful to our sisters and brothers throughout Latin America and the the Caribbean for their inspiration and the invitation to join them in their struggle for economic and social justice.
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