Our 7th Annual National Convention/Protest the School of the Americas!
Students for a Democratic Society
Read the Article About our 7th-Annual National Convention in Florida!
Close the School of the Americas! Students Join SDS Nov. 16-18th to Oppose the SOA/WHINSEC in Ft. Benning, GA!
For the 2012 SDS National Convention - Written by Gainesville, FL SDS
The School of the Americas (renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in 2001) is a military training school for Latin American death squads located in Fort Benning, Georgia. Since 1946, the School of Americas has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers and dictators in torture tactics, coup de etats, psychological warfare and counterinsurgency.
Hundreds of thousands of Latin American workers, students, activists and poor people have suffered torture, rape, assassinations, and “disappearances” because of the training their militaries received at the “School of Assassins.” The SOA/WHINSEC teaches Latin American military forces how to use repression and violence to stifle democracy and keep the far right and their U.S. backers in control of countries struggling for peace and the right to self determination.
The effects of training received at Fort Benning, Georgia on Latin American countries is very clear. Many Latin American countries, like Colombia, suffer from right-wing death squads trained in Ft. Benning on how to kill and repress their own people. The attempted coup de etat against Venenzuelan leader Hugo Chavez in in 2002 was another anti-democratic mission brewed at the SOA. Some countries, like Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador and most recently Nicaragua, have already stopped sending troops to the SOA. Students for a Democratic Society hopes more countries follow their lead.
Because of the atrocious and repressive aims of the SOA/WHINSEC, Students for a Democratic Society opposes the “School of Assassins.” SDS urges students from around the country to travel to Ft. Benning, Georgia the weekend of November 16-18 and demand that the School of the Americas be shut down forever. Students are also encouraged to attend the Student Meet-Up at the School of the Americas Protest the weekend of November 16-18 and discuss ways to organize our schools and community for a peaceful world without the “School of Assassins.”
Ft. Benning, Georgia is located in the city of Columbus, Georgia. For more information, visit
http://www.soaw.org/.
Students for a Democratic Society
