Thousands rally at 'School of Assassins'
By Dianne Mathiowetz
Columbus, Ga.
A colorful, noisy and diverse crowd of 15,000 opponents of
the School of the Americas gathered at the gates of Fort
Benning in Columbus, Ga,. over the week-end of Nov. 16-17. For
13 years, this annual protest has called for the closing of a
military training school for Central and South American
troops.
Known widely as the "School of the Assassins," its graduates
have been involved in countless massacres, as well as the
torture, "disappearance" and murder of student and peasant
leaders, trade unionists and religious figures . Under the
pressure of public opinion, the school has changed its name to
Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
In past years, thousands participated in civil disobedience
by crossing onto the base property with their political
protest. This year, like the last, the police erected a high,
metal fence blocking the road onto Fort Benning.
In a solemn procession, as the names of those killed by SOA
graduates was intoned from the stage, the demonstrators came up
to the barrier and affixed their signs, pictures of the dead,
religious symbols and flowers until it was totally covered.
They passed by a representation of a massacre, with people
lying crumpled on the ground, covered in blood, evidence of the
ongoing work of the school's graduates.
Despite all the police efforts, 95 managed to carry the
protest onto the grounds of the military facility and were
arrested. One person was also arrested for protesting the
checkpoint set up to search everyone participating in the
demonstration.
Although the focus of the annual action is U.S. policy
toward Latin America, "No War on Iraq" signs were everywhere.
Volunteers with the International ANSWER coalition gathered
several thousand signatures on the People's Anti-War
Referendum. Many of the activists, young and old, had been at
the Oct. 26 demonstration in Washington and responded eagerly
when Sarah Sloan, a speaker representing International ANSWER,
announced plans for an upcoming Jan 18-19 massive demonstration
and People's Peace Congress.
Reprinted from the Nov. 28, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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