SOA Watch: Oficina América Latina / Calle 34 No. 18-70 - Apartado Postal 437 - Barquisimeto, Lara, VENEZUELA - Teléfono: 58-416-607-0972

 

www.soaw.org

 

PANAMA: February  8-17

 

Panama was the original site of the SOA until Panamanian President Jorge Illueca -who coined the term “School of Assassins” - stood up for his nation’s dignity in the early 1980’s, demanding the school’s removal.  This tradition of standing up to US efforts to use the tiny nation to serve its aggressive purposes was also seen in President Torrijos, who co-signed with President Carter the treaty that returned the Canal Zone to Panama. The delegation will visit sites relevant to these struggles and also meet with Panamanians who today continue to take a stand for their rights, such as indigenous and campesino groups who have been protesting the destruction of their lands by mining and hydro-electric dam projects. Repression against them continues by military and police trained at the SOA.

 

EL SALVADOR: March 18-27

 

Join Fr. Roy Bourgeois and SOA WATCH coordinator Lisa Sullivan in meeting with high government officials to ask that they join six other Latin American countries in withdrawing their troops from the SOA. The delegation will participate in activities commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the assassination of Monsenor Romero, one of 70,000 victims of the civil war, and one of thousands of which were killed at the hands of SOA graduates. The group will also meet with communities protesting the destruction of mining projects, meet with groups working with creative solutions to gangs, and overlap with the colorful first days of Easter Week.

 

 

 

 

 

PARAGUAY: April 17-23

 

This delegation will play the very important role of observing presidential elections. Last June the right-wing congress used a bloody confrontation between landless peasants and police forces as a pretext for removing President Fernando Lugo, an ex-bishop inspired by liberation theology  who ran on a platform of agrarian reform and whose victory ended the 61-year rule of the Stroessner’s Colorado Party. The “express coup” was condemned throughout the region, andParaguay was removed from UNASUR and Mercosur by fellow Latin American governments. The delegation will look at issues of violations of human rights, criminalization of social protest and the militarization of the north.

 

 

 

 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND HAITI: June 19-28

 

The Dominican Republic is one of the the SOA/WHINSEC’s main clienteles, sending large numbers of troops to the school, in spite of the small size of the island. The results are seen in the repression against citizen groups, including the recent assassination of a student leader protesting increased privatization of education. Join Fr. Roy Bourgeois and SOAW Latin America coordinator Lisa Sullivan in meeting with high government officials of the new progressive leadership in the country in asking that they consider withdrawing their troops from the SOA. The group will also visit neighboring Haiti to connect with groups struggling for the right to housing for those displaced by Hurricane Sandy, and those who still are homeless due to the 2010 earthquake. They will also look at the issue of the occupation force of the UN’s MINUSTAH, who are responsible for a deadly cholera outbreak. 


 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Lisa Sullivan [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.soaw.org