Students to protest the School of the Americans in Fort Benning

By Jessica Alway

A group of 19 Santa Clara students and three staff members will travel to Georgia tomorrow to protest against the School of the Americas and the curriculum taught to its students.

They will join hundreds of other groups from Jesuit universities, churches and communities in North and South America in a weekend long program which culminates Sunday night in a march to the front gate of the school, now located at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia.

Since its creation in 1946, the School of the Americas (SOA), an army training school funded completely by the United States government, has instructed over 60,000 Latin American soldiers. Many of whom have gone on to wage war against their own people and commit some of the worst human rights violations in recent history.

"Standing up against the School of the Americas and the violence that it represents gives me a chance to directly confront unjust and immoral U.S. foreign policy," said junior Blair Thedinger, one of the representatives from Santa Clara traveling to Fort Benning.

Thedinger said he is devoted to this cause because he knows people who fear for their lives at the hands of brutal Latin American militia.

SOA was first established in 1946 as the U.S. Army Caribbean Training Center in Panama to help professionalize Latin American and Caribbean militaries.

In 1963, under order of John F. Kennedy, the name was changed to School of Americas and the training shifted to a Cold War focus, instructing students in subjects such as counterinsurgency, infantry tactics, military intelligence, counter-narcotics operations and commando operations.

Graduates of the school include the 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.

SOA graduates have also been linked to the Uraba massacre in Colombia, the El Mozote massacre of 900 civilians in El Salvador, the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the massacre of six Jesuits in El Salvador.

"Romero was the heart of that country and they shot him dead," said Assistant Campus Minister Matt Smith, who will be traveling to Georgia as well.

Smith has been involved with the cause for over three years and attended the protest in 2000. "Going to Georgia gives us the opportunity to voice our concern and walk in solidarity with the victims of the graduates of this school."

"I feel like we must be the voice for those who cannot speak for themselves," said junior Jake David, who attended the protest last year. "I think if those Jesuits were still alive they would be speaking out, so we must be their voice."

The protestors spend the first two days listening to speakers and discussing topics in small groups. Paul Locatelli, S.J., the president of the Santa Clara University, delivered a keynote speech at the annual protest in 1996 expressing his views against the school and hopes to eventually help shut it down.

Torture, deception and kidnapping are perversions of the human spirit and institutions that teach these practices cannot be called school, Locatelli said.

"Most of the weekend is festive," said David. "It is all about celebrating the lives of the victims."

On Sunday, however, the mood becomes more solemn as the group walks to the front gate of the fort, reciting the names of all the people believed to have been killed at the hands of SOA graduates, David said.

"The idea is that the victims are still with us," said Smith. "That is the biggest thing for me, it makes a huge impact to actually see how many lives have been lost."

SOA changed its name to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC) on Jan.17, 2001 as a result of a bill proposed by the Department of Defense. The object of the bill was to close SOA and open WHISC in its place, but a point by point comparison between the old and new school show that the changes are almost entirely cosmetic.

While the curriculum was reformed to include human rights training it makes up a very small part of the total course hours, according to training manuals. So advocates for the closure of the school continue to protest.

"In essence, people in Latin America are suffering at our hands because it is our tax dollars," said Smith. "People need to become aware of the situation and let the government know if they are not in support." David echoed his suggestion.

"Everyone needs to call their senators," said David. "If more people contact them then they can do more for the cause without looking soft on terrorism."