Our Atlanta office has worked with the Georgia Peace and Justice coalition for the last few years to provide as much space for Georgia youth to come down to the gates of Fort
Benning for the yearly mobilization to close the School of the Americas, which is organizing by the School of the Americas Watch.
The School of the Americas (
SOA), in 2001 renamed the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation,” is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort
Benning, Georgia.
Initially established in Panama in 1946, it was kicked out of that country in 1984 under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. Former Panamanian President, Jorge
Illueca, stated that the School of the Americas was the “biggest base for destabilization in Latin America.” The
SOA, frequently dubbed the “School of Assassins,” has left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned.
Over its 59 years, the
SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by
SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Americas.
This year with the help of a $500. contribution from the Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition(
GPJC) we we able to provide lodging and some transportation for 18 youth. Many of the young folks that came down also helped
AFSC and
GPJC staff literature tables at the gates Fort
Benning. They also attended, along with about 30 other Georgians, our yearly Georgia activist meet-up which is a sort of an informal gathering which provides space for folks organizing in Georgia to get to know each other, connect issues, and explore opportunities to
collaborate and share
resources.
One thing I personally noticed was that despite the number of total number of folks at
SOAW this year being lower then years past, there seems to be more folks from Georgia not only showing up but playing active roles in various aspects of the demonstration. From building
intricate giant puppets, to performing on stage, to facilitating workshops Georgians seemed more present this year.
To learn more about the SOAW visit:
www.soaw.org
To visit GPJC Atlanta chapter go to:
www.goergiapeace.org
Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee
To our count well over 60 Georgians visited our table at the School of the Americas Watch in Columbus Georgia, they were joined by thousands more from around the country. American Friends Service Committee worked with Georgia WAND and the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition to staff a table at the gates of Fort Benning. We gave out hundreds of our "One Minute for Peace" handouts and had lots of great conversations about our work. I was very grateful for youth at Quaker Volunteer Services who helped staff the table.
In the afternoon we had a really well attended Georgia Activist meet-up, it's the 10th one AFSC has organized. It was wonderful to have space for Georgians doing work around a variety of issues(from nuclear disarmament, to housing, corporate accountability, and more) from different parts of the state together in the same room with the intention of building bridges between issues and making connections with folks around the state. It is in making these important connections that we create the potential to be more than the sum of our parts; to change the political landscape of Georgia!
