SOA/WHINSEC Vigil & Non-Violent Protest
- Join the Movement
- About the SOA/WHINSEC
- About the SOA Watch
- About the Ignatian Family Teach-In
- Getting Involved
Join the Movement to close the SOA/WHINSEC
All Loyolans are welcome to join University Ministry's annual trip to protest the existence of the SOA/WHINSEC, a US military school that trains foreign soldiers in counter-insurgency methods. A startling number of graduates from this training facility have been implicated in assassinations, massacres, human rights abuses and other crimes, including corruption, drug trading and money-laundering, in Latin America. Every year, since 1999, Loyola has organized a trip to Fort Benning/Columbus, GA to participate in non-violent action and join a gathering of Ignatian schools in the middle of November around the anniversary of the murder of six Jesuits and two Salvadoran laywomen in El Salvador in 1989. Apply here.
About the SOA/WHINSEC
The School of the Americas (SOA) was founded in Panama in 1946 as a US Army training school for Latin American military personnel. The school provides training in counter-insurgency, military intelligence, infantry tactics, anti-narcotics operations, and commando operations. Based on local reaction, the SOA was removed from Panama in 1984 and resumed its operations at a new training facility at Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA. In response to repeated efforts to close the school in the US and under pressure to perform a congressional investigation, legislation was passed to close the SOA in January of 2001. During the same legislative process, however, opponents of closing the SOA preserved the mandate of the School in the naming and “opening” of a new institution called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). The Institute maintains the same functions as the SOA with a slightly adapted structure of oversight within the Department of Defense. In recent years, legislation has strongly resurfaced to defund the SOA/WHINSEC and sponsor an investigation that would expose the institution's past and current deeds.
Key Concerns:
- SOA/WHINSEC graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America.
- SOA/WHINSEC graduates include notorious 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, as well as Peruvian spy chief under President Fujimori, Vladimiro Montesinos.
- Among the many human rights abuses perpetuated by SOA/WHINSEC graduates in countries throughout Latin America, the most commonly cited and high profile cases come from El Salvador, where SOA graduates were involved in the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero; the killings of 4 North American churchwomen; the massacre of 900 civilians in El Mozote; and the murder of 6 Jesuit priests and two Salvadoran laywomen at the Universidad Centro Americana (UCA), a Jesuit Univeristy in El Salvador, on November 16, 1989.
Basic Facts:
- The School of the Americas (SOA) is now officially known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).
- SOA/WHINSEC is located at Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA.
- SOA/WHINSEC is an official US Army/DOD training school for Latin American military personnel.
- SOA/WHINSEC trains Latin American military personnel in counter-insurgency, infantry tactics, military intelligence, anti-narcotics operations, and commando operations
- SOA/WHINSEC training is funded by US taxpayers.
About the SOA Watch
SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement and organization founded by Maryknoll priest Rev. Roy Borgeois in 1990. SOA Watch works in solidarity with the people of Latin America to close the SOA/WHINSEC through vigils and fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, as well as media initiatives and legislative action. The movement is increasingly concerned with wider struggles for economic and social justice through its efforts to change oppressive aspects of U.S. foreign policy represented in the SOA/WHINSEC.
For more information, visit the SOA Watch website.
About the Ignatian Family Teach-In
Coinciding with the protest at the gates of Fort Benning, the Ignatian Family Teach-In (IFT) is an annual event marking the anniversary of the slain Jesuits and laywomen of El Salvador. During this gathering of the Ignatian family, participants reflect on their collective commitment to live "a faith that does justice" and rally around the call for an end to unjust institutions, including the SOA/WHINSEC. Speakers, ranging from high school students to bishops, make remarks on a range of justice issues.
Loyola University Chicago is one of many members of the Ignatian family that gathers at the Teach-In, including:
- Ignatian Religious and lay groups
- Jesuit colleges and universities
- The Jesuit Commission on Social and International Ministry
- Jesuit high schools
- Jesuit Provinces
- Jesuit theological centers
- The Jesuit Volunteers Corps
- Former Jesuits and Companions groups
For more information, visit the Ignatian Family Teach-In website.
- Rev. Rutilio Grande, S.J., Assassinated in El Salvador, 1977.
Getting Involved
Become a participant in the non-violent Protest and Vigil to Close the SOA/WHINSEC, November 20-24, 2008:
Students, faculty, staff and members of the Jesuit Community from Loyola University Chicago travel by chartered buses to Columbus, GA to join in the Ignatian Family Teach-In and SOA Watch Vigil and Protest. Space is limited. We leave in the late evening on Thursday night for an overnight drive to Columbus; on the return, we depart from the gates of Ft. Benning on Sunday afternoon and arrive in the early morning on Monday. Students are responsible for making their instructors aware of any absences related to the trip and arranging permission to miss class/assignments.
Applications are due by Friday, September 26. Applications are available in University Ministry offices across campus in the Mundelein Center, Suite 101, in CFSU and in the Simpson Living Learning Center. Or download an application here. The cost to participate in the trip is $75. The participation fee includes transportation & lodging. Meals are not included.
Various events and preparation meetings will take place in the fall semester leading up to our departure in mid-November. See below:
Wednesday, September 17: 6:30-8:30 PM
ON THE LINE screening & presentation in LSB Auditorium, Rm 142
Film: www.onthelinefilm.org; Speaker: Eric LeCompte, lead organizer, SOAW
Sunday, October 26: 3:00-6:00 PM in Bremner Lounge
Mandatory Orientation & Non-Violence Training
Sunday, November 16: 9:00 PM in Madonna Della Strada Chapel
Send-off Liturgy & UCA Martyrs Commemoration
Please contact Patrick Eccles (peccles@luc.edu or 773-508-2205) in University Ministry for more information.
Attend Lobby Days and participate in Legislative Action:
Beyond attending the protest, action is needed to support current legislation and other legislative efforts to close the SOA/WHINSEC. Join with many other SOA Watch activists and visit your Representatives and Senators in Washington, DC on SOA Watch's Lobby Days. Check the SOA Watch web page for more details.