Loyola University Chicago

Loyola students march in a solemn mock funeral procession
commemmorating the many victims of SOA violence.

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.

• 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.

• 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. 

Crosses and pictures assembled at Ft. Benning's gates
memorialize those murdered by graduates of the SOA/WHINSEC.

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.

Getting Involved

 

Campus Events and Preparation Meetings

Various events and preparation meetings take place in the fall semester leading up to our departure in mid-November.  See below:

Wednesday, September 9
7-9 PM
An Evening w/ Lisa Sullivan
"The Honduras Coup: A Report from the Grassroots"
Life Sciences Building, Room 142 (LSC)
Lisa Sullivan is the Latin America Coordinator for School of the Americas Watch, the grassroots organization committed to closing the SOA/WHINSEC.  She has worked for 32 years in Latin America, 23 of them in Venezuela, where she did community organizing while raising her three children in a barrio of Barquisimeto.  Lisa took part in the School of the Americas Watch visit with President Chavez, leading to a withdrawal of Venezuelan troops from the SOA.  Lisa was also a part of recent delegation that met with grassroots organizations in Honduras struggling to respond to the forced removal of the country's president in a June 2009 military coup led by graduates of the SOA.

Thursday, October 22
4:30 PM
An Evening w/ Dr. Jose Orosco
“Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence”
Life Science Auditorium, Room 142 (LSC)
Cesar Chavez has long been heralded for his personal practice of nonviolent resistance in struggles against social, racial, and labor injustices. However, the works of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. have long overshadowed Chavez's contributions to the theory of nonviolence. Jose Antonio Orosco seeks to elevate Chavez as an original thinker, providing an analysis of what Chavez called "the common sense of nonviolence." By engaging Chavez in dialogue with a variety of political theorists and philosophers, Orosco demonstrates how Chavez developed distinct ideas about nonviolent theory that are timely for dealing with today's social and political issues, including racism, sexism, immigration, globalization, and political violence. Dr. Orosco is the author of, “Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence.” He also serves as a faculty advisor to the Centro Cultural Cesar Chavez and is a founding member of the OSU Faculty and Staff for Peace and Justice at Oregon State University.

SOA Protest Preparation Meetings:
These meetings are mandatory for all students taking part in the trip to Columbus, GA.  See dates/times/locations of these meetings below.

Sunday, October 18, 3-5 PM: Simpson MPR (Film & Orientation)
Sunday, November 8, 6-9 PM: Simpson MPR (Non-violence Training)

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.