March Salon on SOA demonstrations: Highlights

Kim Bell — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:19:56 +0000

Irene Rodriguez, a journalist, showed a clip from the film “On the Line” that gave some background information on the SOA (School of the Americas) which included mentioning that hundreds of people have died at the hands of soldiers who were trained there. The demonstration at Fort Benning in November 2009 marked the 20th year of protesting and had around twenty thousand demonstrators. The yearly demonstrations include a funeral procession and naming of the victims of SOA soldiers in which “presente” is uttered after each name is read. Irene showed a clip she had filmed from November’s demonstration that showed the protesters chanting “No mas, No more,” as they walked through the police wall of barricades and continued marching for a long time until finally listening to police announcements.

During the Salon, Professor Margie Thompson also showed a video clip from youtube titled “Honduras Women Targeted for Resisting the Coup” showing civilians, including many women, protesting in the streets against the police in Honduras. There were also copies of the Spring 2010 (Vol 15 No.1) ¡Presente! newsletter, provided by Jane Covode, that includes a lot of articles on the SOA. The action steps were to either sign a postcard and send it to House Representatives not in district 1 or 2 to encourage them to cosponsor the HR 2567 bill that will suspend operations and investigate the SOA/WHINSEC or to write a letter to Congressman Jared Polis or Congresswoman Diana DeGette, who represent districts 1 and 2, thanking them for their co-sponsorship of the HR 2567 bill.

March Salon- 2009 DJPC SOA Protesters & Past Participants

Kim Bell — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:56:28 +0000

The 2010 DJPC Salon Discussion Series invites you to hear experiences from participants in last November’s and previous Fort Benning SOA (School of the Americas) demonstrations to close the school due to their oppressive policies. Learn about current legislation in the U.S. congress and grassroots movements in Latin America to close the U.S. Army school that trains Latin American military.

Join us Thursday, March 18th from 7:00-9:00PM in the Community Room of the Denver Inner City Parish, 1212 Mariposa Street. Plenty of street parking, enter through door off of 12th street. 2010 Salon Series March Flier

Click Here to read the DJPC article on the November demonstration

Salons are held every third Thursday of the month.

Denver Justice & Peace Committee » SOA

March Salon on SOA demonstrations: Highlights

March Salon- 2009 DJPC SOA Protesters & Past Participants