SOAW in Nicaragua and Guatemala, SOA Grad Convicted for Murder Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:01:04 -0600 (CST) SOA Watch Update 02/21/2008 ===================================== NEWS & UPDATES FROM LATIN AMERICA ===================================== - SOA WATCH IN NICARAGUA AND ECUADOR SOA Watch activists and human rights advocates Pablo Ruiz (of SOAW-Latina), Lisa Sullivan-Rodriguez (SOAW Latin America Project) and Fr. Roy Bourgeois have just completed a very productive delegation to Nicaragua and Ecuador where they met with human rights organizations, social movement leaders and Presidents Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) and Rafael Correa (Ecuador). (Photo - from L to R - Fr. Roy, Lisa Sullivan, President Correa, Pablo Ruiz) The delegation was part of the Latin America Project, the ongoing Americas-wide initiative by grassroots social justice groups to persuade Latin American governments to cut their ties with the School of the Americas/ WHINSEC. So far, the defense ministers of Argentina and Uruguay as well as the presidents of Bolivia, Costa Rica and Venezuela have denounced the legacy of the SOA and pledged to stop sending soldiers to be trained at the school. President Ortega and President Correa communicated their sympathies towards our cause and asked that we express this support to the movement. Both will look into the continued presence of their countries' militaries at the SOA/WHINSEC. Standing up to the Pentagon has serious implications for Latin American countries, the history of U.S. military involvement in Latin America dates back to over an entire century and has proven disastrous and very painful for the people who have had to live under U.S.-backed military dictatorships. --> Continue reading - http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1662 --> Please consider making a donation to SOA Watch to support the Latin America Project - http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=546 - BOLIVIA CONFIRMS WITHDRAWAL FROM SOA/WHINSEC In a letter to the Commandant of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), U.S. Army Col. Gilberto Perez, Bolivian President Evo Morales formally announced this Monday, February 18th that he will no longer send Bolivian military officers to attend training programs at the institute formerly known as the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA). The announcement came as confirmation of a previous public statement made by President Morales in October of last year when he announced that he would discontinue sending troops to the institute based on its historical ties to oppressive military regimes in Latin America. Bolivia has now officially become the fifth country after Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela to withdraw from the Fort Benning institution due to its graduates' ties to criminal activity and human rights abuses in the region. --> Continue reading - http://www.soaw.org/pressrelease.php?id=142 - COLOMBIAN SOA GRAD CONVICTED FOR MURDER Col. Lt. Byron Carvajal, a graduate of the U.S. Army School of the Americas, together with fourteen other Colombian soldiers, face up to 60 years in prison for the murder of ten elite counternarcotics police agents. The fifteen were found guilty of aggravated homicide on in the slaughter of 10 police officers and an informant in a May 2006 ambush outside a rural nursing home near Cali. It is suspected that the fifteen soldiers were protecting a drug cartel. Sentences will be imposed in two weeks. Col. Lt. Byron Carvajal attended the School of the Americas for "Weapons Orientation" as a cadet in 1985. --> Read more - http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=205 ====================== LEGISLATIVE UPDATES ====================== For the next few months, SOA Watch and members of Congress are working to advance SOA/ WHINSEC legislation in the House of Representatives. HR 1707 is legislation that would suspend operations at the School of the Americas, renamed WHINSEC, and investigate the history of human rights abuses and failed policies of the institution. Join us in this legislative campaign! - FEBRUARY 26 IS HR 1707 CALL-IN DAY! On Tuesday, February 26, participate in our Nationwide Call-in Day to support HR 1707! Visit our Legislative Action Index - http://www.soaw.org/legislative - and scroll to the bottom of the screen for the HR 1707 cosponsor list. If your Representative is NOT a cosponsor, take the time to make a short phone call! Contact the Capitol Hill Switchboard (202-224-3121) and they will transfer you to your Representative's office. Ask to speak with the foreign affairs legislative assistant. Click here - http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1661 - for a suggested message for you to convey: - SUPPORT HR 1707 POSTCARD We have a new resource that will help you, your local groups, and your communities communicate with your member of Congress and ask that they join as a cosponsor of HR 1707. Our legislative postcard features artwork from Rini Templeton, an artist-activist who was instrumental in the journey for peace and justice in Latin America. SOA Watch has printed thousands of these postcards that we can mail to you for a suggested donation of $3 for every 100 postcards that you request. These postcards are designed to be mailed to members of the House who have NOT already cosponsored HR 1707. Check here - http://soaw.org/article.php?id=96#cosponsors - to see if your member of Congress is a cosponsor, and if not, take advantage of this incredible resource to get involved in the HR 1707 legislative campaign! For more information, or to place an order for postcards, contact the SOA Watch Legislative Coordinator, Pam Bowman, at pbowman(@)soaw.org or (202) 234-3440. Also visit the Legislative Action Index - http://www.soaw.org/legislative - for more information on the SOA Watch legislative campaigns. =========================== EVENTS & SPEAKING TOURS =========================== - PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE FR. LOUIS VITALE SPEAKS OUT AGAINST TORTURE Father Louis Vitale, will be commencing a nationwide speaking tour starting in April. Father Louis will be released March 14 after serving five months for his nonviolent action crossing the line at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, training center for Army Intelligence Officers in "Enhanced Interrogation" techniques, where the SOA torture manuals were written. If you would like to organize a speaking event for Father Louie, contact Pace e Bene's tour organizer, Felicia Parazaider, at 510-268-8765 or feliciaparazaider@paceebene.org, --> http://paceebene.org/peb-update/no-torture-speaking-tour-father-louie-vitale-ofm - FIVE YEARS TOO MANY - MARCH 19, 2008 Take Action in the Nation's Capitol March 19th will mark the beginning of the sixth year of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Enough is enough! We are organizing creative, nonviolent acts of civil disobedience in Washington DC to interrupt business as usual for those promoting and profiting from war and empire building. Focusing on the pillars of war, our actions will take place at multiple sites, demonstrating the real costs of war and offering visions for a more just and sustainable world, a world at peace. --> Click here for more details - http://5yearstoomany.org/article.php?list=type&type=4 We appreciate your interest! You are subscribed to this list as map@pencil.math.missouri.edu. To unsubscribe, visit - http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/soaw/unsubscribe.jsp, or reply to this email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Our postal address is SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, DC 20017