SOA protest movement gaining as Iraq War stirs desire for peace

by Mauro Pineda

On February 20, 2008, Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the SOA Watch, visited Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa in an ongoing initiative to persuade Latin American governments to cut ties with the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), better known as School of the Americas (SOA). Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua had already pledged to stop sending soldiers to be trained at the school and Ecuador is now considering the removal of its soldiers beginning
in 2009. They have all denounced the terrible legacy of the SOA.

Prisoners of conscience honored

At home, amid failures of U.S. foreign policy in Iraq and the increasing number of soldiers injured and killed, support for the SOA Watch continues to rise. There were 25,000 people at the protest vigil last November. Eleven were arrested and subsequently jailed as prisoners of conscience. Among them was Diane Lopez Hughes of Springfield, Ill., a member of Call To Action and long time promoter of peace and justice. Also, the death of Franciscan Sr. Dorothy Hennessey in Dubuque, SOA protest movement gaining as Iraq War stirs desire for peace Iowa, a teacher who became an activist and longtime CTA member, shone some light on the peace movement once again. She made national news in 2001, when, after trespassing at the Fort Benning, Ga., military base in November 2000, she and her fellow arrestee and sibling, Sr. Gwen Hennessey, served six-month prison terms. They were 88 and 68 years old, respectively.

Latin American countries are parting with the School of the Americas due to human rights concerns and as a result of the protests here at home. To remember Sr. Dorothy and to honor the work of the many prisoners who live Gospel nonviolence, Call To Action will organize a liturgy at the SOA Watch vigil on Friday, Nov. 21 in Columbus, Ga. Mark your calendars and visit www.cta-usa.org for details or call Mauro Pineda at 773 404- 0004 ext. 268.