Indistinguishable voices from 15 Cabrini affiliates chanted among the thousands congregating outside of the School of Americas. Signs, wooden crosses and photos kept protestors’ hands full. Roughly a thousand walked in solidarity with those being affected hundreds of miles away in the Stewart Detention Center.
On Nov. 16, 1990, the first SOA Watch began, which was also the first anniversary of the murders of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador, all whose murders were carried out by trained SOA officers.
“It was important to attend this protest because I didn’t have much knowledge on the SOA issue and getting there I found out a lot about what they do at this school and how immigrants are treated at the different detention centers,” senior Karina Dean said. “I would not have known that if I had not attended the protest.”
The School of Americas is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers and was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute Security Cooperation in 2001.
“We are tired of the SOA/WHINSEC training of Mexican police officers and the drug trade fueled violence that led to student massacres,” one of the spokespersons during a protest said.
Some of the ways in which the graduates of SOA grow to become some of the worst human rights violators is because victims have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred and forced into refugee.
“The SOA have left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned,” according to Soaw.org. “Since 1946, the SOA has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people.”
Friday
Exhausted from the travel from Pennsylvania to North Carolina the night before, everyone got up early and drove five hours to Columbus, Ga.
When the group finally arrived to the Convention center, which was where the workshops were held for the weekend, they attended different workshops throughout the day.
“My favorite workshop was the Jesus movement discussion,” Dean said. “It gave me insight to the Christianity and why I need to study more about my faith.”
Saturday
“We are tired of increasing violence, torture and deaths in Honduras,” said one of the spokespersons on Saturday, Nov. 22.
According to most of the group of Cabrini student and staff, their favorite part of the day was when they walked 1.7 miles to the gates of the Stewart Detention Center. Then to see five people cross over and get arrested in order to shine more of a light on what is happening in the SOA.
“My favorite part of the trip was the March on Saturday to the Stewart Detention Center. There was so much dedication and time put in.”
“The most powerful experience of the trip for me was watching guards at the CCA hug protesters in a sign of peace,” Cabrini Missioner, Matt Kaehler said. “It was such a touching revelation that this process of liberation is for everyone, the oppressed and the oppressors. As a citizen of the world, the smallest of my actions affects men, women, and children worlds away. It was important for me to experience this protest – as it is important for me to experience any number of educational opportunities – because it offered me insights into how to be as positive an influence as I can in this world…for each one of them.”
Sunday
“This is a very, very serious thing to me. I cry for all the Latin American people, my heart will be with all of you guys,” SOA Watch activist, Nashua Chantal, who crossed over onto SOA grounds for the third time, risking another 6-month prison sentence.
Sunday was an emotional day all around with so many people crying and completely moved by the song and demonstrations. This is where everyone gathered with their crosses and dressed up in many different eye-capturing outfits and then everyone walked in solidarity with each other, around the driveway to the SOA.
“25 years later we are still saying close SOA, I come out here every year because I believe one day WHINSEC is going to be closed, I believe that one day the general and the city will hear our voices, I come out here because of Rachel Cory, I come out here because of Marissa Alexander, I come out here for Trayvon Martin, and all of the brothers killed because of Brown in Ferguson, I come out here because there is a revolution,” Br. Edward DuBose said. “You cannot stop the revolution.”
@M_RomaineHarris
