U.S. Army's School of the Americas Target of Anti-Terrorism Campaign

Interview with Father Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas Watch, conducted by Between the Lines' Melinda Tuhus

Tens of thousands of protesters and those willing to commit nonviolent civil disobedience are preparing to converge on the U.S. Army's School of the Americas, based at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga. Over the decades, thousands of Latin American soldiers have been trained at U.S. government expense, purportedly to instill respect for democracy. But, opponents point out, many of these high-ranking military men have returned to their home countries to carry out murder, rape and repression against their own people.

School of the Americas Watch was founded by Father Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest who, while serving in Latin America, got to know some of the six Jesuit priests who were killed by the Salvadoran military in 1989. An investigation traced their murders to soldiers who had been trained at the U.S. School of the Americas. The annual protest actions at Fort Benning, now in its 13th year, are held Nov. 15-17th, the anniversary of those murders.

Last year, the school was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, but opponents assert that a new name has changed nothing. They continue their campaign demanding that Congress cut funding to the school and close it down. Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Father Bourgeois about the movement to close the School of the America's and the upcoming protest.

For more information on the protest, call the School of the Americas Watch at (202) 903-7257 or visit the group's Web site at www.soaw.org

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