http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/t/3823/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1732

Petition to President Barack Obama to Close the SOA/WHINSEC

As President of the United States of America, Barack Obama can issue an executive order to close down the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC).

Dear President Obama,

The School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) is part of the conventional thinking that military repression is a solution to social and political problems. The existence of the SOA/ WHINSEC is part of a larger failure in U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America. It is a symbol of oppression and U.S. domination for most Latin Americans and should be shut down without delay.

I am urging you to issue an executive order to close down the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC)

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/t/3823/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1732

What is the SOA?

The School of the Americas (SOA), in 2001 renamed the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation,” is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Initially established in Panama in 1946, it was kicked out of that country in 1984 under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. Former Panamanian President, Jorge Illueca, stated that the School of the Americas was the “biggest base for destabilization in Latin America.” The SOA, frequently dubbed the “School of Assassins,” has left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned.

Over its 59 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 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. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.

Pusla aquí para leer en español: La Escuela de las Am?ricas

Clic ici pour lire en fran?ais: L'Ecole des Am?riques​

http://www.soaw.org/site/type.php?type=8