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<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/bacher06252007.html" eudora="autourl">
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</a></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b>June 25,
2007<br><br>
</font><h1><font size=5><b>42 House Democrats Back U.S. Terror
Academy<br><br>
<br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5 color="#990000">
Democrats and the School of the
Americas</b></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5>By DAN
BACHER<br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=6 color="#990000">T</font>
<font face="Verdana" size=2>wo San Joaquin Valley Representatives, Dennis
Cardoza of Merced and Jim Costa of Fresno, were among 42 Democrats that
voted to keep the world's foremost torture school, the School of the
Americas, open during a House vote on June 21. The vote was 203 yes, 214
no, 1 voting "present" and 19 not voting.<br><br>
Cardova, Costa and 40 other Democrats voted no on the McGovern/Lewis
Amendment that would have finally cut off funding to the School of
Americas (SOA), now known as Western Hemisphere Institute for Security
Cooperation (WHINSEC). Only 6 more votes were needed to pass it--but
these Democrats shamefully chose to join Republican Representatives in
voting for the school, whose graduates have been responsible for
genocide, assassinations, torture and other human rights violations
throughout Latin America for decades.<br><br>
California representatives Loretta Sanchez and Grace Napolitano, along
with Charles Rangel of New York, are listed among the Democrats who chose
not to vote. (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not found on any list, not
even present.)<br><br>
SOA Watch, a human rights advocacy group founded in 1990 by Maryknoll
Priest Father Roy Bourgeois to close the "School of Death," was
disappointed by the vote. However, SOA Watch vowed to continue its
efforts in Congress until the school, located in Fort Benning, Georgia,
is shut down.<br><br>
"The grassroots mobilizing effort was tremendous: Tens of thousands
of emails, faxes and calls flooded the halls of Congress over the past
three days," said Joao Da Silva, SOA Watch spokesman, after the vote
at 11:52 p.m. on Thursday. "Students, clergy, union members and
veterans traveled to DC and visited with hundreds of Congressional
offices to communicate clearly that there is no room for institutions
like the SOA/WHINSEC in our future. Despite this, 214 Members of Congress
missed the chance to stand up for human rights, justice and democracy,
and voted to keep the funding for the SOA/WHINSEC flowing."<br><br>
The WHINSEC "PR machine" and high-ranking Pentagon officials
used taxpayer money to put a lot of pressure on Members of Congress.
However, Da Silva said this is no excuse for Representatives to not be
accountable to their constituents.<br><br>
"There were Representatives this week that committed to vote to cut
funding for the SOA/WHINSEC, and then shifted their vote," said Da
Silva. "Those people need hear from all of us, loudly and in
public."<br><br>
Da Silva emphasized, "While we did not get enough Members of
Congress to vote with us, it was clear to us and our supporters in the
House that we have tremendous power when we mobilize together. We gained
the support of new Republicans and new members of Congress. The margin of
SOA/ WHINSEC survival is rapidly dwindling, and this week due to
grassroots pressure, we added several new cosponsors to HR 1707 bringing
our total to 111. We have gained a lot of ground in Congress and our goal
of closing this School of the Death is coming closer and
closer."<br><br>
The vote, although it failed by 6 votes, still came closer to ending the
school's funding than last June's vote, when the amendment to the Foreign
Operations Appropriations Bill by Jim McGovern (D-MA) calling for
school's closure failed by a 15 vote margin.<br><br>
The recent vote came after a series of successes by SOA Watch over the
past two years in convincing Latin America leaders to remove their
military and police officers from the school. Venezuela, the first
country to withdraw its troops from the SOA in 2005, was followed by
Argentina and Uruguay last year. After a visit to Bolivia by Roy
Bourgeois, President Evo Morales said Bolivia's military will be pulling
out of SOA/WHINSEC on a gradual basis<br><br>
More recently, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias announced on May 16 that
Costa Rica will stop sending its police to train at the school. Arias, a
Nobel Peace Prize winner, made the decision after talks with a delegation
of SOA Watch, including Bourgeois and Lisa Sullivan Rodriguez.<br><br>
Costa Rica does not have an army--choosing to spend its tax money on
education, health and social welfare--but has sent some 2,600 police
officers over the years to be trained at the school.<br><br>
"We agreed that when the courses end for the three policemen we are
not going to send any more," Arias said.<br><br>
The SOA/WHINSEC has graduated at least 11 military dictators and over
60,000 soldiers, many of which have been linked to some of the worst
human rights abuses committed in the Americas.<br><br>
"The school made headlines in 1996 when the Pentagon released
training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and
execution," said Da Silva. "Despite this admission and hundreds
of documented human rights abuses committed by soldiers trained at the
school, no independent investigation into the facility has ever taken
place."<br><br>
SOA Graduates include Hugo Banzer Suarez, the former dictator of Bolivia,
and Guatemalan Dictator Efren Rios Montt, who was responsible for a war
of genocide against the Mayan people that resulted in the elimination of
626 Mayan villages from the face of the earth. Notorious human rights
abusers such General Hector Gramajo of Guatemala, Leopoldo Galtieri of
Argentina, and Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador were also
graduates.<br><br>
Lower-level SOA graduates have been involved in many atrocities including
the massacre of 900 people at the village of El Mozote in El Salvador in
the early 1980s and the massacre of four Jesuit priests and the
housekeeper at in San Salvador in 1989.<br><br>
Bourgeois in his talks around the country always emphasizes the role that
the school plays in providing the shock troops and enforcers for
corporate globalization throughout Latin America.<br><br>
"The SOA continues to provide the muscle for U.S. foreign policy. It
keeps the rich rich and the poor poor," said Bourgeois at a talk in
Sacramento this February.<br><br>
Protests calling for the closure of the School of the Americas/WHINSEC
have taken place every year around the November 16 anniversary of the
assassination of six Jesuit priests and two Salvadoran women at the hands
of SOA graduates.<br><br>
Every year, brave activists "trespass" onto army property
during the protest at Fort Benning, facing arrest and time in federal
prison. Since 1990, 211 SOA Watch human rights defenders have
collectively spent over 92 years in prison, while over 50 people have
served probation sentences.<br><br>
<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org//clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll536.xml">
SOA/WHINSEC Vote in Congress</a> Visit to check the roll call to see
how your Representative voted. Call the Capitol switchboard at
202-224-3121 to thank your Representative or to express your
displeasure.<br><br>
For more information, visit the <a href="http://www.soaw.org/">SOA Watch
website</a> and the Legislative Action Index.<br><br>
List of Democrats Voting No for Closure of the SOA:<br><br>
Abercrombie, Neil, Hawaii<br><br>
Barrow, John, Georgia<br><br>
Bishop, Sanford D. Georgia<br><br>
Boren, Dan, Oklahoma<br><br>
Cardoza, Dennis, California<br><br>
Carney, Christopher, Pennsylvania<br><br>
Castor, Kathy, Florida<br><br>
Clyburn, James, South Carolina<br><br>
Cooper, James, Tennessee<br><br>
Costa, James, California<br><br>
Cuellar, Henry, Texas<br><br>
Dingell, John, Michigan<br><br>
Edwards, Chet, Texas<br><br>
Gonzalez, Charles, Texas<br><br>
Gordon, Bart, Tennessee<br><br>
Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie, South Dakota<br><br>
Jefferson, William, Louisiana<br><br>
Johnson, E.B., Texas<br><br>
Klein, Ron, Florida<br><br>
Lampson, Nick, Texas<br><br>
Mahoney, Tim, Florida<br><br>
Marshall, James, Georgia<br><br>
Matheson, James, Utah<br><br>
McIntyre, Michael, North Carolina<br><br>
Meek, Kendrick, Florida<br><br>
Miller., Brad, North Carolina<br><br>
Murphy, Patrick, Pennsylvania<br><br>
Murtha, John, Pennsylvania<br><br>
Perlmutter, Ed, Colorado<br><br>
Peterson, Colin, Minnesota<br><br>
Reyes, Silvestre, Teaxs<br><br>
Rodriguez, Ciro, Texas<br><br>
Ross, Michael, Arkansas<br><br>
Ruppersberger, Dutch, Maryland<br><br>
Sestak, Joseph, Pennsylvania<br><br>
Skelton, Ike, Missouri<br><br>
Space, Zachary, Ohio<br><br>
Spratt, John, South Carolina<br><br>
Tanner, John, Tennessee<br><br>
Taylor, Gene, Mississippi<br><br>
Present:<br><br>
Christensen, Donna, US Virgin Islands<br><br>
Not Voting:<br><br>
Bordallo, Madeline, Guam<br><br>
Costello, Jerry, Illinois<br><br>
Cramer, Robert, Alabama<br><br>
Johnson, Henry, Georgia<br><br>
Meehan, Marty, Massachusetts<br><br>
Melancon, Charles, Louisiana<br><br>
Napolitano, Grace, California<br><br>
Ortiz, Solomon, Texas<br><br>
Rangel, Charles, New York<br><br>
Sanchez, Loretta, California<br><br>
Scott, David, Georgia<br><br>
Weiner, Anthony, New York<br><br>
<b>Dan Bacher</b> can be reached at:
<a href="mailto:danielbacher@hotmail.com">danielbacher@hotmail.com<br><br>
<br><br>
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