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  Protesters March On
Posted by FoM on July 19, 2001 at 08:32:17 PT
By S. Thorne Harper, Staff Writer 
Source: Ledger-Enquirer 

justice Splattered with fake blood and carrying placards condemning recent alleged atrocities in Colombia, 11 demonstrators Wednesday crossed into Fort Benning protesting a revamped post school considered a vital component of U.S. drug war policy.

About 20 people, recently returned from a nine-day trip to Colombia, converged outside Fort Benning before the crossing, asserting that the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation - formerly the School of the Americas - continues to adopt human rights violations they link to its predecessor.

"We're seeking to bring back the stories of the campesinos who have experienced the repression of graduates of the School of the Americas," said Eric LeCompte, 25, the Washington, D.C.-based outreach director for SOA Watch. "We're bringing those stories back here to the source."

Protesters and institute officials mingled together, exchanging ideas, as the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, SOA Watch founder, hammered white crosses into the ground outside the main gate bearing the names of Colombian towns associated with massacres. The protesters criticized the defoliation associated with the U.S.-backed, $1.3 billion "Plan Colombia" anti-cocaine effort. The fumigation destroys the country's food crops in addition to coca plants, they said.

"We found entire banana plantations destroyed by fumigation," LeCompte said.

Institute officials, meanwhile, said the protesters were using arcane arguments to criticize an institute with a new mission.

"We're not trying to be the regional hegemon," said Joe Leuer, chief of the institute's training management division. "We're trying to ensure that everybody in the region is part of the objective of peace and prosperity.

"The story they're telling is a critique of history. What we're about is the future."

"We're an open post and we welcome anyone to come and see what we're about," said Maj. Milton F. Mariani, the institute's public affairs officer.

Last year, Congress voted to close the School of the Americas, which many in government considered had been tainted by continuing public disclosure of atrocities committed in Latin America by some of its graduates. The school reopened earlier this year under a new name, structure and curriculum, including human rights courses.

The institute provides leadership training for military officers, police and civilians who work for public safety agencies in 17 Latin American countries.

Of the 700 students expected to attend the institute this year, 148 of them are from Colombia, Mariani said.

Protesters planned Wednesday's action to coincide with Tuesday's jailing of 19 people convicted of trespassing on the post during a mass protest last November and U.S. congressional debate expected today on expanded fumigation of Latin American coca fields.

The march began when a young woman poured fake blood over her body, draped herself in a Colombian flag and led 10 others onto the post. The group was detained about 30 yards inside the main gate. The 11 were issued ban-and-bar letters, prohibiting them from entering the post for five years. They were then taken outside the post and released on their own recognizance, said Elsie Jackson, a Fort Benning spokeswoman.

Two members of the group had previously received ban-and-bar letters and post officials were considering Wednesday whether to prosecute them for a trespassing violation, Jackson said.

With some members of Congress considering an amendment that will reallocate toward education money initially earmarked for drug eradication, an SOA Watch spokeswoman said protests by groups returning from Colombia is having an effect.

"It's because people like this - the people who have been to Colombia and who have seen what's happening - that the amendment is being offered," said SOA Watch spokeswoman Jackie Downing.

Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA)
Author: S. Thorne Harper, Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, July 19, 2001
Copyright: 2001 Ledger-Enquirer
Contact: letters@Ledger-Enquirer.com
Website: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/

Related Articles & Web Sites:

SOA Watch
http://www.soaw.org/

Colombia Drug War News
http://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htm

Drug War Could Escalate
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10346.shtml

Plan Columbia Broadens
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10335.shtml

CannabisNews Articles - Plan Colombia
http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=plan+colombia


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Comment #1 posted by New Mexican on July 19, 2001 at 22:15:48 PT
Genocide sanctioned by our Silence!
These brave people have my complete support, admiration and respect. They are unsung heros setting an example for us all to follow. 'Speak now or forever hold your Peace' my 8th grade history teacher used to say. We'd better take her advice, as Genoa Fortress Mentality is a virus without an antidote other than neutralizing it with an equal and opposite reaction. As that is a law of nature, this will surely happen. The war on some drugs, Columbia, shrub and his minions, globalization of the fascist state are completely and totally connected. As we move into the next age of equality, the resistance will be great, but nature will force this reality upon us as a direct result of our actions. It won't be pretty, but change is messy. Global warming is our creation, and the playing field will be leveled instantly and we will all realize we need each other to survive as opposed to competing with each other for the lions share of the worlds resources. One persons action can change the world, and these folks should be applauded and as they are jailed, protests should be mounted bringing the unwanted attention to Columbia, the SOA, the lies, murdering and contempt for human life our military flaunts! Just had to get this off my chest! Thanks for the forum and posting the latest articles with the most relevance to the subject of Cannabis. Your dedication is incredible and always inspiring FOM!

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