Sinsinawa
Spectrum
A Congregation News Magazine
Sinsinawa Dominicans Attend SOA Vigil
by Jeri Cashman, OP
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From left: Srs. Patty Caraher, Marie Sullivan, and Jeri Cashman at the SOA vigil
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Dominican Sisters, Priests, Associates, Volunteers, and friends joined nearly 5,000 others gathered at the gates of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly known as the School of the Americas/SOA) in Fort Benning, GA, in November to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the murders of six Jesuit priests and Elba Ramos and her 14-year-old daughter Celia Ramos at the Central American University of San Salvador. Following a rally featuring a performance by the Indigo Girls, activists participated in the yearly Presente March, ending at the gates of Ft. Benning. Activists carried crosses with the names of the victims of brutal repression in Central and South America.
Four people were arrested earlier in the day for crossing on to the base. Three of the four arrested for entering the base have been released and will face trial in January 2010. Additionally, 50 marchers left the permitted route and are being threatened with arrest.
“I was privileged to be with several dozen members of the Dominican Family as we heard about the rape, torture, terror, and killings of the past in El Salvador, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala, Chile, and Argentina,” said Sinsinawa Dominican Associate Candy Krepel. “We heard of continuing terror in Haiti, Honduras, and Colombia. We learned how concerned our neighbors are about the recent agreement for the United States to lease seven Colombian military bases. We heard the call to contact members of Congress asking for reconsideration of that agreement. We heard the call to bring the vigil home by making our local neighbors aware of U.S. policy in Latin America. We listened to the pain of the survivors who were courageous enough to share their stories. We were deeply touched . . . and we stood and walked in the cold and rain and knew that we were there . . . for those who are no longer with us. ¡Presente!”
Activists celebrated the announcement that Fr. Roy Bourgeois, MM, and the members of the School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch) have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their sustained, faithful, nonviolent witness against the disappearances, torture, and murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians (peasants, community and union organizers, clerics, missionaries, educators, and health workers) by foreign military personnel trained by the U.S. military at U.S. taxpayer expense at the School of the Americas. “We are deeply honored and deeply humbled to be nominated for this prize for peace,” said Roy, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient who helped found SOA Watch. “This nomination is recognition of the work of the thousands struggling against militarism across the Americas.”
SOA Watch is a nonviolent, grassroots movement that works to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America to close the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. A U.S. Congressional Task Force reported that those responsible for the murders of the Jesuits were trained at the U.S. Army SOA. We hope members of Congress will cosponsor the Latin America Military Training Review Act (HR 2567). This bill would suspend operations at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation where graduates consistently appear in reports of human-rights abuses in Latin America. Take action with your Dominican sisters and brothers in support of human rights today!