DMCWers Join 10,000 at Annual SOA Protest

By Ted Walker

Fr. Roy Bourgeois DMCW Photo

Perhaps coincidentally, but certainly not ironically, the very weekend thousands of people gathered in hope and in action to close down the School of the Americas (SOA), the Gospel reading was taken from Luke 21: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…” It is a passage wherein Jesus realistically forewarns us of continual wars and manmade disasters and the persecution of those who live out their faith in Him. This is a reality that for many is very much in the present day and demands our testimony to the countless injustices committed and promoted by this school. This year we were fortunate enough that the very same judge that sentenced 26 of those who crossed the line last year protected our right to demonstrate at the entrance of the base.

Street Theater Puppets Linda Pannetta

It being my first time at the SOA protest, I was experiencing everything wide-eyed and open-minded. I decided beforehand to participate more passively, to soak everything in like a sponge. Little did I know I would be bombarded with the sights and sounds of all-too-real horror stories that come out of that military school, and true visions of peace from the community that gathered there in the spirit of non-violence. There were talks by witnesses and activists, songs sung of bloodshed and the tears of injustice. The weekend was filled with mixed emotions, from outrage to joy. I am still trying to decipher all those thoughts and emotions. Yet there are several aspects in particular about the weekend that inspire me. One thing was new to us all - a fence blocking the once open to the public entrance to the base. The fence, a precautionary addition since the September 11 attack, serves its function to keep the unwanted and the dangerous out. But in the true nature of nonviolent protest, an act that aims to bring both the oppressor and the oppressed to a higher level in the redeeming power of justice, the demonstrators began to decorate the fence, covering it beyond recognition with crosses and banners. It became a beautiful sight.

Lana and Heather Jacobs Linda Pannetta

The symbolism of the crosses, which represented those murdered by graduates of the SOA, transformed the forbidding fence into a moving memorial. Likewise, another use of symbolism had a striking impact on me - the street-theatre puppets. Since that weekend, I have tried hard during my reflection to put into words why the puppets were so amazing to me. Perhaps because, in a simplistic way, they helped me visualize the injustices being done - something about which I had only read and heard. This imagery reminds me that art, whether it be puppetry or painting, can be just as much a part of the resistance as the written and spoken word. And yet, being moved only by symbolism can lead one astray as can being too much grounded in the literal. I am grateful to Lana Jacobs of the Columbia, MO, Catholic Worker for providing hospitality out of rented apartments. It is a blessing to be able to serve at the same time as demonstrate - a balance with which Catholic Workers necessarily struggle. Thank you so much, Lana.

My reflections return back to the harrowing Gospel, which preceded and prepared us for the march. In his homily, however, Fr. John Dear made us laugh, again mixing joy with fear, the very paradoxes and mysteries that pervade our lives on both the real and symbolic level. Fr. John reminded us what it is that is driving us, the Holy Spirit.

The following morning, we cried out “Presente!” to the seemingly endless list of victims murdered by graduates of the SOA as we processed before the entrance to the base - a demonstration that celebrates the glory of the Body of Christ, which rightly unites both the living and the dead. In an age in which philosopher Albert Camus describes as one that mutilates reason and philosophy to justify murderers, the power of our hope-filled presence embodied the Gospel word: “It is time to bear testimony” (Luke 21).

For more information on the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (successor to the SOA), visit www.soaw.org . Editor’s Note: The US Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. Graduates of the SOA are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. Among the SOA’s nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-level SOA graduates have participated in human rights abuses that include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians. On January 17, 2001, the SOA was replaced by the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC).