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    <title>schoolofamericas &amp;mdash; Fight Back! News</title>
    <link>https://fightbacknews.org/tag:schoolofamericas</link>
    <description>News and Views from the People&#39;s Struggle</description>
    <pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:16:53 +0000</pubDate>
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      <title>schoolofamericas &amp;mdash; Fight Back! News</title>
      <link>https://fightbacknews.org/tag:schoolofamericas</link>
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      <title>Florida SDS, anti-war activists protest SOA </title>
      <link>https://fightbacknews.org/florida-sds-anti-war-activists-protest-soa?pk_campaign=rss-feed</link>
      <description>&lt;![CDATA[Demands freedom for Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad &#xA;&#xA;Columbus, GA - Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and anti-war activists from college campuses in Tampa, Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida traveled to Columbus to protest the School of the Americas (SOA) on Nov. 20.&#xA;&#xA;!--more--&#xA;&#xA;Peace and justice activists have been protesting to close the SOA, also known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), for 20 years now. The SOA trains Latin America military death squads who murder leftists and union leaders, especially in Colombia. Protesters also joined together in front of the nearby Stewart Detention Center to demand “Not one more deportation!” of undocumented immigrants. Many undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are fleeing from countries where SOA-trained military death squads operate.&#xA;&#xA;The Florida students and anti-war activists educated other SOA protesters about Simon Trinidad, a Colombian political prisoner in the U.S. They are demanding Trinidad be released in order to participate in the peace negotiations between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government. The activists promoted a Nov. 24 call-in day to the White House to free Simon Trinidad.&#xA;&#xA;“I support Simon Trinidad because he is doing what any person should do: serve their people and their interests by ending a destructive civil war through peace negotiations. He doesn&#39;t deserve to be jailed, and the peace process should be supported,” said Homam Nasser, an organizer with the Committee to Stop FBI Repression–Tampa.&#xA;&#xA;Elizabeth Kramer with Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) explained, “U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) funds research on torturing methods and drone technology, has a student population to recruit from, and a well-funded ROTC program, amongst many other things at the University of South Florida.”&#xA;&#xA;Kramer continued, “We as students, in our opposition to American imperialism and campus militarization, support SOA Watch. We are here to protest U.S. military operations in Latin America and support freedom for Simon Trinidad.”&#xA;&#xA;Tampa Bay SDS currently has a campaign to cut the contracts between University of South Florida and SOUTHCOM and Central Command (CENTCOM), which direct wars and death squads in Latin America and the Middle East.&#xA;&#xA;#ColumbusGA #AntiwarMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Colombia #SchoolOfAmericas #SimónTrinidad #PoliticalRepression&#xA;&#xA;div id=&#34;sharingbuttons.io&#34;/div]]&gt;</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>_Demands freedom for Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad _</p>

<p>Columbus, GA – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and anti-war activists from college campuses in Tampa, Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida traveled to Columbus to protest the School of the Americas (SOA) on Nov. 20.</p>



<p>Peace and justice activists have been protesting to close the SOA, also known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), for 20 years now. The SOA trains Latin America military death squads who murder leftists and union leaders, especially in Colombia. Protesters also joined together in front of the nearby Stewart Detention Center to demand “Not one more deportation!” of undocumented immigrants. Many undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are fleeing from countries where SOA-trained military death squads operate.</p>

<p>The Florida students and anti-war activists educated other SOA protesters about Simon Trinidad, a Colombian political prisoner in the U.S. They are demanding Trinidad be released in order to participate in the peace negotiations between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government. The activists promoted a Nov. 24 call-in day to the White House to free Simon Trinidad.</p>

<p>“I support Simon Trinidad because he is doing what any person should do: serve their people and their interests by ending a destructive civil war through peace negotiations. He doesn&#39;t deserve to be jailed, and the peace process should be supported,” said Homam Nasser, an organizer with the Committee to Stop FBI Repression–Tampa.</p>

<p>Elizabeth Kramer with Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) explained, “U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) funds research on torturing methods and drone technology, has a student population to recruit from, and a well-funded ROTC program, amongst many other things at the University of South Florida.”</p>

<p>Kramer continued, “We as students, in our opposition to American imperialism and campus militarization, support SOA Watch. We are here to protest U.S. military operations in Latin America and support freedom for Simon Trinidad.”</p>

<p>Tampa Bay SDS currently has a campaign to cut the contracts between University of South Florida and SOUTHCOM and Central Command (CENTCOM), which direct wars and death squads in Latin America and the Middle East.</p>

<p><a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:ColumbusGA" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">ColumbusGA</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:AntiwarMovement" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">AntiwarMovement</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:StudentsForADemocraticSociety" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">StudentsForADemocraticSociety</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:Colombia" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">Colombia</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:SchoolOfAmericas" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">SchoolOfAmericas</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:Sim%C3%B3nTrinidad" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">SimónTrinidad</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:PoliticalRepression" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">PoliticalRepression</span></a></p>

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      <guid>https://fightbacknews.org/florida-sds-anti-war-activists-protest-soa</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2015 01:28:56 +0000</pubDate>
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      <title>Close the School of the Americas! Students Join SDS Nov. 16-18th to Oppose the SOA/WHINSEC in Ft. Benning, GA!</title>
      <link>https://fightbacknews.org/close-school-americas-students-join-sds-nov-16-18th-oppose-soawhinsec-ft-benning-ga?pk_campaign=rss-feed</link>
      <description>&lt;![CDATA[Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution adopted at the 2012 SDS National Convention&#xA;&#xA;!--more--&#xA;&#xA;The School of the Americas (renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in 2001) is a military training school for Latin American death squads located in Fort Benning, Georgia. Since 1946, the School of Americas has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers and dictators in torture tactics, coup de etats, psychological warfare and counterinsurgency.&#xA;&#xA;Hundreds of thousands of Latin American workers, students, activists and poor people have suffered torture, rape, assassinations, and “disappearances” because of the training their militaries received at the “School of Assassins.” The SOA/WHINSEC teaches Latin American military forces how to use repression and violence to stifle democracy and keep the far right and their U.S. backers in control of countries struggling for peace and the right to self determination.&#xA;&#xA;The effects of training received at Fort Benning, Georgia on Latin American countries is very clear. Many Latin American countries, like Colombia, suffer from right-wing death squads trained in Ft. Benning on how to kill and repress their own people. The attempted coup de etat against Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in 2002 was another anti-democratic mission brewed at the SOA. Some countries, like Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador and most recently Nicaragua, have already stopped sending troops to the SOA. Students for a Democratic Society hopes more countries follow their lead.&#xA;&#xA;Because of the atrocious and repressive aims of the SOA/WHINSEC, Students for a Democratic Society opposes the “School of Assassins.” SDS urges students from around the country to travel to Ft. Benning, Georgia the weekend of November 16-18 and demand that the School of the Americas be shut down forever. Students are also encouraged to attend the Student Meet-Up at the School of the Americas Protest the weekend of November 16-18 and discuss ways to organize our schools and community for a peaceful world without the “School of Assassins.”&#xA;&#xA;#CussetaGeorgia #CussetaGA #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SchoolOfAmericas #LatinAmerica #antiimperialism #FortBenning&#xA;&#xA;div id=&#34;sharingbuttons.io&#34;/div]]&gt;</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution adopted at the 2012 SDS National Convention</em></p>



<p>The School of the Americas (renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in 2001) is a military training school for Latin American death squads located in Fort Benning, Georgia. Since 1946, the School of Americas has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers and dictators in torture tactics, coup de etats, psychological warfare and counterinsurgency.</p>

<p>Hundreds of thousands of Latin American workers, students, activists and poor people have suffered torture, rape, assassinations, and “disappearances” because of the training their militaries received at the “School of Assassins.” The SOA/WHINSEC teaches Latin American military forces how to use repression and violence to stifle democracy and keep the far right and their U.S. backers in control of countries struggling for peace and the right to self determination.</p>

<p>The effects of training received at Fort Benning, Georgia on Latin American countries is very clear. Many Latin American countries, like Colombia, suffer from right-wing death squads trained in Ft. Benning on how to kill and repress their own people. The attempted coup de etat against Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in 2002 was another anti-democratic mission brewed at the SOA. Some countries, like Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador and most recently Nicaragua, have already stopped sending troops to the SOA. Students for a Democratic Society hopes more countries follow their lead.</p>

<p>Because of the atrocious and repressive aims of the SOA/WHINSEC, Students for a Democratic Society opposes the “School of Assassins.” SDS urges students from around the country to travel to Ft. Benning, Georgia the weekend of November 16-18 and demand that the School of the Americas be shut down forever. Students are also encouraged to attend the Student Meet-Up at the School of the Americas Protest the weekend of November 16-18 and discuss ways to organize our schools and community for a peaceful world without the “School of Assassins.”</p>

<p><a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:CussetaGeorgia" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">CussetaGeorgia</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:CussetaGA" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">CussetaGA</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:StudentsForADemocraticSociety" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">StudentsForADemocraticSociety</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:SchoolOfAmericas" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">SchoolOfAmericas</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:LatinAmerica" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">LatinAmerica</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:antiimperialism" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">antiimperialism</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:FortBenning" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">FortBenning</span></a></p>

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      <guid>https://fightbacknews.org/close-school-americas-students-join-sds-nov-16-18th-oppose-soawhinsec-ft-benning-ga</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 12 Nov 2012 04:12:14 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
      <title>Close the School of the Assassins!</title>
      <link>https://fightbacknews.org/closesoa?pk_campaign=rss-feed</link>
      <description>&lt;![CDATA[Columbus, GA - &#34;Shut Down the S.O.A.! Shut Down the S.O.A.!&#34; rings in the ears of everyone the 12,000-plus protesters, students, faith activists, and also the sales clerks, waitresses, workers, U.S. and Latin American soldiers at the School of the Americas, Fort Benning, in Columbus, Georgia, Nov. 17-19. Far away in Colombia the leaders of trade unions, student organizations, peasant associations, and human rights groups also think quietly about and discuss, in out-of-the-way places, the need to shut down the S.O.A.&#xA;&#xA;!--more--&#xA;&#xA;Activists in the U.S. will witness and do acts of civil disobedience at Fort Benning in solidarity with the poor and oppressed in Colombia. Meanwhile, the Colombian people prepare for the day when the Colombian Army and the paramilitary death squads that the S.O.A. trains will show up to torture and execute people in their village or barrio. This is happening on a weekly basis now that &#34;Plan Colombia&#34; has begun.&#xA;&#xA;Clinton and Gore&#39;s Plan Colombia has unleashed a type of fascist terror in parts of Colombia. Trained and directed by Colombia&#39;s S.O.A.-educated military, with over 10,000 S.O.A. graduates, the paramilitary death squads are at the core of the CIA/Pentagon/White House Plan Colombia. The paramilitaries&#39; job is to terrorize both rural and urban populations into submission. Anyone who acts to organize their community, school, work place, or farm becomes a &#34;legitimate target&#34; because they are a threat to &#34;national security&#34;.&#xA;&#xA;Clinton stomped all over the human rights requirements in the $1,300,000,000 Plan Colombia aid package. He approved the funding, in spite of the fact that only one of the seven human rights requirements were met by the Colombian government and military. Clinton and Gore do not care about human rights.&#xA;&#xA;Clinton and Gore both know the Colombian war is for preserving the economic domination of U.S. big business. Al Gore knows he has to defend his own and his billionaire/millionaire friends&#39; ownership of oil, silver, minerals, bananas, coffee, technology, and waterways. While the number one business in the world is weapons, the number two business is illegal drugs, and the capitalist class that runs the U.S. has the commanding interest in both markets. The rich rulers of the U.S. will not allow either market out of their control. The S.O.A. is the rich man&#39;s University of State Terror.&#xA;&#xA;The protesters at the School Of the Americas will create a larger and more militant demonstration this year. The movement against the S.O.A. is surging yet again because of the Plan Colombia and its murderous affects. There will be more students who are organizing to stop U.S. intervention in Colombia. Students are forming chapters of the Colombia Action Network to stop the war in Colombia. Jackson Potter, a college senior said, &#34;I oppose the S.O.A. because it is where most of the human rights violators in Colombia are trained and then invited back to teach classes!&#34;&#xA;&#xA;More trade unionists will be at the S.O.A. this year because half of the trade unionists killed or disappeared in the world last year were Colombians; a union leader is killed every three days by Colombia&#39;s death squads. The religious activists continue to march forward in growing numbers seeking peace with justice. This demonstration should push the anti-S.O.A. protests to a new level. The protest will reach people across the U.S. and give hope to those fighting for justice in Colombia. We will shut down the S.O.A.!&#xA;&#xA;#ColumbusGA #AntiwarMovement #News #Colombia #SchoolOfAmericas&#xA;&#xA;div id=&#34;sharingbuttons.io&#34;/div]]&gt;</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Columbus, GA – “Shut Down the S.O.A.! Shut Down the S.O.A.!” rings in the ears of everyone the 12,000-plus protesters, students, faith activists, and also the sales clerks, waitresses, workers, U.S. and Latin American soldiers at the School of the Americas, Fort Benning, in Columbus, Georgia, Nov. 17-19. Far away in Colombia the leaders of trade unions, student organizations, peasant associations, and human rights groups also think quietly about and discuss, in out-of-the-way places, the need to shut down the S.O.A.</p>



<p>Activists in the U.S. will witness and do acts of civil disobedience at Fort Benning in solidarity with the poor and oppressed in Colombia. Meanwhile, the Colombian people prepare for the day when the Colombian Army and the paramilitary death squads that the S.O.A. trains will show up to torture and execute people in their village or barrio. This is happening on a weekly basis now that “Plan Colombia” has begun.</p>

<p>Clinton and Gore&#39;s Plan Colombia has unleashed a type of fascist terror in parts of Colombia. Trained and directed by Colombia&#39;s S.O.A.-educated military, with over 10,000 S.O.A. graduates, the paramilitary death squads are at the core of the CIA/Pentagon/White House Plan Colombia. The paramilitaries&#39; job is to terrorize both rural and urban populations into submission. Anyone who acts to organize their community, school, work place, or farm becomes a “legitimate target” because they are a threat to “national security”.</p>

<p>Clinton stomped all over the human rights requirements in the $1,300,000,000 Plan Colombia aid package. He approved the funding, in spite of the fact that only one of the seven human rights requirements were met by the Colombian government and military. Clinton and Gore do not care about human rights.</p>

<p>Clinton and Gore both know the Colombian war is for preserving the economic domination of U.S. big business. Al Gore knows he has to defend his own and his billionaire/millionaire friends&#39; ownership of oil, silver, minerals, bananas, coffee, technology, and waterways. While the number one business in the world is weapons, the number two business is illegal drugs, and the capitalist class that runs the U.S. has the commanding interest in both markets. The rich rulers of the U.S. will not allow either market out of their control. The S.O.A. is the rich man&#39;s University of State Terror.</p>

<p>The protesters at the School Of the Americas will create a larger and more militant demonstration this year. The movement against the S.O.A. is surging yet again because of the Plan Colombia and its murderous affects. There will be more students who are organizing to stop U.S. intervention in Colombia. Students are forming chapters of the Colombia Action Network to stop the war in Colombia. Jackson Potter, a college senior said, “I oppose the S.O.A. because it is where most of the human rights violators in Colombia are trained and then invited back to teach classes!”</p>

<p>More trade unionists will be at the S.O.A. this year because half of the trade unionists killed or disappeared in the world last year were Colombians; a union leader is killed every three days by Colombia&#39;s death squads. The religious activists continue to march forward in growing numbers seeking peace with justice. This demonstration should push the anti-S.O.A. protests to a new level. The protest will reach people across the U.S. and give hope to those fighting for justice in Colombia. We will shut down the S.O.A.!</p>

<p><a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:ColumbusGA" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">ColumbusGA</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:AntiwarMovement" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">AntiwarMovement</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:News" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">News</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:Colombia" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">Colombia</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:SchoolOfAmericas" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">SchoolOfAmericas</span></a></p>

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      <guid>https://fightbacknews.org/closesoa</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:19:29 +0000</pubDate>
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