20,000+ Gather to Shut Down the School of Americas at Ft Benning Georgia, USA

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Sunday November 22, 2009 16:10 by Solidarity Ft Benning, Georgia, USA

On November 16, 1989, an elite unit of the Salvadoran military entered the gates of the Jesuit-run Central American University in San Salvador. When they left, six Jesuit priests lay dead, along with their housekeeper and her teenage daughter.

The unit had been trained at the School of the Americas, Ft. Benning Georgia in the United States. On the first anniversary of the massacre Vietnam Veteran and Marynoll priest Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Vietnam Veteran Congregational of Honour medal winner Charlie Litkey and his brother Patrick poured a large quantatity of human blood at the entrance to the School of the Americas. This action initiated a movement that now sees 20,000 + solidarity activists make their way to the S.O.A. around the annoversary of the massacre to close down the School of the Americas.

For updates on this weekend's nonviolent direct action check the website

www.soaw.org