Fr. Bourgeois unpacking posters and protest material at his apartment outside Ft. Benning in preparation for upcoming demonstrations. (Dave Bender)
The SOA Watch group is gearing up for their annual demonstrations outside of Ft. Benning, and they are planning big.
Father Roy Bourgeois, who founded the organization in 1990, says they're expecting 20,000 supporters to flood Columbus this weekend:
“We are gathering here in peace. We are gathering here to speak for countless brothers and sisters in Latin America who have been the victims of this school and the violence - the graduates - who have returned to their home countries, especially in countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and many other countries – Columbia, where most of them are coming from today.”The movement wants the federal government to close down the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation – once known as the School of the Americas – which is located at the army post.
Fr. Bourgeois holding a list of WHINSEC students, with names blacked-out for security reasons, according to the school. (Dave Bender)
Bourgeois says the school is training military and law-enforcement groups that are culpable of human rights abuses in their home countries.
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