Military Coup in Honduras + Father Roy: Inside the School of Assassins (2008)

Dandelion Salad

SOA Watch
soaw.org
June 28, 2009

A military coup has taken place in Honduras this morning (Sunday, June 28), led by School of the Americas (SOA) graduate Romeo Vasquez. In the early hours of the day, members of the Honduran military surrounded the presidential palace and forced the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya, into custody. He was immediately flown to Costa Rica.

The Honduran state television was taken off the air. The electricity supply to the capital Tegucigalpa, as well telephone and cellphone lines were cut. The people of Honduras are going into the streets. From Costa Rica, President Zelaya has called for a non-violent response from the people of Honduras, and for international solidarity for the Honduran democracy.

Click here to read an article by Eva Golinger

Click here to send a message to President Barack Obama.

[…]

Lots of photos and continued at: SOA Watch

Father Roy: Inside the School of Assassins

Written by Michael Kraskin, Politics Daily
soaw.org

Last week, Barack Obama released memos from the Bush Administration’s Justice Department that detailed interrogation techniques used on terror suspects. The debate this week has been a) whether or not these methods could be considered torture, and b) whether we, as a country, are comfortable employing such forms of interrogation.

The techniques listed in the memos do not represent the first time the United States has been accused of utilizing torture.

In the film “Father Roy: Inside the School of Assassins,” the U.S Army’s School of the Americas is described as a place where military tactics are taught to some of the worst human rights abusers in the world. Here’s an account of the film. Watch the film below for free:

FATHER ROY follows the fight against the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) from the gates of Fort Benning to the halls of Congress. A Vietnam vet, former missionary and leading grassroots activist, Father Roy’s interest in human rights was spurred by the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador. He focused his aim on the SOA when it was revealed that those responsible for Romero’s death _ and hundreds of other atrocities across the region _ had trained at the school. According to one congressman, the SOA has “the nefarious distinction of being the place in the United States where the worst human rights abusers in the Western Hemisphere come to learn military tactics” _ tactics that many claimed included the use of torture.

PBS·Mar 26, 2009

From the archives:

Romero (1989) + Chomsky on Oscar Romero + Massacre during Romero’s funeral (must-see)

Closing the School of the Americas (video)