Pitt students join 10,000 in Georgia

COLUMBUS, Ga. – Kate Giammarise’s cross read “Jose Mario Perelra, El Mozote, 10 years old.”… COLUMBUS, Ga. – Kate Giammarise’s cross read “Jose Mario Perelra, El Mozote, 10 years old.” She slowly walked up to the gate of Fort Benning military base and laid the cross against the chain-link fence.

“It’s pretty overwhelming all the names they read,” she later said. “I was trying not to cry as I heard the names.”

Giammarise, co-chair of Students in Solidarity’s living wage committee, was one of 24 Pitt students and one of 10,000 people in Columbus, Ga., on Sunday to protest the U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation, located at Fort Benning.

This is the third time she attended to protest.

WHISC, formerly the School of the Americas, is a government-funded institution that provides “professional education and training to eligible personnel of nations of the Western Hemisphere,” meaning members of the military, police, and civilians, “while fostering mutual knowledge, and promoting democratic values, respect for human life,” according to U.S. Code Title 10, Section 2166.

Recently, the school has come under fire from human rights groups because, according to the groups, graduates of the school are directly related to atrocities in Latin America.

Paul Cooley, Pitt student and SIS living wage co-chair, is one of the school’s critics.

“The SOA is a military training school that trains Latin American soldiers to kill their own people,” he said.

He also said WHISC graduates “target union leaders and peace activists.”

School of the Americas Watch, formed in 1990 by Catholic priest Roy Bourgeois, holds the protest every year during the weekend of Nov. 16, the day that six Jesuit priests, their co-worker and her teenage daughter were killed in 1989.

A Congressional Task Force revealed that those responsible were trained at the School of Americas, according to the School of the Americas Watch Web site.

Among the 60,000 graduates of the school since its opening in 1947 are former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and officers responsible for the reported massacre of 900 civilians in El Mozote, El Salvador.

Sunday’s protest drew record numbers, according to the SOAW Web site. It also drew a wide variety of protesters, from high school students to the elderly, Socialists and anarchists, labor supporters and religious groups.

World War II veteran Archie Goodwin traveled to Fort Benning from Florida to protest the school.

“I’m against the war,” said Goodwin, a member of Veterans for Peace. “I believe that veterans have more credibility [because] we’ve been to war and seen it.”

Eric LeCompte, a member of SOAW, said that he encouraged people to cross the fence on to the base.

“It’s clear that this fence is for us,” he said. “The gates are open every day except for the two days we are here.”

LeCompte told those at the protest that crossing the fence carries with it a three-month jail sentence for first-time offenders, six months for repeat offenders.

The prospect of jail didn’t deter Pittsburgh local and self-proclaimed “thought activist” Tom Blancato.

“I’m going over for the people who were tortured,” he said. “I’m going over in honor of my sister who died. I’ll never cooperate with torture. Ever.”

Blancato joined 96 others who crossed the line and were arrested, according to the SOAW Legal Collective.

The high point of Sunday’s demonstration was the procession to the gates of the base. Protesters lined up 10-abreast and slowly walked to the base. During this time, names of people killed by graduates of the school were read and the crowd responded by raising their crosses and saying “presente” in a show of solidarity with victims. Protesters then laid crosses, signs and flowers on the gate to the base.

The vigil lasted for hours and crosses and symbols almost totally covered the cyclone fence when it ended.

This was the first protest Pitt student Aaron Beamguard attended, and he said he enjoyed it.

“I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s exciting to be a part of,” he said.

John Thompson and his son, Ian, also made the trip from Pittsburgh. Thompson, a member of the United Electrical Workers Union, said that the SOA is not just a human rights issue, but a labor issue as well.

“Many American companies close down factories in the U.S. to take advantage of low-wage workers,” he said. “It is very important for workers to get involved in this movement and stand in solidarity with workers in Central and South America.”

Protesters spent the rest of the day listening to speakers and musicians, including SOAW founder Bourgeois.

“We are here to keep alive the memories of our sisters and brothers who were victims of this school’s graduates,” he said.

A few blocks from the stage, behind a fence bedecked in “God Bless Fort Benning” signs a little more than 20 people held a counter-protest.

Counter-protesters held signs saying “God Bless the USA” and “Fort Benning Makes Us Proud.”

When approached, a man behind the fence responded, “Scram. Get out.”

A uniformed police officer, who refused to be named, said the demonstration celebrated “Fort Benning Day.” Entrance to the counter-protest was only permitted to those who donated toys to a local charity.

Pitt student Tom DeiCas, said that he enjoyed the protest and it touched him emotionally.

“The protest transcended a lot of barriers,” he said. “People were Socialists, Greens, people there for religious convictions. You don’t see that as much at one-dimensional protests.”

Giammarise explained the emotional impact of participating in the event.

“It’s a powerful experience to be here speaking for people whose governments won’t let them speak,” she said. “I feel privileged to be here every year.”