Beginning in late September, thousands of Bolivians took to the streets to protest the plans of their government to sell Bolivia's natural gas resources to multinational corporations for export. The people used non-violent tactics like hunger strikes and human blockades to put pressure on the government and attract international media coverage. Soldiers responded to the social conflict in the way they were trained (many of them here in the US at the School of the Americas): with military violence to attempt to suppress dissent. In official SOA publications "economic development along free market principles" is identified as the "primary foreign policy goal[s] of the U.S." in Latin America. The SOA strategy is "to prepare military and police forces to respond to current threats to the achievement of those goals."
The threats in this case were the people of Bolivia who spoke out. The SOA-style response left at least 80 people dead but violence and repression did not stop the protests - to the contrary; it fueled the flames of resistance and even broader sections of society took to the streets and demanded the resignation of the president. The people succeeded, the President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada lost support even in his own coalition, resigned on Friday, October 17, 2003 and left the country to Miami, Florida.
"Abandoning the presidential residence in a military helicopter, Sanchez de Lozada became the fourth Latin American president driven from office by widespread protests in recent years. Ecuador's Jamil Mahuad, Peru's Alberto Fujimori and Argentina's Fernando de la Rua were all unseated by outpourings of public anger over U.S.-backed free-market economic policies." (10/18 Associated Press)
Stand in solidarity with the people of Bolivia and come to Fort Benning, Georgia from November 21-23, 2003 to speak out against SOA violence that has caused suffering and death throughout Latin America for much too long.
Together, we will close down the School of Assassins!
For more information about the SOA as well as hotel and travel information for the November Vigil call (202) 234 3440 and/or visit http://www.SOAW.org.
guerra del gas | bolivia | www.agp.org (archives) | www.all4all.org