Under steady rain, three students laid face down in the center of the EMU Amphitheater on Thursday afternoon, staging death. Surrounded by black garbage-bag bodies and more than 30 crosses, the students silently protested the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly called the School of the Americas.
The school is a Georgia-based Spanish-language training facility for military, law enforcement and civilian officials, and critics accuse it of training military personnel involved in genocidal policies in Latin America. But WHISC representatives say such accusations are “sensationalized” and based on “fraudulent logic,” and that the school promotes democratic values.
Established in 1946 in Panama, SOA was created to promote stability and combat communism in the region. Last year, Congress mandated the school to adjust its mission statement and goals, and the name changed to WHISC.
The protest was organized in collaboration with the national rally to be held at Fort Benning, Ga., next weekend. Four Eugene residents traveled to Georgia a few weeks ago to attend the protest.
Freshman Matt Hornback organized the “die-in” as a way to educate people about what he believes to be a school that creates assassins. He added that the name change is superficial and does not reflect any change in its goals.
“The change is cosmetic, and it’s actually worse now,” he said. “Now they’re training more civilians like police.”
According to SOA Watch, many SOA graduates have been responsible for massacre, torture and assassinations throughout Latin America. Maj. David Hernandez Rojas — cited for the 1999 murder of peace commissioner Alex Lopera — is one graduate often mentioned.
But WHISC Commandant Richard Downie said this information is misleading. There is no link between the violence of some graduates and the school’s teachings, he said, adding that the WHISC has a completely different mission from SOA.
“Some of those people were students for a few decades before committing these atrocious crimes,” he said. “I consider it slanderous to use the term ‘terror’ in relation to the school. We focus on ensuring that civilians in the defense military understand that their role is to protect and serve citizens.
“The truth of the matter is, if we were doing what they say, I’d go to jail.”
Students will conduct another die-in at 3:30 p.m. today at the Federal Building, following a march.
Whether they agree with the protest or not, this kind of demonstration at least makes students aware of the issue, graduate student Holly Henderson said.
“People may feel a little confused (by the “die-in”), but the emotional impact is still there,” she said. “Students should be doing more things like this to draw others to issues not discussed in traditional education. It’s the responsibility of students to educate each other. “
Beata Mostafavi is the student activities editor for the Oregon Daily Emerald. She can be reached at [email protected].