But the Sunday procession onto the base was much more than a memorial service. It was a protest demanding that this alliance of the U.S. and Latin American military must end. Because the U.S. Army and the Latin American military have diametrically opposite missions. The U.S. Army trains soldiers to kill and capture foreign enemies. But current history has proven that the mission of the Latin American military is to kill and capture not foreign enemies but its own citizens.
Demonstrators carry crosses bearing names of innocent Latin American victims.
The U.S. Army does not involve itself in domestic affairs, so why should millions of U.S. tax dollars be used to give combat training to Latin American troops who violently interfere in the domestic affairs of their own countries. SOA graduates embarrass the U.S. Army. In the name of Latin America's poor who suffer so tragically at the hands of the military, we are simply saying, 'Never again. Not in our name.