By 1996, the number had increased to 253. SOA grads are trained to help lead the campaign of terror and intimidation against union members. The report cited three particular officers for the murder of Salvadoran unionists. All three were SOA graduates. It would take all day to document the repression visited by SOA-trained officers on the trade union movement in Latin America.
Trade unionism is built around the idea of solidarity.
An attack on workers anywhere is an attack on workers everywhere. We in the American Trade Union Movement protest these attacks on our fellow unionists in Latin America. We object, as American taxpayers, to financing this outrage. And we take issue with the idea that the American government should be training military officers of other countries for the purpose of throttling dissent. I am here to reiterate that motion to close the School Of The Americas.