Like Minute Maid Park (née Enron Field), the School of the Americas recently underwent a name change, and is now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. But as Houston’s newly-christened Minute Maid stadium (packed with fewer Enron employees, but more vitamin C) still accommodates the same Astros baseball team, the WHISC continues to serve up the same old program of brutal military training to Latin American soldiers — which is why folks like Ken Crowley travel to the school’s Fort Benning, Ga., campus every November to demand its closure. Crowley probably won’t make it to Georgia this year: Last week, the 60-year-old Houston activist was sentenced to six months in federal prison and $1,000 in fines for repeated civil disobedience at the school.
Along with thousands of others, Crowley trespassed onto Fort Benning property during the 1999 and 2000 protests. Last November, he again “crossed the line,” even though he knew prison time awaited him. “In my mind, the most important reason to cross the line is that it creates publicity, which alerts U.S. citizens to the existence and corruption of the SOA/WHISC,” he said. “It shows the government that people in this movement are willing to make personal sacrifices to bring about change.”
Crowley, who is active in child abuse prevention and parent education programs, said a human rights activist — previously tortured by an SOA graduate — whom he met during a July 2001 trip to Colombia stirred his resolve to shut it down. The WHISC claims no responsibility for the actions of graduates once they return to their home countries, which include Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, and El Salvador — yet the historical record shows that thousands of peasants, activists, and clergy have fallen victim to U.S.-trained soldiers.
This article appears in July 19 • 2002.