Four U.S. veterans, three of whom are members of Veterans for Peace, on the School of the Americas Watch trip to Chile, protested with 70 Chileans the US-funded Chilean military base called Fuerte Aguayo.
The VFPers are Roy Bourgeois, the founder of SOA Watch, Ann Wright and Peter Berres (of Kentucky). The 4th veteran Tom Egan will send in his membership application upon his return to the US!!!
We've visited many memorials to those murdered by the U.S. back in 1973 coup by Pinoche against Salvador Allende, and we've met with a Chilean member of Parliament whose father was murdered by a SOA graduate and who is attempting to end Chilean participation in SOA.
Later this week, we have a meeting scheduled with the Minister of Defense. We also met with a representative of the strong student movement.
Ann Wright is a 29-year US Army/Army Reserves veteran, a retired United States Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. She received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand (more...)