Fr. Roy Bourgeois Speaks in Sacramento March 1-2

This is just a reminder that Fr. Roy Bourgeois, the founder of the SOA Watch,
and Leisa Barnes, Sacramento SOA Watch,  will be speaking in Sacramento this coming week:

Tuesday, March 1, 6:30 pm,  American River College, 4700 College Oak Dr., Science Room  420, 916-812-7680

Wednesday, March 2, 11:00 am, CSU Sacramento, 6000 J Street, Student Union, Ballroom III, 916-812-7680

Fr. Roy and Leisa will also be speaking in San Mateo, Garberville, Ft.
Bragg, Ukiah and Willits.  We plan to have Fr. Roy back in the Fall.

Please join us for an evening of inspiring activism and a call to action as
we continue our efforts to close this infamous and nefarious institution.

Please take time to read the SOAW message below....one of our friends in
Colombia was murdered and we need you to demand accountability for this
outrageous crime.

Blessings to all,

Janice Freeman, Sacramento SOA Watch



SOA Watch Update
February 25, 2005

1. Colombian human rights activist - and SOA Watch speaker - assassinated
in San Jose de Apartado Peace Community
2. DC Lobby Day Reportback
3. SOA-trained Zetas working as drug-related mercenaries in US

- - - - - - - - - -
1. LUIS EDUARDO GUERRA, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND SPEAKER AT 2002 SOA
WATCH VIGIL, ASSASSINATED WITH SIX OTHERS IN COLOMBIA

SOA Watch received the terrible news this week from the Colombia Support
Network of the murder of Luis Eduardo, one of the leaders of the San Jose
de Apartado Peace Community in Uraba, Colombia. Luis died with seven other
civilians, including three children, at the hands of the 11th Brigade of
the Colombian Army.

Luis Eduardo was a founding member of the San Jose de Apartado Peace
Community, a nonviolent community that has stood up to incredible
paramilitary and military repression and to targeting by all armed actors
in the region since its inception in 1997. Click here to read more about
the community: http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=1025

In November of 2002, Luis was a featured speaker at the Fort Benning Vigil
to Close the SOA/ WHINSEC. Click here to read more about Luis, and to find
out what actions you can take TODAY to demand accountability for these
brutal murders: http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=1024.


- - - - - - - - - -
2. DC LOBBY DAY AND ACTIONS A SUCCESS

SOA Watch activists from around the country gathered here in DC this week
-- and phoned in from their communities -- to counter the Pentagon's
public relations attempts with grassroots power! Together they flooded the
halls of Congress, the Pentagon and beyond with the message: Close the
SOA/ WHINSEC!

SOA Watchers gathered in Washington, DC this week for several days of
strategizing, regional networking, lobbying and action. Tuesday's Lobby
Day began with a vigil at the main entrance to the Pentagon calling for
the closure of the SOA/ WHINSEC. Three former SOA Watch prisoners/
probationers of conscience were arrested when they nonviolently knelt down
in the entranceway and blocked access to the building. They will appear in
court on May 20. The Lobby Day ended with a powerful vigil at the Justice
Department calling for the resigantion of Alberto Gonzalez,
newly-confirmed Attorney General and author of the "torture memos" that
led to the abuses at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, and an end to torture
policies.

Hundreds more SOA Watch activists joined the efforts of those here on
Capitol Hill by calling their Members of Congress on Tuesday and asking
them to sign on as introductory co-sponsors of Rep. McGovern's
soon-to-be-introduced bill to close and investigate the SOA/ WHINSEC.
After less than a week of lobbying, we already have more than 35
introductory co-sponsors!

KEEP UP THE CONSTITUENT PRESSURE:  Continue to contact your Members of
Congress!

* For Representatives: Co-sponsor new, upcoming legislation that calls for
the suspension and investigation of the SOA/WHINSEC. Have them Call Rep.
McGovern's office for more information.

* For Senators: Introduce companion legislation in the Senate that would
call for the suspension and investigation of the SOA/WHINSEC.

VISIT the Legislative Action Index for updates and tips on contacting your
Congressional reps: http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=96.


- - - - - - - - - -
3. SOA-TRAINED ZETAS WORKING AS DRUG-RELATED MERCENARIES IN THE U.S.

Yesterday the "Washington Times" reported that former Mexican soldiers,
police and federal agents, originally trained as an elite force of
anti-drug commandos, are working as mercenaries for Mexican narcotics
traffickers, bringing a new wave of drug-related killings into the United
States. At least one-third of this "well-armed gang," known as the Zetas,
was trained at the School of the Americas, according to the Mexican
Secretary of Defense.

This isn't the first time that the Zetas have been in the news. In 2003,
the "Brownsville Herald" reported that the US-trained Zetas were the Gulf
Cartel's new "rare weapon" in the war for drug-trafficking supremacy. The
article continues:

"The Zetas, hired assassins for the Gulf Cartel, feature 31 ex-soldiers
once part of an elite division of the Mexican army - the Special Air
Mobile Force Group. At least one-third of this battalion's deserters was
trained at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga., according to
documents from the Mexican secretary of defense."

Law-enforcement and intelligence officials said the Zetas are linked to
hundreds of killings and dozens of kidnappings on both sides of the
U.S.-Mexico border, particularly over a wide area of southeastern Texas
from Laredo to Brownsville and in cities throughout Mexico.

Read the whole article: http://www.soaw.org/new/newswire_detail.php?id=708.

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