Thousands of activists, protesters, and amateur lobbyists descended on Washington, D.C. the first weekend of May to push for the closing of the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) during SOA Watch’s annual spring action.  The events culminated in a nonviolent march on the Pentagon on Monday, May 3,  at which 55 were arrested.

On May Day, 3000 attended a rally in Lafayette Park near the White House to hear speakers, including survivors of SOA violence telling their stories, in between musical interludes.  It was both a joyous and powerfully poignant occasion.

Almost 2000 people attended the march on the Pentagon.  Protesters gathered at the metro entrance at 6:45 a.m., prime time for leafletting thousands of employees entering the huge complex for their work day.  Unfortunately, Pentagon officials routed employee traffic elsewhere, apparently so they would not be exposed to subversive propaganda.

When it became obvious that once again the crowd size far exceeded the expectations of the organizers, people formed into a long line in preparation to march around the Pentagon, four by four.  At the last moment an unmarked yellow truck rolled up to the curb.  Activists hidden inside jumped out and quickly unloaded the various props for the demonstration, including an eight-foot skull with the trademark cap-and-noose of the “School of Assassins.”

The skull was mounted on a bier and carried by four bearers at the front of the line, followed by soil bearers, huge puppets of Bill Clinton, Pinochet, arms dealers, et al, and then thousands of protesters, many wearing white death masks and carrying crosses.  The whole procession marched in a funereal fashion around the Pentagon to the grassy parade grounds, below the offices of the Joint Chiefs.

Again Pentagon security appeared to be ready for us.  Maintenance workers were already hosing down the sidewalks in anticipation of our planned civil disobedience.  The crowd formed up on the parade grounds and the ceremony began.

Adriana Bartow, a Guatemalan refugee who lost several family members (including her father and her nine-year-old daughter) to SOA-inspired violence in her home country, read out a powerful indictment of the repression of counterinsurgency.  It was an extremely emotional moment for her to stand in that place and speak her own personal truth to power.

Evidence from various sources was presented implicating the SOA in crimes against humanity, including the Pinochet case, the “Nunca Mas” report of the Guatemalan Archbishop, and the recently released U.N. Truth Commission report on Guatemala.

As the evidence was read, the skull was dismantled piece by piece.  Then soil bearers moved among the crowd and collected soil that protesters had brought from their homes all over the country and the world.  On her most recent trip to Guatemala, Adriana had brought back soil from a place where many “disappeared” had been buried in a mass grave.

The soil was dumped on the skull in a ceremonial burial.  Then the skull bearers completed the burial with a large black cloth with a huge red carnation embroidered on it, the Guatemalan symbol of hope and rebirth.

Then we demanded to see Secretary of Defense William Cohen to present him with our evidence, but we were denied.  (Even though we called ahead!  Cohen said he could meet us on the 6th, or even the 5th—after all the protesters had gone home, of course.)

At that point, dozens fell to the sidewalk and dozens of others pulled out their hidden paint bottles and began doing body outlines with red paint.  The Pentagon cops moved in with plastic cuffs, and the maintenance workers moved in with hoses.

Almost immediately a man painting went down with a heart attack, compounding the tension of the moment.  He lay on the sidewalk for over half an hour awaiting an ambulance while several of the dozens of doctors in the crowd attended him.  All around him lay the “bodies”, awash in the “bloody” red paint.  It was nothing short of surreal.  It turned out the heart attack was not severe, and he was expected to recover.

In all, over 60 were detained, but some were released without charges, for no apparent reason.  Many others were not even arrested, despite painting or being bodies.  It appeared that the Pentagon police were avoiding older protesters especially.

Fifty-five protesters were charged with distributing a red substance, among other things.  Those charged were from many different states all over the country.  Court dates were set for early July, although it is expected that charges will be dismissed beforehand.

For more information, contact SOA Watch, P.O. Box 4566, Washington,
D.C. 20017, (202)234-3440.