No Mas | Sojourners

No Mas

Venezuelan Vice President José Vicente Rangel (

Venezuelan Vice President José Vicente Rangel (left), in a meeting with religious representatives from the United States, took up the delegation’s proposal that Venezuela stop sending soldiers to the School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) at Ft. Benning, Georgia. During the meeting Rangel called the Venezuelan minister of defense to discuss the feasibility of the request.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez met in Caracas with Roy Bourgeois (right), a Maryknoll priest, to confirm Venezuela’s decision. Bourgeois began protesting the school in 1983 when he played a tape of assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero’s final sermon next to the military base. During the visit of religious leaders, Chávez spoke out against the U.S. military institution, saying, "This school deformed the minds of many Latin American soldiers, who from there went on to become dictators." Venezuela is the first nation to refuse to send soldiers to the School of the Americas.

Read the Full Article

Sojourners Magazine May 2004
​You've reached the end of our free magazine preview. For full digital access to Sojourners articles for as little as $3.95, please subscribe now. Your subscription allows us to pay authors fairly for their terrific work!
Subscribe Now!