LISTEN TO FATHER LOUIS VITALE:
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Unlike the past two years, Father Louis Vitale’s participation in last weekend’s protest outside the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas (SOA) didn’t lead to his spending months behind bars. The 79-year-old Franciscan priest, who’s been arrested “probably at least a couple hundred times,” decided against committing civil disobedience this time around because he’s “putting a lot of effort into the occupations going on in the country” and doesn’t want to miss out on participating in a movement “that can change things,” he told TheFightBack while standing in front of heavily fortified gates at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Since its inception in 1946, SOA has trained tens of thousands of Latin American soldiers in so-called “counter-insurgency,” which targets “anyone who has an agenda different than ours, and particularly our economic agenda,” said Vitale. Not participating in civil disobedience this year wasn’t an easy decision for Father Louis. What’s taking place at SOA “offends me,” he said. “I feel I can’t just sit by and do nothing, so if it means six months in prison, that’s fine. Whatever it takes to try to bring an end to this.”
As numerous heavily equipped police officers stood by and a helicopter circled above, Vitale said, “We don’t need to be here teaching people how to do torture… in other countries.” The interview with the veteran-turned sociologist-turned priest was interrupted by a message that came over Fort Benning’s loudspeakers which essentially told protesters to take their First Amendment activities elsewhere:
“The proper forum for such [protest] activities is provided and available in the civilian community. The sole purpose of this installation is to provide for the military training of soldiers. This policy is completely consistent with the American constitutional tradition that the military must remain politically neutral and under the control of a democratically elected civilian government.”
“What kind of people do we want to be?” asked Vitale. “What kind of country do we want to be?” One of the most powerful tools available for making change is noncompliance with an unjust power structure, said Vitale. “That’s what changes the empire, when people say no [and] withhold their consent.”
Related Links:
soawatch.org
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