CIW and the Taco Bell boycott at center of weekend activities!… From the School of the Americas Watch report: “Over 16,000 people from across the Americas—including actors Martin Sheen and Susan Sarandon—gathered this weekend outside the gates of Ft. Benning, Georgia in the most diverse demonstration yet of opposition to the School of the Americas (SOA), a combat-training school for Latin American soldiers.”

The annual protest is one of the largest actions for social justice nationally, calling for an end to US foreign policy support for military leaders accused of human rights abuses. According to the SOA Watch, “SOA/ WHINSEC graduates return to their countries to utilize their training domestically and are consistently cited for atrocities against their own people. New research introduced by SOA Watch earlier this year confirms that the school has continued to support known human rights abusers.”

A contingent of CIW members traveled to Georgia again this year to participate in the growing action. The Taco Bell boycott figured prominently in the weekend’s activities. In particulary, the boycott and the story of exploitation in Florida’s tomato fields served as the central theme of the spectacular, 500-person street theater that has become a tradition at SOA protests (above, right). Congratulations to all the people at SOA Watch for putting together another great event!