ANONYMOUS vs. the SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS #OpSOA

for immediate release
November 13, 2013
Contact Anonymous #OpSOA on twitter: @anonymous_syme

ANONYMOUS vs. THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS
#OpSOA Vows to Destroy the SOA/WHINSEC, and the Entire Barbaric U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda
Convergence at Fort Benning from November 22-24, 2013

 Anonymous #OpSOA video communiques: http://vimeo.com/symeanon
 Anonymous #OpSOA on the web: http://symeanon.wordpress.com/

The global hacker collective Anonymous has initiated Operation SOA (#OpSOA), with the goal to destroy the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC), and the entire barbaric U.S. foreign policy agenda of which it is part. The School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation), is a U.S. training school for the military hit-squads of global capitalism in Latin America. The notorious institution is responsible for the killing of hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans, and wreaked havoc in every country where its graduates have returned.

As step one of #OpSOA, Anonymous has issued a series of video communiques, detailing the case for the necessary destruction of the SOA terror training camp (located in Fort Benning, Georgia), and to build support for #OpSOA within the wider Anonymous and hacktivist communities. Two of Anonymous video communiques focus on the impact of SOA violence on Chile, where SOA graduates installed the Pinochet dictatorship, ran torture centers, and assassinated political activists; and on Honduras, where SOA graduates are currently engaged in a brutal concerted repression campaign against social movements, who are fighting for justice and freedom, and against the Honduran regime that was brought to power after SOA graduates overthrew the democratically elected government of Honduras in 2009.

From the Arab Spring to Occupy, Anonymous has a proud history of supporting struggles for liberation around the world. Syme, an Anonymous operative within #OpSOA states that "none of us are free, when some of us are killed with impunity by SOA-trained goons." Acknowledging the history of the long tradition of resistance to U.S. militarization and empire, Syme states further that "the fight against imperialist domination in the Americas has been going on for over 500 years. [The movement to shut down the School of the Americas] has built awareness about the atrocities of the SOA and has carried out a persistent and powerful direct action campaign. Anonymous is excited to join forces and to do our part to bring the Pentagon death machine to its knees."

School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch), a principal organization of the hemisphere-wide grassroots movement to close the SOA, released an online statement, welcoming the influx of energy from Anonymous: "The movement to close the [SOA] is made up of people from many backgrounds and represents a positive alternative to the system of violence and domination, and we are grateful for the support from the hacktivist community." SOA Watch maintains a database with the names of over 60,000 SOA graduates and has played a major role in exposing SOA graduates and instructors, who have been involved in human rights violations. Referencing the Obama administration's refusal to adhere to public, legislative and judicial calls for transparency, and the administrations resistance to hand over the names of recent SOA/ WHINSEC graduates and instructors to human rights groups, SOA Watch states further that "With the increasing secrecy by the Obama administration, ... whistle-blowers like Chelsey Manning and Edward Snowden, and hactivists like Anonymous have played an important role in uncovering the truth about government abuses that affect all of us."

Anonymous has joined the call for a mass mobilization to the gates of Fort Benning Georgia (home of the notorious School of the Americas) from November 22-24, 2013.

We are anonymous.
We are everywhere
We are legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us!
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 #OpSOA video communiques: http://vimeo.com/symeanon
 Contact #OpSOA on twitter: @anonymous_syme
 http://symeanon.wordpress.com/