March 24 Rally to
Close the SOA / Commemoration of the Spirit of Romero
Directions to the Art
Museum
Learn More about
Globalization / U.S. - El Salvador Sister Cities
SOA Watch/NE Homepage
For More
Information on the March-A-Thon & to Obtain a Sponsor Form
Contact: (215) 482-6805
Participants in the
Solidarity March-a-thon will raise funds for the youth of the
community of Las Anonas, El Salvador and the surrounding region
of San Vicente. Thirty youth committees have been
established through the San Vicente Regional Youth Project,
which, now in its fourth year, seeks to organize Salvadoran youth
around recreational and educational activities, and to provide
training for emergent leaders.
Philadelphia has been a sister city of Las Anonas de Santa Cruz
for thirteen years. This relationship is facilitated by the
Romero Interfaith Center, the Philadelphia-area chapter of the
US-El Salvador Sister Cities Network. Funds from the event
will also benefit the solidarity work of the Romero Interfaith
Center and the School of the Americas Watch Northeast.
Please have your group make a banner to carry on the march!
"We must work together to stop the remilitarization of Latin American countries like El Salvador! We demand that the United States close the School of the Americas!"
These were the words of Vilma Ortiz, a young Salvadoran woman speaking from the stage at the gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia in November of 2000. Her impassioned plea came after the president of the community council of Las Anonas, Alberto Climaco, spoke of his experience of losing four children and five siblings the last time the U.S. military was active in his country - during the 12-year civil war that ended in 1992. The people of El Salvador have asked us to stop the remilitarization of their country in the name of a war on drugs and another war on terrorism.
Salvadorans have also asked us to confront the neo-liberal economic policies that the U.S. promotes in the Americas and that President Bush will be lauding in El Salvador on March 24th. These policies have been devastating for the poor majority of Salvadorans who see little choice but to leave their native country in search of a more sustainable income and secure lifestyle. These policies have secured for El Salvador a place in the front of the line in the "race to the bottom."
Salvadorans have invited the international solidarity network to promote a new North-South organizing model - that of a "globalization from below." Supporting the San Vicente Youth Project in organizing and training young people is one step in supporting Salvadorans in globalizing from below. Please lend your support!
To learn more about globalization from below, please visit www.us-elsalvador-sisters.org. To learn more about the School of the Americas Watch Northeast, visit www.soawne.org.