[Imc-newsroom] Fall Protests

[Hendrik Voss]

Here's some info regarding the Fall 2003 actions that I wanted to share with
you, as you have worked on FTAA organizing in the past.

The 13th annual vigil action to close the SOA will take place from November
22-23, 2003, the weekend after the FTAA ministerial meetings in Miami,
Florida.

FTAA-SOA FLIER:
http://sept.globalizethis.org/docs/front.pdf
http://www.lasolidarity.org/Organize/ftaa-soa2.pdf

It was a tough decision to hold the event this weekend. The SOA Watch
Advisory Group discussed many different perspectives before deciding to keep
our annual fall protest on the weekend of November 22-23, 2003. There were a
number of major events scheduled in Columbus, GA the weekend prior leaving
us with a small fraction of the motel rooms we would ordinarily block out
and none of the auditoriums and meeting rooms that we use for action
planning, caucuses, etc. Logistically, it just would not have been possible
for us to hold the event that weekend.

More importantly, we felt that holding the two events a week or two apart
would create a conflict for activists. Many people would not be able to make
two trips to the Southeast so close together. The current scheduling allows
the possibility of caravans between the two events, particularly for those
traveling north following the FTAA protest.

SOA Watch mobilizes a unique constituency. Some of these people will likely
travel to Miami, but many of them would not. We believe that the fall
provides us with a unique opportunity to educate this constituency about the
economic side of US policy towards Latin America.

We would like to work with the organizers of the FTAA protest to jointly
promote both events and to educate participants about the relationship
between economic and military policies towards Latin America.

We are hoping that these two mobilizations can work cooperatively.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any concerns or questions etc.

Peace,
Hendrik Voss
SOA Watch
(202) 234 3440


FTAA-SOA FLIER:
http://sept.globalizethis.org/docs/front.pdf
http://www.lasolidarity.org/Organize/ftaa-soa2.pdf








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