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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>ILEA and
SOA Funding Approved by <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place>
Congress <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>CISPES update<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>June 28, 2007 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>On Friday, June 22
the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve "foreign
operations" funding for 2008, including the funds for International Law
Enforcement Academies (ILEAs), the School of the <st1:country-region w:st="on">Americas</st1:country-region>,
and a number of other <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place>
projects abroad. Although the vote means there will be the funds for another
year of operation of these two insidious training programs, last week's vote is
just one mile marker in a growing campaign to stop the U.S.'s work of
undermining democracy and social justice movements in El Salvador and the
Americas. And we are clearly making important headway. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>First, the vote to
take away funding from the School of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Americas</st1:country-region></st1:place> came closer than ever to
winning. Rep. Jim McGovern of <st1:State w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:State>
introduced an amendment to the appropriations bill to cut the funding for
School of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Americas</st1:country-region></st1:place>
(or "WHINSEC" as it has been renamed). It was only after the
Pentagon and Defense Department convinced some pro-military Democrats to argue
strongly in support of the SOA that the right was able to stop the amendment
from going through – the final vote was 203 in favor of cutting SOA
funding to 214 against. Also, twelve Democrats and seven Republicans
abstained from voting. (see <a
href="http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll536.xml" target="_blank">http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll536.xml</a>
to see how your Rep voted.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The final version
of the appropriations bill includes $15 million for the functioning of the
ILEAs, including the "ILEA-South" in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>. Congress
approved spending taxpayer money on a second year of ILEA-South despite the opposition
in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> and <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>
and even though most Representatives have little or no information about the
ILEA. The State Department has been incredibly quiet about what takes
places behind the closed doors of the ILEA, going so far as to claim that they
do not have syllabi for their classes to share with CISPES or other human
rights organizations. Yet by continuing to fund and run the academy, the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place>
government shows its de facto support for the repression carried out by the
Salvadoran national police.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Despite the
disappointing vote, the grassroots work to slow the machine of <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place>
intervention by shutting down the ILEA has had some great successes this
year. Nationally and at the community level, CISPES committees are
building coalitions that will increase our impact both on the ILEA and on other
elements of <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> militarism
in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Americas</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
The campaign to cut funding through Congress has also led to an effective
grassroots congressional pressure campaign through which activists have built a
number of positive relationships with Representatives who have expressed
interest and commitment to continued strategizing on the issue of the
ILEA. Finally and most importantly, hundreds of people have taken the
issue of the ILEA and repression to the streets. Activists have gone out
with petitions, postcards to Reps, letters to Salvadoran officials, canvasses,
and posters to get word out about the issue of the ILEA, and this week CISPES
sent 6 organizers to the U.S. Social Forum to raise awareness about U.S.
support for increasing repression in El Salvador, making the links between
international solidarity and community organizing in the U.S. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The fact that both the ILEA and the SOA move forward in a
Democratic-led Congress - elected by a population demanding an end to war - is
worrisome and disappointing for many. However, the grassroots commitment
to reorienting U.S. foreign policy continues to grow, and with increased
education and mobilization we will stop training programs aimed to repress organizing
counter to U.S. corporate interests and continue to build social justice
movements in the Americas and in </span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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