Milwaukee, WI - 50 people turned out for an Iraq Moratorium and anti-School of the Americans march here on the evening of Nov. 21. The event, which coincided with the massive protest at the SOA at Fort Benning, Georgia, was organized by the Milwaukee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and Peace Action.

Columbus, GA - Over 20,000 people from across the country flooded Fort Benning on the Nov. 22-23 weekend, calling for the School of the Americas (SOA), a U.S. military training institute that trains Latin American soldiers in ‘counter-insurgency’ techniques, to be shut down. During the vigil to honor the memory of the thousands of men, women and children that have been tortured, kidnapped and murdered by SOA graduates, six people, in an act of civil disobedience, crossed onto the military base and were arrested. They face up to six months in federal prison for taking action to close down the SOA – the ‘School of Assassins.’

Columbus, GA - 25,000 protesters arrived at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia to participate in the 2007 SOA Watch vigil to close the School of the Americas, Nov. 16 -18. The SOA, which trains military personal from Latin America in subjects like counter-insurgency recently changed names. It is now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, but name changes can not take away the bloody history of this tool of U.S. imperialism and oppression. SOA graduates have been implicated in killings, torture and massacres.

Chicago, IL – The weekend before Thanksgiving, November 21 and 22, people from around the country will gather in Fort Benning, Georgia, to demand that the School of the Americas be closed. Student activists from Chicago area campuses have joined the mobilization.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 100 people gathered here May 1, May Day, for a celebration of International Workers’ Day. Speakers from key Minneapolis and St. Paul battles, including organizers of the clerical workers’ strike at the University of Minnesota and the 46-day transit workers’ strike, addressed the standing room-only crowd. The event was organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

On Tax Day, April 15, activists around the country took part in the Colombia Action Network's third national day of action this year. The April 15 protest brought attention to the human rights crisis that U.S. military aid is creating in Colombia. In Colombia, an average of three trade unionists are murdered each week. The U.S. counter-insurgency program, 'Plan Colombia,' and the new 'Andean Initiative' is arming, training and directing the war in Colombia using U.S. taxpayers' money.

Madison, WI – The Colombia Action Network gathered here March 8 to develop the campaign to boycott Coca-Cola, in defense of Colombian trade unionists. Luis Adolfo Cardona, the Colombian trade unionist who escaped kidnapping, torture and murder by Coca-Cola’s death squads, gave a talk about the grave human rights situation for Colombia’s workers.

Speech by Phyllis Walker, AFSCME 3800 president

St Paul, MN – An increasing number of local labor unions are speaking out against a possible war with Iraq. The following is a speech given by the president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3800, Phyllis Walker, at an anti-war rally Oct. 26, 2002 at the Minnesota State Capitol. More than 10,500 people attended that rally.

More U.S. Special Forces are arriving in Colombia. Supposedly on a mission to train members of the Colombian military, they will be assisting efforts to guard a major oil pipeline owned by the U.S.-based multinational corporation, Occidental Petroleum. Insurgents who are fighting to free Colombia from foreign control often target the pipeline.

With the election of Alvaro Uribe Velez as president, the U.S. media says that Colombia is entering a new phase in “the war against terrorism.” President-elect Velez's platform calls for an end to negotiations with the armed insurgency and for a military solution to the conflict. The big story that's not being told is that more than 50% of registered voters abstained in the election. Community organizations in Colombia suggest that close to 80% of the electorate in the countryside opted out. With right-wing paramilitaries monitoring voting in many areas in the countryside, and Army tanks rumbling through poor neighborhoods in the cities, the election results are anything but a popular mandate to expand Colombia's civil war.

On Sept. 29, an important demonstration will take place in Washington D.C. In conjunction with the protests surrounding the meeting of the International Monetary Fund, thousands will raise their voices against U.S. intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean. What follows is a reprint of the call to the protest. We urge the readers of Fight Back! to build for, and attend the demonstration.

St Paul, MN – The first lawsuit resulting from police violence at the Republican National Convention was announced at a press conference in front of Saint Paul City Hall, Sept. 26. Notice has been served on the cities of Saint Paul, Bloomington and Minneapolis, along with Ramsey County, that lawyers representing Mick Kelly will seek $250,000 in damages. Kelly was shot at close range and injured by police with a high velocity marking projectile at a demonstration organized by the Anti-War Committee on the fourth day of the RNC, Sept. 4.

Crowd repeatedly tear gassed, 396 arrested as police pull out all stops to prevent anti-war march from reaching Xcel Center

St. Paul, MN – On the final day of the Republican National Convention, Sept. 4, over 1000 protesters took to the streets to deliver a strong anti-war message while John McCain was speaking. The march was initiated by the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee, with the theme, “No peace for the war-makers.”

Cedarburg, WI – One day after the protests against the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Sept. 5, members of the Progressive Students of Milwaukee caught wind that Republican presidential and vice-presidential candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin, were headed to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, a Republican stronghold town of 11,000, for a rally.

St. Paul, MN – On September 4, the final day of the RNC, 2,000 protesters took to the streets here to deliver a militant anti-war message. The march was organized by the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee, with the theme “No Peace for the Warmakers.”

Lake Forest, CA – Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain stood together in Orange County at the SaddleBack mega-church, Aug. 16, home of evangelical pastor Rick Warren, to engage in a ‘civil forum.’

Columbus, GA – “Shut Down the S.O.A.! Shut Down the S.O.A.!” rings in the ears of everyone the 12,000-plus protesters, students, faith activists, and also the sales clerks, waitresses, workers, U.S. and Latin American soldiers at the School of the Americas, Fort Benning, in Columbus, Georgia, Nov. 17-19. Far away in Colombia the leaders of trade unions, student organizations, peasant associations, and human rights groups also think quietly about and discuss, in out-of-the-way places, the need to shut down the S.O.A.

St Paul, MN – The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, has voted to endorse the Labor Day mass anti-war march planned for the opening day of the Republican National Convention. The event will begin at the State Capitol at 11 am on Monday, September 1.

St. Paul, MN – Standing in front of the Minnesota State Capitol Building Aug. 13, organizers announced that the city of Saint Paul has issued a formal permit for the Sept. 1 anti-war protest set to mark the opening day of the Republican National Convention.

St. Paul, MN – Anti-war, low-income, labor and student activists have mounted a new legal challenge to Saint Paul’s policy of curtailing protests at the Republican National Convention. The lawsuit, filed in Ramsey County District Court by attorney Bruce Nestor of the National Lawyers Guild, seeks to open up additional areas for protest at the Republican National Convention.