Conference in Chiapas Draws Hundreds of Latin American Activists

(San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico), May 8 -- Nearly 100 people packed the premiere of "Hidden in Plain Sight" on Thursday night. The documentary--about a U.S. military school that has trained thousands of Latin American soldiers and paramilitaries--was shown as part of the video festival accompanying the First Hemispheric Conference Against Militarization.

"Hidden in Plain Sight" (produced by independent film company Raven's Call Productions) documents the role that School of the Americas, located in Fort Benning, Georgia, has played in counter-insurgencies throughout Latin America. Interviewees include School of the Americas officials, U.S. Congressmembers, political commentator Noam Chomsky, journalist Christopher Hitchens, activists, and Latin Americans who have endured torture by paramilitary groups. According to watchdog group School of the Americas Watch, the school has graduated dictators such as Manuel Noriega of Panama and over 600 documented human rights offenders.

At the showing, nearly 100 people packed into the attic viewing space at Revolution Cafe, a cozy, two-story building in San Cristobal's Centro district that serves coffee under posters of Zapatistan leader Subcommandante Marcos. A young Guatemalan man moved many in the audience to tears when he shared that his father had been "disappeared" in 1981 during the civil war in his homeland. "I wish for people around the world to work together for peace," he told the attentive crowd. "Anywhere there is conflict."

Hundreds of people from nearly 30 countries are here for the First Hemispheric Conference Against Militarization. Running from May 6-9, the four days of seminars and working groups are intended to help the poor in Latin American countries organize against growing militarization. Speakers include prominent journalists, lawyers, and political activists from throughout Latin America. Participants represent more than 200 NGOs, concerned with issues ranging from indigenous rights to debt relief.

"Hidden in Plain Sight," which premiered in January 2003 at the World Social Forum in Brazil, has played at film festivals around the world, winning the Award in Merit in Film from the Latin American Studies Association in Dallas, Texas.

More information:

"Hidden in Plain Sight" official website: http://www.hiddeninplainsight.org/main/home.html

School of the Americas Watch: http://www.soaw.org

First Hemispheric Conference Against Militarization: http://www.sitiocompa.org/desmilitarizacion/english.html