WHINSEC Voting and Actions -- Courtesy of Ignatian Solidarity Network

Action Alert
From the School of the Americas Watch

House of Representatives Votes to Force the Pentagon to Release Information to SOA WatchThanks to your efforts and hard work in defense of human rights, the culture of secrecy and lack of accountability surrounding Defense Department policies suffered a blow today when the U.S. House of Representatives approved the McGovern-Sestak-Bishop (GA)-Lewis (GA) amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2010.

(Click here to tell the Senate to follow their lead!)

The amendment forces the public release of names, rank, country of origin, courses and dates of attendance of WHINSEC's graduates and instructors to the public. The amendment was approved with a 224 to 190 vote! This is a major victory for the international human rights community! You spoke up and now we are one step closer to transparency and to closing the SOA/ WHINSEC!

But it's not over...In order for this amendment to become law, the text of the amendment has to be approved by a joint House and Senate conference committee. We need you to sustain intense pressure on the Senate for the next few weeks to make sure this amendment is approved by the conference committee!

Click here to send a letter to your Senator asking that they work for passage of this language -->

New Ignatian Spirituality Website!

Loyola Press, a ministry of the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus, is pleased to announce the launch of www.IgnatianSpirituality.com.

We developed the website in response to the Society's 34th and 35th Congregations' call for "an Ignatian family network" to promote greater cooperation and unity among Jesuit apostolates.

IgnatianSpirituality.com offers information on and experiences of prayer, spiritual direction, retreats, and good decision-making from Jesuit and Ignatian sources. I believe that these resources will be helpful to you in your important Jesuit high school ministry. You will be able to direct students, staff, alumni, and parents to one place online where they will find practical information and suggestions for integrating Ignatian spirituality into their lives.

I'd be happy to talk with you at any time to get your ideas or reactions. Please call me at 773-281-1818 ext. 314, or e-mail me at pcampbell@loyolapress.com.

Sincerely,
Paul Brian Campbell, S.J.
Vice President
Loyola Press

New FMLN President in El Salvador - invokes Romero!

El Salvador Inaugurates its First Leftist Government

On June 1 2009, Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sanchez Cerén were sworn in as the President and Vice President of El Salvador at the Feria Internacional Convention Center in San Salvador. It was a magical day for the Salvadoran people, social movement organizations, and the leftist FMLN party which Funes and Sanchez Cerén represent. Check out a video of the celebration here and view pictures of the inauguration here and here.

In a powerful inaugural address, President Funes promised that the change the people asked for with the election of the FMLN “begins now” and is in the hands of the people, not just the individual will of the President. He vowed to work with sectors of the social movement to “create a new national project” based on social inclusion and guided by the forces of hope and optimism.

Several steps that he and cabinet members, who were sworn in immediately following the ceremony, will take to confront the deep economic and social crisis in El Salvador include an employment program to build over 25,000 new houses, a central bank to guarantee credit to small-scale agricultural producers, and the re-imagination of the Rural Community Solidarity Network to guarantee access to health, nutrition and free public education for the most vulnerable sectors of society.

The address was imbued with the themes of social justice, equality, and of a “peaceful and democratic revolution.” He stated that El Salvador would no longer have a “government of the few, of the privileged” but one where all people would be “recognized for their talents and honesty, not for their connections or their last name.” He spoke of his teacher and mentor, Monsenor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, whose tomb he visited the morning of the inauguration and whose vision of a “preferential option for the poor” was a pillar in Funes’ discourse during the campaign.

From http://www.cispes.org/