On June 22, about a hundred activists held a nonviolent protest at the gate of the Fuerte Aguayo Chilean Naval Base, in the coastal town of Concón, 90 miles northwest of Santiago. They were demanding the closure of the base built by the US Southern Command inside Fuerte Aguayo which opened in April 2012. The action was a joint effort by several Chilean human rights and peace groups, including School of the Americas Watch and FOR’s sister organization Serpaj Chile.

The US Southern Command built a 30,000-square foot complex of eight buildings designed to simulate an urban environment and to train police and military forces from throughout Latin America on military operations on urban terrain. This happens at a time when the United States is increasingly promoting militarization of crowd control and humanitarian operations – at home and abroad – and has expanded considerably the list of threats armed forces in the hemisphere are called to address.

via Opposition to US Bases in South America Continues | Fellowship of Reconciliation.