Presente!

I came across Presente! in the Berkeley Public library about three or four months ago and immediately contacted them to be a contributing illustrator. I was handed a very honest, powerful, and inspiring piece written by Simon Sedillo. Below are sketches, the spread, and final illustration in color. Presente is working to inform people about the "School of Americas", and they are actively campaigning to SHUT IT DOWN!. The School of Americas(now called "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation")has trained thousands of soldiers from Columbia, Guatemala, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and other countries in torture tactics to be used against their people. More specifically these tactics are used to weaken and destroy legitimate revolutions against United States backed Puppets. Kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder of anyone whether you are a known dissenter or a suspected activist is . In many countries in Latin America, thousands and thousands of people have been "disappeared" for daring to stand up against Imperialism in their countries. Simon wrote about the history of genocidal tactics used against people of color here in the US, and he relates it to why such institutions such as the SOA need to be shut down!To see some of the other artists who have contributed to the paper like Dignidad Rebelde, click here.