[News] Puerto Rico - thousands march from the Legislature to the Governor's Mansion in Old San Juan

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Puerto Rico: Police Occupies the University of Puerto Rico
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/12/13/puerto-rico-police-occupies-the-university-of-puerto-rico/

Posted By César Santiago On 13 December 2010 @ 14:38 pm

For the first time 
<http://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/08/us/around-the-nation-riot-police-stop-protest-on-puerto-rico-campus.html>since 
1981  the 
<http://www.prdailysun.com/news/Police-takes-over-campus-after-stoppage>Puerto 
Rico Police has entered the main campus of the 
University of Puerto Rico  with the 
Superintendent stating that they “are here to 
guarantee the rights of those willing to go to 
class.” This happened just hours after 
<http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/12/08/puerto-rico-tense-prelude-to-the-student-strike/>a 
two day stoppage by students  had concluded. 
Furthermore, it was announced that 
<http://www.telemundopr.com/policiapermanecerademaneraindefinidaenlaupr-99546.html>the 
police presence will be indefinite  [es].

Professor and blogger Érika Fontánez Torres from 
<http://poderyambiente.blogspot.com/>Poder, 
Espacio y Ambiente [es] expressed 
<http://poderyambiente.blogspot.com/2010/12/repudio-total.html>her 
concern with the arrival of the police into campus:

Repudiamos y protestamos enfática y totalmente, 
la ocupación de la Universidad de Puerto Rico por 
la Policía. ¿Cuánto más hará esta administración 
para arrebatarnos y destruir nuestra Universidad?. Basta ya.

We repudiate and protest emphatically and 
totally, the occupation of the University of 
Puerto Rico by the Police. What else will this 
administration do to take away and destroy our University? Enough.

The online publication 
<http://www.80grados.net>80grados [es] published 
<http://www.80grados.net/2010/12/llamado-a-no-entrar-a-la-upr-rio-piedras/>a 
communiqué from the Law Students Action 
Committee, which calls for students not to enter 
the campus until the police comes out:

Hoy, debemos negarnos a entrar al Recinto de Río 
Piedras, y a todos los demás Recintos del Sistema 
de la UPR hasta tanto se retire la Policía de 
Puerto Rico de sus inmediaciones. De lo 
contrario, habremos condonado la muerte de 
nuestra Política de No Confrontación y de nuestra 
autonomía universitaria. No esperemos la muerte 
de una nueva Antonia Martínez, abatida a tiros 
por los fuerzas del Estado para defender nuestra Institución.

Today, we must refuse to enter the Río Piedras 
campus, and all other campuses of the University 
of Puerto Rico’s system, until the Police of 
Puerto Rico retires from the premises. Otherwise 
we will have condoned the death of our 
Non-Confrontation Policy and of our university’s 
autonomy. We must not wait until the death of a 
new Antonia Martínez, killed by gunfire by the 
forces of the State to defend our Institution

Antonia Martínez was a 21 year old student 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonia_Mart%C3%ADnez>killed 
during a riot police intervention in a student protest in Río Piedras in 1970

Despite the claims and concerns of students and 
professors, the police has remained on campus. 
Journalist 
<http://twitter.com/#%21/LeninPR>Rafael Lenín 
Pérez  [es] has 
<http://twitter.com/#%21/LeninPR/status/13244786202902529>reported on Twitter:

Reportan estudiantes que están cogiendo clases en 
RP que policías estatales son la orden en los pasillos cerca de salones

Students taking classes in Río Piedras report 
that state policemen are prevalent in the halls close to classrooms

Others inside the campus have expressed 
frustration with the police presence. Twitter 
user Astrid Cruz 
<http://twitter.com/#%21/artistikem/status/13238222540771329>explains 
how she feels about walking inside the campus :

I SO love walking around campus having univ guard 
+ private guards + police patrols watching my 
every move. Police state, anyone? #LuchaUPR

In the meantime, an assembly of professors urged 
both sides to declare a truce for the well being 
of the university. The digital publication 
<http://www.80grados.net>80grados  [es] published their declaration:

La Universidad de Puerto Rico no puede ser 
forzada a escoger entre la intransigencia de la 
administración o la intransigencia de los estudiantes.

The University of Puerto Rico can not be forced 
to choose between the administration’s 
instransigence or the students’ intransigence.

Se exhorta al Presidente y a la Junta de Síndicos 
que retire inmediatamente la Policía de la 
Universidad y a los estudiantes que pospongan 
indefinidamente su voto de huelga. Se exhorta, 
asimismo, al Presidente y a la Junta de Síndicos 
que se reúnan cuanto antes con los representantes 
del estudiantado y se inicie de inmediato un 
proceso de diálogo con la intención expresa de 
forjar acuerdos basados en el sacrificio mutuo, 
en la capacidad de cada cual de ceder, de 
escuchar al otro y de compartir 
responsabilidades. Lo que está en juego es nada 
menos que la sobrevivencia de la Universidad.

We urge the President and the Board of Trustees 
to retire the Police from the University 
immediately, and to the students to indefinitely 
postpone their strike vote. We, also, urge the 
President and the Board of Trustees to get 
together as soon as possible with the students’ 
representatives and a process of dialog is 
initiated immediately with the express intention 
to forge agreements based on mutual sacrifice, in 
the capacity that each one can compromise, listen 
to the other side and share responsibilities. 
What is at stake here is nothing less than the survival of our University

The students of the main campus voted in an 
assembly to start a strike tomorrow, December 14, 
unless a special tuition fee of $800 –which will 
start to be charged in January– is eliminated. 
Yesterday, 
<http://www.primerahora.com/marchaencontradelacuotade$800enlauprminutoaminuto-452352.html>thousands 
marched  [es] from the Legislature to the 
Governor's Mansion in Old San Juan (the colonial 
sector of the capital city)  in protest against the imposition of this fee.




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