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From Vieques to the University of Puerto Rico: The Struggle
Continues<br>
by Hector Rosario, PhD <hrosario@math.uprm.edu><br><br>
It's before dawn and already almost thirty students are assembling
to<br>
begin the takeover of an Army ROTC building at the University of
Puerto<br>
Rico, Mayaguez Campus. It's been planned for weeks, with both legal
and<br>
professional advice. The morale is high and the determination to oust
the<br>
military program from their campus is resolute. Harvard and Yale
expelled<br>
their programs in the sixties and they don't have the additional
problem<br>
of being located in one of the few remaining colonies of the world.
But<br>
there they are, following on the footsteps of their predecessors at
the<br>
University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras, who also attempted to oust
the<br>
program, with the difference that now their successors have resolved
to<br>
complete the task left unfinished in the sixties.<br><br>
As soon as the ROTC officers open the heavy wooden doors of the
beautiful<br>
structure the Army occupies but belongs to the UPR, the students swarm
the<br>
building: four do a sit-in inside the administrative office,
half-a-dozen<br>
paint anti-war and anti-ROTC murals on two of the outside walls, while
the<br>
rest hold the doors to keep control of the main lobby. The officers
are<br>
upset but feel powerless in front of a group of highly organized
and<br>
disciplined nonviolent demonstrators. The ROTC personnel are puzzled as
to<br>
what to do in such circumstances. They wish for a more favorable
scenario<br>
where they can employ their violent skills. What a great
disappointment.<br><br>
Security officers come quickly to the scene but soon realize, as
expected,<br>
that the symbolic takeover is a new tactic of the same group of
students<br>
that has kept a civil disobedience encampment for the past four months
at<br>
the foundations of an Air Force ROTC structure being rebuilt.
Certainly,<br>
the construction there stopped and it will not be allowed to
continue<br>
until there is a commitment by the university administration to return
the<br>
building to the broader college community. But back to the Army
ROTC<br>
protest, here they are again, quite a few students accompanied by<br>
professors.<br><br>
The day goes on and tensions rise. The cadets are angry and aggressive
but<br>
the students claim this as their building, a building that was meant
for<br>
the education of a country not for the military training of its
citizens<br>
that will eventually participate in the massacres of children and
the<br>
destruction of infrastructures in Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other<br>
“pre-emptive” war. Not in our name. Not with our resources. Not
anymore!<br><br>
At night, we hold a vigil and have an open-house for the university<br>
community. We watch documentaries about Iraq and the School of the<br>
Americas, while another group fraternizes with music. It’s time to
rejoice<br>
but not much. We recall that while we taste a small victory, Iraqis
are<br>
resisting the occupation and many of them are dying. Yes, many
soldiers<br>
fighting in US uniform, including over 3,000 from Puerto Rico, are
also<br>
dying. Even though they made that dreadful choice and must be held<br>
accountable for it, we still have to bear the pains of the families<br>
disrupted by death, mutilation, and disease.<br><br>
Morning comes and it's time to pack and go -- for now. We declare a
temporary<br>
victory: we took over the building, reclaimed it as cultural
patrimony,<br>
and left peacefully. We will now face the consequences of our
actions,<br>
whatever those may be. The administration seems clueless and feeble
in<br>
front of our ingenuity and resolve. What they don't understand is that
the<br>
successful demilitarization campaign of Puerto Rico did not end
with<br>
Vieques. There's still work to be done.<br><br>
Civil disobedience and direct action protests will continue until
the<br>
demilitarization of the University of Puerto Rico is attained. The<br>
encampment that students have maintained since the beginning of the
fall<br>
semester at the former Air Force ROTC structure stands proudly today as
a<br>
symbol of dignity and perseverance.<br><br>
At the site, a small concrete lot, the students meet, eat, sleep,
and<br>
coordinate their next move. All throughout, the students have
braved<br>
everything from hostile administration officials and security officers
to<br>
inclement weather and lack of basic needs like water and electricity.
But<br>
again, there’s still work to be done.<br><br>
We urge anti-war activists across the United States to help us
disseminate<br>
our message. We must fight the insanity of war from every angle.
This<br>
requires ending all ROTC programs and their recruitment activities on
our<br>
college campuses.<br><br>
Frente Universitario por la Desmilitarización y la Educación
(FUDE)<br>
fude_rum@hotmail.com (787) 969-0494<br><br>
<br><br>
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