<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br>
</font><font size=4><b>Puerto Rico: Police Occupies the University of
Puerto Rico<br>
</b></font><font size=1>
<a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/12/13/puerto-rico-police-occupies-the-university-of-puerto-rico/" eudora="autourl">
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/12/13/puerto-rico-police-occupies-the-university-of-puerto-rico/<br>
<br>
</a></font><font size=3>Posted By <u>César Santiago</u> On 13 December
2010 @ 14:38 pm <br><br>
For the first time
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/08/us/around-the-nation-riot-police-stop-protest-on-puerto-rico-campus.html">
since 1981</a> the
<a href="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</a> with the Superintendent stating that they “are here
to guarantee the rights of those willing to go to class.” This happened
just hours after
<a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/12/08/puerto-rico-tense-prelude-to-the-student-strike/">
a two day stoppage by students</a> had concluded. Furthermore, it
was announced that
<a href="http://www.telemundopr.com/policiapermanecerademaneraindefinidaenlaupr-99546.html">
the police presence will be indefinite</a> [es].<br><br>
Professor and blogger Érika Fontánez Torres from
<a href="http://poderyambiente.blogspot.com/"><i>Poder, Espacio y
Ambiente</a> </i>[es] expressed
<a href="http://poderyambiente.blogspot.com/2010/12/repudio-total.html">
her concern</a> with the arrival of the police into campus:<br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>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.<br><br>
</dl>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.<br><br>
The online publication <a href="http://www.80grados.net">80grados</a>
[es] published
<a href="http://www.80grados.net/2010/12/llamado-a-no-entrar-a-la-upr-rio-piedras/">
a communiqué</a> from the Law Students Action Committee, which calls for
students not to enter the campus until the police comes out:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>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.<br><br>
</dl>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<br><br>
Antonia Martínez was a 21 year old student
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonia_Mart%C3%ADnez">killed
during a riot police intervention in a student protest in Río Piedras in
1970</a> <br><br>
Despite the claims and concerns of students and professors, the police
has remained on campus. Journalist
<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/LeninPR">Rafael Lenín Pérez</a>
[es] has
<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/LeninPR/status/13244786202902529">
reported</a> on Twitter:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>Reportan estudiantes que están cogiendo clases en RP que policías
estatales son la orden en los pasillos cerca de salones<br><br>
</dl>Students taking classes in Río Piedras report that state policemen
are prevalent in the halls close to classrooms<br><br>
Others inside the campus have expressed frustration with the police
presence. Twitter user Astrid Cruz
<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/artistikem/status/13238222540771329">
explains how she feels about walking inside the campus</a> :<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>I SO love walking around campus having univ guard + private guards +
police patrols watching my every move. Police state, anyone?
#LuchaUPR<br><br>
</dl>In the meantime, an assembly of professors urged both sides to
declare a truce for the well being of the university. The digital
publication <a href="http://www.80grados.net">80grados</a> [es]
published their declaration:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>La Universidad de Puerto Rico no puede ser forzada a escoger entre la
intransigencia de la administración o la intransigencia de los
estudiantes.<br><br>
</dl>The University of Puerto Rico can not be forced to choose between
the administration’s instransigence or the students’
intransigence.<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>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.<br><br>
</dl>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<br><br>
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,
<a href="http://www.primerahora.com/marchaencontradelacuotade$800enlauprminutoaminuto-452352.html">
thousands marched</a> [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.<br><br>
<br><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>