Weekly News Update on the Americas

Issue #1067, February 13, 2011

ISSN#: 1084 922X. Weekly News Update on the Americas covers news from
Latin America and the Caribbean, compiled and written from a
progressive perspective. It has been published weekly by the Nicaragua
Solidarity Network of Greater New York since 1990. For a subscription,
write to weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com . It is archived at
http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/

*1. Puerto Rico: University Professors Strike, President Resigns

A confrontation between police and University of Puerto Rico (UPR)

students on Feb. 9 at the Río Piedras campus in San Juan quickly
escalated into what appeared to be the most violent event in two
months of protests against an $800 tuition surcharge imposed this year
[see Update #1066].

The day began with two separate demonstrations. A group of students

started to paint protest slogans on a street inside the campus, while
administrative workers, members of the Brotherhood of Exempt
Non-Teaching Employees (HEEND), took over the office of UPR rector Ana
Guadalupe to demand the removal of the police from campus. Police
agents attempted to photograph the student protesters, who claimed
they were exercising their constitutional right to free speech.
Shoving matches led to beatings and the use of pepper spray by
helmeted riot police. Agents arrived on horseback and motorcycles
while a helicopter circled over the campus. The students fled, but
then regrouped twice and fought back against the police as many other
students joined the protest. Outside supporters of the students
organized two marches into the campus.

By the evening there were reports that 23 students had been arrested
and 14 agents were injured, as were an unknown number of students;
some agents, students and journalists had been splashed with the paint
that was intended for writing slogans. Students hung a banner from the
campus’ landmark tower reading: “We will win.” (WAPA-TV (Puerto Rico)
2/9/11, some from CyberNews; Primera Hora (Guaynabo) 2/9/11; Indymedia
PR 2/10/11; NCM Noticias 2/13/11 via Indymedia PR)

There are indications that the conservative administration of Gov.

Luis Fortuño had made plans to escalate the violence, even though
police tactics in earlier protests had already brought charges of
brutality and sexual abuse. The Puerto Rican Association of University
Professors (APPU), which represents UPR professors, said it had
information about a high-level meeting on Feb. 7 in which it was
remarked that “everything was turning out well” in the UPR crisis and
that “all that’s missing” is a death to blame on the students. (NCM
Noticias 2/13/11)

If the Puerto Rican government was trying to provoke an incident, the

tactic misfired badly. Even police superintendent José Figueroa Sancha
admitted in a radio interview that the police response had been
excessive. The APPU and the HEEND called a 24-hour strike for Feb. 10
to protest the police presence on UPR campuses and to shut down Río
Piedras in order to prevent more violence. Campus maintenance workers
joined the strike, which was extended through Feb. 11 despite the
university’s announcement that it would dock the strikers’ pay.
(Prensa Latina 2/11/11)

As the strike was in progress on Feb. 10, UPR president José Ramón de
la Torre sent a letter to police superintendent Figueroa Sancha
requesting “the withdrawal of the police from the University of Puerto
Rico.” De la Torre, who had previously supported the police presence,
then resigned “for family reasons.” The resignation was made official
on Feb. 11. (El Nuevo Día (Guaynabo) 2/11/11; TeleSUR 2/12/11)

On Feb. 12, thousands of students and supporters turned out for “I

Love the UPR,” a march to demand the withdrawal of the police.
Supported by 72 social organizations and opposition political parties,
the mass protest moved through San Juan streets, with motorists
honking in support, and marched into the campus, with chants of “Out,
out,” past police agents who were unable or unwilling to stop the
procession. “If this is the minority, where is the majority?”
protesters asked, referring to claims that only a small minority of
students and other Puerto Ricans support the protests. Even former
governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (2005-2009) joined the march, although
some protesters jeered him because of his efforts to break a teachers’
strike in 2008 [see Update #936].

“Whoever thinks this movement has run out of gas should look at this
demonstration and think again,” Student Representative Committee (CRE)
spokesperson Ian Camilo Cintrón told the crowd. “The police are in the
university to guarantee a project for the privileged and the elite and
not a project for the majority. What’s at stake here is accessibility
for young people who can’t count on the resources to be able to come
to this institution.” (END 2/13/11; NCM Noticias 2/13/11)

As the crisis continued in Puerto Rico, on Feb. 11 Gov. Fortuño was in

Washington, DC, addressing the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC). The governor is considered a rising star in the US
conservative movement, and Republican strategists feel he might help
the party reach out to Latino voters. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim
Pawlenty, who is hoping for the Republican presidential nomination in
2012, has mentioned Fortuño as a potential running mate. (Times of
India 2/11/11 from AP; The Virginian-Pilot 2/8/11 from Politico)

Update Feb. 14: Today Gov. Fortuño announced the partial removal of
police agents from the Río Piedras campus. “The police shouldn’t be in
the UPR,” he said. “They should be in the streets.” Agents were seen
gathering their equipment and preparing to move out. (END 2/14/11)