Civil Unrest Hits Puerto Rico

A police riot over budget cuts broke out in Puerto Rico's capital Wednesday, with cops wielding batons and firing pepper spray on demonstrators.

The demonstrators, many of them students from the local university, attempted to enter the statehouse in San Juan to protest budget cuts and other laws under Gov. Luis Fortuno.

Authorities, who had closed the building after learning of the plan for a protest lined up shoulder-to-shoulder forming a barricade in front of the building.

Mary Kay Henry, the new head of the Service Employees International Union, pledged to raise awareness about the event by speaking out: "the intimidation of citizens appear[s] to be escalating on the island and no one is immune: journalists, gay men and women, our union brothers and sisters, and activists from every field who seek to make their voices heard and improve their lives and their communities. I am certain that many members of the U.S. media and many leaders in Washington are completely unaware of the disturbing events that took place Wednesday."

Video below. Warning: Evanescence!

Comments

[eliner]

02:24 PM on 07/10/2010

The USD is becoming more and more like monopoly money and the economy is becoming more and more like the game.
Remember:
We are entitled (everyone gets an equal chance at the beginning, losers team up when others are winning and the whining never stops only switches sides)
The rich must pay in the end (when the game is over, all of those that worked to increase wealth need to return the money to the game - the IMF wants a new currency)
Money has a limited time (game ends/empire ends, new currency gets printed, same old rules)
The rules can change (everyone can get extra money at the beginning)
Wealth gets created out of nothing (ie. paper money and taking chances/rolling the dice)
The government controls the bank
Extra money can be raised by the bank/government - if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time (profitable companies, oil and gas paying more than fair share no matter how they ran their business)

What do the students think? Try actually working for something and see how hard life can be. Educating oneself does not in itself make for a better society and doesn't entitle you to anything. Applying what you learn is what generates wealth. Like the game, giving more to one in the end translates to taking from the other. Taking without ones consent is stealing, is it not? And voting to increase taxes is like ganging up on those that have.

[Robert Winston]

12:51 PM on 07/09/2010

I see that after 615 posts, you STILL haven't corrected the ignorant spelling mistake in the title of your article. You people don't care, do you?

[Robert Winston]

08:18 PM on 07/09/2010

Thanks for correcting that.

[bfern]

12:59 PM on 07/04/2010

In yesterday's issue of El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico's largest circulation newspaper, the republican governor Fortuño pledges to crack down on the opposition and restrict protests and activism. He claims that the protesters are communists and socialists who threaten chaos and must be repressed. In his "cold war" style playbook, the only way to deal with this is by unleashing the riot police, headed by FBI agent Figueroa Sancha. The article, in spanish, is found online here:
http://www.elnuevodia.com/manoduracontralosopositores-735043.html

[DUSAA-1775]

09:58 AM on 07/04/2010

a good video but i did not see a police riot or police brutality. Let me give a heads up to violent protesters... when the police form a thin line and attempt to move the crowd back...the crowd better move back.
It is not wise to kick or throw things at the police, because if the thin police line feels threatened, their first instinct is to preserve their thin line.

[LifeinPrints]

03:07 PM on 07/04/2010

How about a heads up to premature opinions.... when a peaceful group of citizens walk into the legislature requesting to sit in the audience (as established in the law), allow them to sit in, or prepare to have citizens demand their right to an open and public government. When peaceful protesters are standing where protesters are designated to protest with a LEGITIMATE complaint and are being unjustifiably forced out, expect them to not let themselves be bullied and forced to go easily. When there were facts left out of the article that show that the demonstration had been occurring peaceably until the staff and police personnel started abusing their power by spraying pepper spray at civil rights observers and students sitting down in protest, it doesn't substantiate your attitude and assessment of the situation.

[Altario]

01:21 AM on 07/04/2010

Anyone surprised that SEIU is involved?

[Victor Rodriguez]

02:59 PM on 07/03/2010

For a comprehensive analysis of what is going on in Puerto Rico, beyond the short superficial peices that abound check out this blog:

http://ethnosboriquen.blogspot.com/2010/06/puerto-rico-invisible-and-recurring.html

By the way, there is a disconnect between the HP article and the headline. It's the police who rioted not the victoms.

[Omega44]

08:26 AM on 07/04/2010

Anyone with two eys can view the video and clearly discern that the protesters were provocative, prepared to riot and had no peaceful intentions.

[UISuffering]

12:15 PM on 07/04/2010

Thanks for the link, Incredible piece! Simply incredible.

[edwin camacho]

12:17 PM on 07/03/2010

PR is a powder keg thats one more incident away from exploding, rampant corruption in the judicial system, political system and law enforcement, 16-24% unemployment depending on who you choose to believe, police brutality live on tv almost every day and basically no middle class ur either lower or upper. One more incident and all hell is gonna break loose (remember that security guard that was accidentally killed in Viequez, causing the whole island to drink the Navy out of Viequez kool-aid)

Seems like the island i love and live on has turned into a Banana Republic.

[helibel]

04:48 PM on 07/03/2010

It is spelled Vieques!!!

[LifeinPrints]

05:45 PM on 07/03/2010

Seems like you need to go back to school to learn what a real banana republic is... unless you really do mean a fascist government controlled by private corporate interests... then you're right.

But you should still go back to school because what it seems like you meant was that because we are fighting to protect constitutional rights we are the equivalent to thrid world republics... in which case... you should take a look at the statistics and you'll see that struggles for civil rights are MAINLY found in developed nations... those with citizens knowledgeable enough about their rights to enforce them.

Stop regurgitating what your ignorant governor and his right wing nuts are vomiting up in their spin machine.

[poonchkie]

12:37 AM on 07/04/2010

Agreed. And fanned. I lived in Puerto Rico from 78 to 82 and again from 91 to 93. I recognized the disparity in wealth even then. Puerto Rico is a territory ceded to the U.S. after the Spanish/American war and the residents had no say in their colonization by Spain or America. Many Americans have no clue as to the history of this beautiful island. The thing that struck me the most was the pollution in what were pristine coastlines when I was there the first time, by 91 the water was murky and the sea-weed coated in black and gray slime with few fish. The people tried to gain independance in the 50s but were thwarted and denied.

[edwin camacho]

03:35 AM on 07/04/2010

"Stop regurgitating what your ignorant governor and his right wing nuts are vomiting up in their spin machine." really .... when did i say i supported the current PNP government? A banana republic is a politically unstable country dependent upon limited agriculture (e.g. bananas or coffee in our case), and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy, and corrupt politico-economic clique. seems like a text book example of PNP's ,.... yo llevo en la lucha para independizar a Puerto Rico sobre 33 años, o sea q deja de tirarme porq chica hasta preso estube en la federal por mis ideas sobre Puerto Rico....

@ helibel , sometimes i just let Google Chrome auto-correct everything , my bad no es pa tanto socio

[Enroh Mot]

10:48 AM on 07/03/2010

The Puerto Ricans should all go back to New York City.

[RacerX]

10:28 AM on 07/03/2010

Those interested may want to read this story for more details on what happened Wednesday.

http://www.prdailysun.com/index.php?page=news.article&id=1278018126

And this one about Friday's peaceful protest:

http://www.prdailysun.com/news/Hundreds-protest-peacefully

[Omega44]

08:27 AM on 07/04/2010

They had to learn the hard way how to protest peacefully...

[Morganster]

10:05 AM on 07/03/2010

A few interesting facts not mentioned in the article:

The Governor of Puerto Rico is a Republican, as is the congress.

Mr. Fortuno has no problem protecting the interests of the wealthy on the island, and had no qualms imposing a 700% increase in the taxes of the general populace.

Many of these protests were inspired by the fact that the Speaker of the House, cavalierly created a news blackout of congressional meetings on the budget, by having police oust the media and physically lock them out of the building. In effect, the protestors just wanted to protect their right to know as to how their tax dollars are being spent and what budget cuts were being made.

The police are the lowest paid in the United States, and many of them will do whatever it takes to keep their jobs, because unemployment in Puerto Rico is the highest in the US.

While American workers on the mainland enjoy many protections and benefits, those living in Puerto Rico do not, for instance there is no provision for a minimum wage.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

10:41 AM on 07/03/2010

Before long I see these riots coming to the USA. When you have a minority party blocking unemployment benfits just to make people miserable and not want our government to recovering so they can get back in power then something is wrong. People need to have unemployment benefits for their families.

[poonchkie]

12:40 AM on 07/04/2010

Not to mention the news blackout by BP of what's going on in the Gulf. Our Coast Guard and the local and state police in the employ of BP denying citizens the right to photograph or have access to State beaches and the corporate media barely covering the stories.

[Omega44]

11:01 AM on 07/21/2010

Ok - Lets get the facts straight. PR does not have a "Congress" as you mention (this made me laugh). PR has a legislature comparable to a state legislative body (representatives and senators).

The Governor of PR is aligned with the Republican Party. You got that right - at least. That doesn't mean it is the end of the world. The Resident Comissioner (PR representative in the US Congress is a Democrat). And the legislative body can be said to be somewhere in the middle.

A 700% tax increase. hahahahahah...I won't asked where you pulled that out of. It is false. my paycheck deduction % has been the same for at least the last 6 years. In fact, the government is expected to announce a significant TAX Break by the end of the year/early 2011.

[Guptan Kaplingat]

09:44 AM on 07/03/2010

This is a song by PRican artist Calle 13...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogQFOErgKzk

[thislittlepeggy]

01:29 PM on 07/03/2010

Calle 13... they are pretty sharp. I like that colaberative song with Ruben Blades they did.

[RachelMc]

09:40 AM on 07/03/2010

wake me up inside! evanescence is not my cup of tea for music but damn it i know a good song when i hear it. funny that just yesterday i watched their video again for the 100th time for this song.

[foxisms]

09:34 AM on 07/03/2010

Only in America...
And whether one accepts it or not, Puerto Rico certainly is part of America.

[RachelMc]

09:37 AM on 07/03/2010

if its on a quarter then its official.

[foxisms]

10:16 AM on 07/03/2010

Excellent point!
I was floored when I saw that we were now putting our expansion colonies on our currency.
Fanned!

[PR one]

09:31 AM on 07/03/2010

Here is another video that I have forgotten. It shows a member of the Tactical Force, (riot squad) in Puerto Rico denying someone his right to live. Perhaps anabolic is what’s responsible for this behavior as in other instances. WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdTXUavJ_0A

[Omega44]

08:29 AM on 07/04/2010

Not really reflective of the vast majority of the honorable police force....

[rollemlester]

09:15 AM on 07/03/2010

Said it before and I'll say it again.

What will it take for America to rise up and demand change? Maybe when they start breaking into my home and start pushing me off the couch. No I'll just move to the other end and you can do what ever you need to do. Wife and daughter are upstairs in their bedrooms. Money is in the cookie jar. I left in the keys in the toyota in the garage. Please close the door on your way out. Don't want anything really bad to happen.

[kentah]

10:57 AM on 07/03/2010

Here's a pretty long citation from Patrick Henry's famous speech regarding the Revolutionary War. Though it's pertaining to real combat it's still truly pertains to our current situation in the world and especially in the US. It's pretty long:
"hey tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. "
Cont..

[kentah]

10:58 AM on 07/03/2010

Part 2
"Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"