Police attack student strikers at University of Puerto Rico

[subsuelo]

On Friday, May 14, San Juan police and Puerto Rican security forces attempted to break a student strike by laying siege to the campus of the Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico, in violation of the long-standing tradition of autonomy at all UPR campuses.

Rio Piedras students have been on strike since April 22, in defense of education rights. Ten of the 11 campuses that compose the University of Puerto Rico system are also on strike.

The confrontation took place a day after an assembly of 2000 students voted to continue the strike.

University authorities had facilitated the student assembly at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan. The university even provided buses to transport the students, hoping that a tentative agreement between student and trustee negotiators would be ratified. The tentative agreement, rejected by the majority of students, had restored tuition waivers, one of the students’ demands.

Though police retreated from an all out assault last Friday, they proceeded to blockade all entrances into the university and cut off communications and food deliveries. The father of one student, who was bringing food for the strikers, was violently dragged away.

On Sunday, the police also blocked a march by Puerto Rican artists in solidarity with the student strikers, preventing the delivery of food, water and ice.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/may2010/puer-m17.shtml">more

[protocol rv]

1. So what's the stike about? Tuition waivers?

Or they want something else?

[EFerrari]

2. This is a huge story. Amy did a segment today:

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/17/student_strike_at_university_of_puerto

Transcipt, video at link.

[protocol rv]

3. I got it, so the budget was cut, and they went on strike

Doesn't sound very smart. I would have waited for the semester to be over. Maybe the ones who are striking are poor students. Also, where do they want the government to get the money? I got an idea, they could capture students and bleed them to donate blood to hospitals? :-)