Posted on 10/16/2009 6:39:01 AM PDT by rrstar96
Thousands of marchers converged in [the] Hato Rey [section of San Juan] and rallied for much of the day as the general strike against government layoffs and a range of other grievances was carried out without incident Thursday.
The tensest moment came late in the day as University of Puerto Rico students continued to block the Las Américas Expressway in both directions between Piñero Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue.
Police Department officials initially opted not to confront the students and agreed to let them carry out what UPR law student Kevin González called an “act of civil disobedience.”
However, when the general strike rally outside the nearby Plaza las Américas ended, police prepared to clear the students out if they did not allow traffic to flow along the normally busy highway about three hours into their roadblock.
Another two hours of negotiations followed and included Police Superintendent José Figueroa Sancha and Methodist Bishop Juan Vera, a spokesman for the Coalición Todo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico, and attorney Daniel Nina.
A human chain of union members, Bar Association observers and some students stood between police and student protesters.
During the negotiations with observers from the Bar Association, police agreed to first pull back officers from the Tactical Operations Unit and then completely remove the Mounted Unit that had established a perimeter in front of students.
However, it was pleadings from former jailed nationalist Rafael Cancel Miranda that finally got students to clear the highway.
“Let’s walk and resolve this thing because we’re not resolving anything here,” Cancel Miranda said. “I’ll go at the front with my head held high.”
While police and protest organizers managed to maintain the peace, La Fortaleza [Governor's Mansion] Chief of Staff Marcos Rodríguez-Ema made it clear that the job cuts would not be reversed.
“The call to roll back the layoffs is impossible to heed at this time. If they are seeking legislation to reverse the firings, the answer in unequivocally no,” Rodríguez-Ema told reporters at La Fortaleza.
He said the government’s functions were carried out as usual on Thursday.
As the general strike got underway Thursday morning, Gov. Luis Fortuño reiterated his call for calm amid the largest protest to date against his administration’s dismissal of more than 16,000 government workers. Coalición Todo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico—made up of labor, religious and civil organizations—made good on their pledges to stage a peaceful demonstration.
“What is vital here is that if we respect the rights of others, we will have a much more peaceful and fruitful coexistence,” the governor said in a radio interview.
Asked if he was respecting the rights of others, Fortuño replied: “Every day I try to be better than the day before.”
The governor expressed confidence that violence would not mar the protests, which culminated in a massive rally on Roosevelt Avenue outside the shuttered Plaza las Américas shopping center. His confidence was borne out by the nonviolent protest.
The Coalición Todo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico staged multiple marches from different points in the metropolitan area that converged along Roosevelt Avenue between Plaza Las Américas and Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Groups of marchers set out from points including the Minillas Government Center in Santurce, the Río Piedras Medical Center, Chardón Street, the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, UPR Río Piedras, Luis Muñoz Marín Park and the Golden Mile.
Many public and private schools sat empty as classes were either canceled or parents kept their kids home.
La Fortaleza, the govenor’s mansion in Old San Juan, was guarded by barricades San Francisco, Cristo and Fortaleza streets manned by police officers.
Some 15,000 officers had been deployed to work strike duty, according to Police Superintendent José Figueroa Sancha. The National Guard had not been activated.
Apart from Roosevelt Avenue, the police chief expected “traffic to flow, a little slower than usual, but it should flow.”
That was the case Thursday morning as main roadways in Río Piedras, Santurce, Hato Rey and the Kennedy Expressway in Puerto Nuevo remained open to vehicles. A caravan of striking truckers filed along the Golden Mile in Hato Rey as commercial activity in the island’s financial district was crippled. Suited executives that normally mark the area were replaced by T-shirt clad marchers carrying protest placards.
Fortuño reiterated Thursday that the layoffs were necessary to close a $3.2 billion budget gap inherited from the Acevedo Vilá administration.
The island’s unemployment rate reached 15.8% in September, the highest in the nation. The administration has estimated that the jobless rate could jump to 17.1% in November when the majority of the second and final round of layoff takes effect.
The layoffs are being carried out under Law 7, the package of belt-tightening and revenue measures approved by the Fortuño administration to close a $3.2 billion deficit and pare public spending by $2 billion annually.
The administration already implemented a series of austerity measures including spending cuts and payroll reductions through attrition, voluntary buyouts and a first round of layoffs in late May.
Upon taking office in January, Fortuño instituted a strict hiring freeze, one of a series of measures aimed at confronting the record $3.2 billion deficit. He also ordered a 10% across-the-board cut in spending, a 30% reduction in positions of trust and some emergency measures to increase revenue.
The governor said the spending cut is necessary to avoid a downgrade of the commonwealth’s credit rating to non-investment grade or junk level, which he said would have “unthinkable” economic consequences.
In September, Fortuño ordered a substantial reduction of rental payments in all agencies and public corporations of Puerto Rico. The directive orders agencies and public corporations to cut such contracts by at least 15%. Another executive order directed agency chiefs and heads of public corporations to slash service contracts by 15%.
Combined cll/rrstar96 Puerto Rico ping list
Did they get their free sample of gum and the 50% off coupons for Bennigan’s like Canada did?
No. They got assurances from the Puerto Rican government that the layoffs stand.
We could use him in California.
In fact, we could use him in Washington. Could we borrow him when you're done with him?
I actually was good friends with his sister in law while I lived in PR. Luis is a great guy.
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