PUERTO RICO: Massive support for university strike

Striking University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus students received their strongest show of support yet when some 8,000 people gathered on Tuesday in front of the institution's main gates in solidarity with their plight, reports the Daily Sun in this and the subsequent stories with links to earlier editions that follow. The students have been protesting against budget cuts and university policies.

Workers, community leaders, performing artists, musicians and members of the public gathered in front of the state-run university to show support for students who have occupied the campus for 28 consecutive days, demanding that tuition waivers and other benefits and services be spared from budget cutbacks.

"The people's support for the students' struggle is very impressive," General Student Council President Gabriel Laborde said. "This has become a struggle of the people for its students. Many of us are on our way out and have sacrificed willingly graduations, postgraduate studies...all for the benefit of those who will become university students." Laborde said the Student Negotiating Committee would resume negotiations with the board of trustees, but keep up the pressure at the gates.
Full report on the Daily Sun site

Rejecting Governor Luis Fortuño's assertion that they are "outside forces" meddling in the University of Puerto Rico, unionised workers who participated in Tuesday's 24-hour island-wide general stoppage in solidarity with striking students said the obligation of the island's public university system to provide affordable quality education to working-class students was being threatened by the administration's austerity measures, reports the Daily Sun.
Full report on the Daily Sun site

The University of Puerto Rico's Río Piedras campus looks very different these days. The parking lots are empty, except for the mango harvest that litters the ground. Although the classrooms and offices are empty, the university gates are filled like never before, writes Rachel Hiskes, who is studying for a masters in social work at the University of Puerto Rico and is a member of the Social Sciences Action Committee and Federation of Social Work Students, in the Daily Sun.
Full report on the Daily Sun site

On Friday, 14 May, San Juan police and Puerto Rican security forces attempted to break a student strike by laying siege to the Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico, in violation of the long-standing tradition of autonomy at all UPR campuses, writes Rafael Azul for the World Socialist Web Site. Rio Piedras students have been on strike since April 22, in defence of education rights. Ten of the 11 campuses that comprise the University of Puerto Rico system are also on strike.
Full report on the World Socialist Web Site