February 14, 2011 11:07 AM
Is Puerto Rico the Next Egypt?
Just as Mubarak refused to leave the presidency, the UPR's administration clings to the use of force. Ever since the police took over the University of Puerto Rico, students claim it has turned into a military camp.
Photographer: Ricardo Alcaraz Diaz
The police officers follow students to their classes, in the hallways, in the plazas and even to the restrooms. In the name of "law and order," male police officers have reportedly entered women's bathrooms while female students attended their basic necessities, clearly violating their constitutional rights.
Governor Fortuño expressed in his speech given on February 8th of this year that the police are men and women that serve our country, naming them "our heroes." Those same men and women that on February 9, 2010, during a paint-in at the University of Puerto Rico, started hitting students with their batons, using their mace on them and conducting over twenty arrests.
Photographer: Ricardo Alcaraz Diaz
Students fought back throwing fruits and paint towards them, inevitably falling to their knees after officers forced them on the ground with brutal violence.
Photographer: Ricardo Alcaraz Diaz
Students then fled the scene, some extremely affected by the Task Force's attacks.
Photographer: Ricardo Alcaraz Diaz
Hours after the incident, a gathering took place inside the University, where hundreds of adults and students dressed in white lit candles and sang the University's anthem.
Photographer: Omar Rodríguez Ortíz
Many people have expressed their feelings against the police inside the campus through Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, The Puerto Rico Daily Sun and this newspaper.
Most members of the faculty stand behind the students, and just as Mubarak announced his resignation on Friday the 11th of February, José Ramón de la Torre, UPR's president, removed himself from his administrative charges on the same date.
Puerto Ricans are still waiting for the Police to be eradicated from the University's premises. A massive march took place on Saturday, February 12, where thousands of people marched the streets of Rio Piedras. The march was called "I love the UPR".
Special Thanks to EstudiantesInforman.Com and phtographers: Ricardo Alcaraz Diaz and Omar Rodríguez Ortíz.