Continuing a series of speeches the Congressman has delivered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on the civil and human rights crisis in Puerto Rico, Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) today addressed a proposed natural gas pipeline project that is being pushed by the Governor of Puerto Rico and his party.  The so-called “Via Verde” — or “Green Way” — is a 92 mile cross island project that has not received sufficient study or public scrutiny because it is being promoted as a response to an “energy emergency.”  Rep. Gutierrez announced he has filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests for information from all federal agencies that have addressed the project and asked the Army Corps of Engineers to “ o deny the permit request for the pipeline until experts testify, permits are applied for, community meetings are held, and environmental impact studies are done.”  The following are the Congressman’s remarks, delivered at approximately 10:00 a.m. ET, as prepared for delivery,

REP. GUTIERREZ: Mr. Speaker I rise today to talk once again about Puerto Rico, but this time it’s a little different. I rise to note that Governor Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico has actually said something that I can agree with.

Speaking about a proposed gas pipeline, the Republican Governor said, “We can’t continue to depend on fossil fuels.  Gasoducto is fossil fuels.”     He went on to say that “tying us down to natural gas for 30 years would be a grave mistake.”

He was referring to the construction of a natural gas pipeline on an island where the beautiful beaches, mountains and rain forests are both irreplaceable natural resources and part of the economic engine that drives tourism — a gas pipeline that sounds like a dubious proposition.

And I agree.

Mr. Fortuño spoke these words two years ago, as a candidate, criticizing his opponent.  Sadly, now that he is safely in office, Governor Fortuño has changed his mind. Now, he enthusiastically supports not just gas pipelines, but a much bigger, more environmentally disruptive and more expensive pipeline.

And how the construction of this gigantic, super-sized pipeline is being handled is another reason I must speak out — again — on the civil rights crisis in Puerto Rico. The ruling party would rather people not notice that Mister Fortuño and Governor Fortuño have opposite positions on gas pipelines.

So they are working hard to move this project forward under the cover of night. Every day – the ruling party answers this question: If you wanted to undertake a potentially dangerous, economically dubious, environmentally disastrous and extremely unpopular project – how would you go about it?

Here’s the ruling party’s answer:  You circumvent feasibility studies.  You avoid environmental impact studies.  You ignore the standard permitting and licensing procedures.  And you take every step possible to eliminate public hearings and public scrutiny.

But how do you proceed without these necessary safeguards and information?    If you are the government of Puerto Rico, and you want to build a 92 mile natural gas pipeline over the mountains; through forests, lakes and rivers; and across critical groundwater systems in Puerto Rico, you would amend a law designed to deal with natural disasters so you can bypass the normal permitting and public process.

What this ruling party does is declare an “energy emergency.”

This government’s “energy emergency” allows the pipeline to proceed — despite warnings from the Sierra Club, the environmental group Casa Pueblo, and even the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service.
— Despite residents’ concerns that it will be constructed near schools, churches and residential areas.

— Despite geologists noting it is near earthquake faults and that there have been 2,500 seismic events in the last 3 years and one felt all over the island just 2 days ago.

The self-declared “energy emergency” also helps hide the fact that you’ve given a ten million dollar contract to a pal of the Governor’s who has no experience at all in constructing gas pipelines.  He does, however, have experience skiing with the governor.  And maybe that’s why you run a slick, taxpayer funded PR campaign that renames the project “The Via Verde” — “the green way.”  So, instead of speaking to the huge financial, human and environmental costs — this Orwellian ad campaign calls a gas pipeline over the mountains and through the woods a “green way.”

Like a lot of people, I think it would be better to name it “Green away”… a magical cleanser you apply to your forests, rivers and lakes, to make them go away…along with millions of green tax dollars. Here’s an even more honest name for the project: the “wrong way.”  Because it’s wrong to spend the people’s money on a project they don’t want and hasn’t been appropriately studied, as the newspaper El Nuevo Día has shown in a series of reports.

Candidate Fortuño was right.  Governor Fortuño is wrong.

To shine some light on this matter, I have sent Freedom of Information Act requests to every and all federal agencies that have addressed the pipeline project.  I will release the results so that the people know who their government is meeting with, what documents exist, and what studies have been done to show the need for this project.

It’s time they stop doing things the “Via Verde” way and start doing things the right way.

Amidst the smell of freshly made sofrito, a historical moment was made, a green ribbon was cut, and the door leading to the rooftop greenhouse at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School (PACHS) was opened. An idea spawned eight (8)  years ago from the minds of the leadership of the Juan Antonio
Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC) and reignited by students of the high school five years ago, was finally made a reality on the evening of Thursday, March 3, where over 150 people gathered to share this special victory for the Humboldt Park community.

The evening included PACHS student-led presentations on topics ranging from health issues resulting from a diet insufficient of fresh fruits and vegetables, such as diabetes and obesity, to the ways students are engaged with urban agriculture through classroom curriculum at PACHS.

As part of the ribbon cutting ceremony a group of community leaders addressed the crowd including PACHS Principal Matthew Rodríguez, Executive Director of the PRCC José E. López, Youth Connection Charter Schools Board President Linda Hanah, Alderman Roberto Maldonado, State Representative Cynthia Soto and New Life Pastor Wilfredo De Jesús.

Carlos De Jesús, Director of the Urban Agriculture Program at PACHS, was another one of the speakers that evening. Earlier in the week De Jesus reflected on an earlier memory of the greenhouse journey.

“The idea of building a rooftop greenhouse at the high school was created five years ago, while I was teaching Science class. Humboldt Park was labeled as a food desert and my students began to think of some ways we can make our community healthier,” said De Jesús. “Then we realized that by building our own greenhouse, we could provide residents access to fresh foods.”

Many residents are unaware that the Humboldt Park community is labeled as a “food desert,” or an area that has little to no access to fresh foods needed to maintain a healthy diet. “This area was not always a food desert,” De Jesus noted. “When a majority of the population was white, there were local supermarkets, such as Jewels and Dominick’s, giving the community easy access to fresh foods. As the ethnicity of the population began to switch to more Latinos and Blacks those supermarkets moved out of the area,” said De Jesús.

The community has suffered from this lack of access to healthy foods. Humboldt Park has one of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in the country. There are a number of solutions in progress that will help improve this crisis. For the past year The 72 Block Humboldt Park Diabetes Initiative has been edúcating residents about diabetes and how to live healthy life-styles. Another community program that is working to improve health issues in Humboldt Park is Muévete, which provides free physical activities such as yoga, bike-riding and Zumba.

The PACHS rooftop greenhouse is the first greenhouse in the community. With the support of local politicians such as Alderman Maldonado and State Representative Cynthia Soto, the scope of community sustainability in Humboldt Park will expand with the construction of 20 more rooftop greenhouses in the near future. In addition PACHS has been granted access to four-tenths of an acre (approximately 18,000 square feet) of land in Humboldt Park, next to the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, where plants that begin their development in the greenhouse will be transferred. Planting on this piece of land will begin April 25, said Carlos de Jesús.

The greenhouse opening at PACHS was part of a larger celebration of the anniversary of Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. A reception held Thursday afternoon at Batey Urbano featured presentations on different programs of the PRCC including La Voz de Paseo Boricua, Vida/Sida, Batey Urbano, CO-OP Humboldt Park, Barrio Arts, Culture and Communications Academy (BACCA) and Humboldt Park No Se Vende.

Alexander Hernández and Marisol Rodríguez

“When they want to set boundaries they do so strategically. Fortuño just signed a bill providing funds to the Puerto Rican film industry to attract more Hollywood films. They are investing millions and, who do they bring to sign this law? Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. They lay claim to the Diaspora when Obama named Sonia Sotomayor. The Diaspora works for some things and not others, “explains Dr. Aparicio. She adds that recognizing the legitimacy of the subject in the Diaspora is still very difficult in the case of Puerto Ricans. However, she emphasized, that the voices of the Diaspora must be legitimate because the Diaspora is involved in political struggles and conflicts of ideology.

In the wake of recent  comments by the Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, questioning the Puerto Rican identity of Congressman Luis Gutiérrez and his credibility  to denounce anti-democratic events in Puerto Rico, La Voz del Paseo Boricua interviewed Dr. Frances Aparicio, director of the Latino Studies Program at Northwestern University, and Dr. Maura Toro Morn, a professor in the Latino Studies  Department at the State University of Illinois. Both academics agreed that the Puerto Rican identity is shared by eight million people, four million in Puerto Rico and four million out of Puerto Rico, but with close family, social and cultural ties on the island, plus a historical thread that binds them. The points raised by the Congress and the Resident Commissioner have promoted interesting debates on migration and transmigration. For Dr. Toro, Pierluisi has as much right, say and desire to set out his political ideas as does Gutiérrez. “To silence groups because they live in the Diaspora does not strengthen political dialogue, moreover, it separates, makes a dividing line. It seems a rather limited perspective when we really are all in the same political situation. “

For her part, Dr. Aparicio believes that Gutiérrez is the only person who would be willing to condemn the administration. “It’s not about who is allowed to. If the government is abusing its power it must be condemned. The current administration is an accomplice and agent of this violence. Pierluisi will not denounce the violence because it goes against his interests,” she explained.

Professor Toro argued that Puerto Rican society is very diverse and a politician can not claim to represent the voice of the Puerto Rican people, both on the island and in the Diaspora, and therefore, a leader can not be sufficiently comprehensive.

“A political leader who wants to be the only voice of the people of Puerto Rico is very narrow minded because the voice of the Puerto Rican people can not distilled into a single political voice. It seems a bit arrogant to want to silence a voice of the Puerto Rican community in the U.S. who has worked for the Puerto Rican people, both here and there. Any person who represents Puerto Rico has to understand the dynamics of the community in the Diaspora.

“ The nation has a geographical and political boundary established in Puerto Rico. Upon Puerto Ricans leaving, the nation as an ideology goes with them. Puerto Ricans in the U.S. (going on now for  a third generation) have never ceased to be Puerto Ricans. The nation can not be framed in the Island. The nation lives in the Diaspora.

Among the allegations that Gutiérrez made on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives last February 16th and March 2nd , appear the unethical and politicized determinations of the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, José A. Fusté, imposing a gag order in a lawsuit against the Bar Association of Puerto Rico, which led to the imprisonment of the President of the Association, Osvaldo Toledo, due to his attempts to keep the members of the association informed. Gutiérrez also denounced the complicity of the New Progressive Party (PNP) administration in the violation the civil and human rights by the police of Puerto Rico against students and demonstrators at recent protests on the island. The violation of these rights have been characterized by the use of excessive force, including kicking, pepper spray, rubber bullets, sexual harassment by police officers, use of the Tactical Operations Division against unarmed demonstrators, violations of freedom of expression and association, among others.

Vanesa Baerga

Residentes de la ciudad de Chicago junto a egresados del sistema de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR) coincidieron en la actividad realizada en el Paseo Boricua el pasado 11 de marzo por el día mundial de solidaridad con la UPR. La misma consistió de un foro educativo sobre la situación universitaria actual y su contexto en el Puerto Rico de hoy. El propósito del foro fue educar a la comunidad sobre el contexto del Puerto Rico actual, las razones para realizar la huelga y las alternativas que han planteado los estudiantes a través del Comité de Representación Estudiantil (CRE).

Los panelistas fueron: el sociólogo, educador y catedrático de UNESCO, Dr. Manuel Torres Márquez, el sociólogo y abogado sindical, César Rosado; la recién graduada de la UPR y estudiante doctoral, Janitza Montalvo Ortiz; la abogada Jan Susler; y por videoconferencia, uno de los miembros del colectivo de Radio Huelga, Ricardo Olivero Lora. Además, se leyó un mensaje que envió Óscar López Rivera a los estudiantes de la UPR.

Al menos 16 ciudades, entre ellas Boston, Nueva York, Filadelfia, San Francisco, Santo Domingo, Amsterdam, Manchester, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela y Granada, participaron en esta iniciativa internacional en apoyo a los estudiantes puertorriqueños que luchan por defender la educación pública  accesible y de calidad contra las políticas neoliberales del gobierno de Luis Fortuño.

La fecha, además, conmemoró el 40 aniversario de uno de los días más sangrientos en la historia de la UPR. El 11 de marzo de 1971, en un Recinto de Río Piedras ocupado por la Policía de Puerto Rico, confrontaciones violentas segaron las vidas de dos policías y un estudiante. Apenas un año antes, durante una manifestación estudiantil, había muerto la estudiante Antonia Martínez Lagares a manos de un oficial de la Policía.

Vanesa Baerga

The Barrio, Arts, Culture, & Communications Academy (BACCA), por si no lo sabías, is a community-based after school program on Paseo Boricua.

The program was created in 2007 as an alternative way to reach Puerto Rican and Latina/o high school-aged youth in Humboldt Park. BACCA was also created to offer career skills to that population related to media and the arts as well as getting young people engaged in community activities.

BACCA’s five core group of students participate three days a week in classes of poetry, theater, civic engagement, and journalism. These courses are offered in order to build a successful future for our Latina/o youth within our community and to open up possibilities.

Throughout each week, we learn how to express ourselves, interact with our peers, and exercise our writing skills. Furthermore, we will be organizing community events and are currently producing a social marketing campaign on anti-underage drinking focused on alternative ways of dealing with the problems young people face.

You can find out more information about us by going to:
www.prcc-chgo.org/bacca

Kelvin Aponte, Corali Caro and Alexandra Mendoza

Los estudiantes en huelga del Recinto de Río Piedras de la Universidad de Puerto Rico que realizan actos de desobediencia civil sintieron la pasada semana cómo la Policía de Puerto Rico ha intensificado las técnicas de tortura que utiliza para arrestarlos.

Información relacionada y más fotos en páginas centrales Vídeos en www.claridadpuertorico.com

Rodillas sobre la cabeza de los detenidos para presionarlos sobre el pavimento, dejarle caer con fuerza las rodillas sobre sus espaldas, presión intensa en la nuca, debajo de las orejas, en la sien y en la garganta, dobladuras de brazos y manos, entre otras, han sido modalidades de abusos que ha implementado los efectivos de la división de Arrestos Especiales y de la Fuerza de Choque aún cuando los arrestados ya están esposados. Luego arrastran por el piso a los que se niegan a caminar hasta el vehículo que los transportará a los cuarteles, en incluos se ha visto a algunos policías agredir sexualmente a las jóvenes arrestadas que se encolerizan y comienzan a gritar, tocando sus partes íntimas.

Esas han sido las imágenes que la Fuerza de Choque ha intentado que no se documenten, parándose frente a los lentes de los fotoperiodistas y periodistas que buscando el ángulo para ver cómo se realizan los arrestos para luego describirlos, han sido agredidos. Es así es como se han formado los policías en las fuertes confrontaciones con estudiante, llegando incluso a agredir a los trabajadores de la prensa.

La evidente intención de la Policía de causar dolor desproporcionado a los arrestados es lo que exacerba los ánimos de los estudiantes que piquetean frente a sus compañeros desobedientes civiles y presencian el abuso policial.En los actos de desobediencia civil que realizaron los estudiantes el pasado jueves 27 de enero frente al Capitolio, se vio cómo la Policía ha incrementado el uso de técnicas de tortura sometiendo a los estudiantes a varias de ellas a la vez y por varios policías. Hubo el caso de una joven que tras apretarle tan fuerte debajo de las orejas se desmayó y la Policía la esposó aún sin haber recobrado el conocimiento.

Ese día, los huelguistas habían llegado a eso de las 12:30 de la tarde de hasta la Legislatura donde encontraron cerradas las puertas de la entrada principal y policías que se fueron colocando frente a ellos. Al menos 30 estudiantes se sentaron al inicio de las escalinatas del Capitolio para realizar desobediencia civil. Portaron cartelones, algunos que leían “los chavos están en OGP”, o “esto es por mí, esto es por ti, esto es por tu país”. La líder estudiantil Xiomara Caro explicó que los estudiantes fueron a presentar a los legisladores un proyecto de ley por petición que consistía en que los $50 millones sobrantes del Fondo de Estabilización Fiscal (FEF) se asignara al presupuesto de la UPR para así evitar la cuota de $800 y el problema de la accesibilidad a la Universidad, dos de las razones del conflicto universitario. Solicitaban que algún legislador tomara el proyecto “y lo aprueben” como se ha hecho con otros tantos que se han aprobado de la noche a la mañana o fines de semana. Sólo el representante por el Partido Popular Dencrático, Luis Vega Ramos, se acercó a ellos y se comprometió a estudiar el proyecto y presentarlo. Mientras tanto, los desobedientes esperaban por una delegación del Comité de Representación Estudiantil (CRE) que había entrado temprano en la mañana al Capitolio con intenciones de explicar a los legisladores su proyecto. El CRE insiste a su vez en que además de los $50 millones del FEF, la legislatura destine al presupuesto de la UPR los $30 millones en becas legislativas en lugar de a estudiantes individuales, porque así no se incrementarán los costos de estudio. Con esas dos propuestas estudiantiles la UPR recibiría $80 millones, el doble de lo que la administración universitaria espera recibir de la cuota de $800 por estudiante, según ha dicho.

Cerca de las 2:15 pm los estudiantes, que ya habían advertido estar dispuestos a que se les arrestara, movieron su acto de desobediencia civil a la Avenida Constitución, al lado sur del Capitolio, no sin antes escuchar a Caro decir que se retiraban del lugar pero que en la medida en que no había oídos para una solución al conflicto “las manifestaciones y la huelga continuarán”. Otros se sentaron en el Paseo Covadonga, bloqueando el tránsito de todos los carriles en ambos lados. A eso de las 3:00 PM comenzaron a producirse los arrestos en la Avenida Constitución por órdenes del capitán González. Empleados del Capitolio salieron a gritar a los estudiantes “paguen la cuota”, lo que por poco provoca otro motín adicional. Por otro lado, un policía de apellido Cortés, placa 24619, que se encontraba al otro lado de la calle, le quitó el seguro a su arma e hizo amague de desenfundarla contra uno de los estudiantes. Pero un grupo de estudiantes lo siguió hasta que se alejó. Otro policía, de apellido Clemente, placa 30944, le dio con la macana en la mano a una estudiante que le enseñó el proyecto de ley que los estudiantes habían llevado al Capitolio.
A las 3:50 pm la Fuerza de Choque se atravesó en la Ave. Constitución empujando a los estudiantes hacia el Paseo Covadonga donde se encontraba el otro grupo de desobedientes civiles. A las 4:30 PM y tras éstos no ser arrestados, se movieron nuevamente a la Avenida Constitución evadiendo el bloqueo policial. La Fuerza de Choque la emprendió contra ellos con gas pimienta directamente rociada a la cara de los estudiantes. Luego los empujaron con sus escudos y lanzando los gases lacrimógenos. Los estudiantes intentaron evadirlos y les devolvieron con los pies las bombas de humo. También les tiraron algunas botellas de agua y piedras y comenzaron a correr. La Fuerza de Choque, dividida en varias escuadras, atravesó la calle de lado a lado para perseguirlos. Según llegaban más efectivos de la Fuerza de Choque continuaban formándose a todo lo ancho de la calle dejando un amplio espacio entre cada escuadra, penetrando algunos las calles aledañas, lo que se convirtió en un despliegue abarcador. Entonces se colocaron máscaras antigases y se fueron disparando indiscriminadamente con escopetas lanza gases y de balas de goma, mientras a su paso viraban zafacones y rompían bolsas de basura. Los residentes comenzaron a salir a la calle. La directora de un colegio y una égida en esa avenida que se identificó como “hermana Rose Marie González”, cuestionó de frente a la Fuerza de Choque por sus acciones. “Parece que estamos viviendo una dictadura”, les decía mientras explicaba que los estudiantes del Colegio se encontraban en la cancha al momento de los disparos y tuvieron que ser movidos al interior del colegio para tranquilizarlos. Igual reclamó respeto para los residentes de la égida. “Cualquiera diría que estamos en una guerra”, añadió.

Sobre 30 estudiantes fueron arrestados esa tarde, sumándose a los sobre 100 que fueron arrestados la semana anterior por negarse a rendir sus reclamos de que la Policía salga de la Universidad y por una educación superior pública al menor costo posible.

Perla Franco/ CLARIDAD

The spreading of exaggerations, distortions and outright falsehoods is a commonplace tactic of those in power. In the past several weeks, the international freedom campaign for Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera has suffered numerous attacks from the mainstream press and conservative pundits. López Rivera has been incarcerated since 1981 for his involvement in the Puerto Rican independence movement, a cause legitimated by international law and the United Nations protocol on decolonization. Before his imprisonment, he served as a community activist and founder of numerous grassroots community and educational organizations in Chicago. Though López Rivera counts on widespread support within the Puerto Rican/Latino community and progressive sectors around the globe, recent attacks by the Right have attempted to sabotage his appearance before the U.S. Parole Commission.

Using various media outlets, the opposition has tried to shift the debate through sensationalistic articles and opt-eds. The most recent article, published in the Sun Times, represents another propaganda piece masquerading as journalism. In the article, “Gutierrez pushes for release of imprisoned former Chicago FALN leader,” author Dave Mckinney advances unsubstantiated and ideologically-motivated claims, which virtually – and this I suspect is no coincidence – the official line of the F.B.I. and broader ‘intelligence’ community. This most recent article, just as those that preceded it, have displaced the facts, drawn convenient connections without evidence, and constructed an ‘objective’ narrative devoid of journalist integrity. This, of course, is not surprising and to be expected. Notwithstanding, it is important to set these falsifications straight and maintain the legitimacy and humanity of the campaign to free Oscar López Rivera.

One of the consistent threads in opposition articles is the fallacious attribution of a host of actions to López Rivera. For instance, he is accused of planning and executing the 1974 bombing of Fraunces Traven. To be clear, there is no evidence tying López Rivera to this event. But conservative commentators will not be deterred by something as troublesome as ‘evidence.’ In their eyes, López Rivera is guilty; no matter what the evidence supports or what his conviction is based on. They obviously hold in contempt the old adage: innocent until proven guilty. What they want is for López Rivera to remain in jail for virtually the duration of his life regardless of the facts of the case. The opposition operates by a different code: guilt by suspected association. Though they have tried to muddle the truth, I should firmly stress that López Rivera was not convicted of harming anyone or causing bloodshed.

Right wing attacks against López Rivera’s campaign ignore the fact that he was convicted of “seditious conspiracy” and related charges. It is important to note that in the 20th century, this highly-political charge was almost exclusively used against Puerto Ricans advocating for Puerto Rican independence and other progressive, liberatory movements. One of the immense and tragic ironies of the case is the fact that Oscar López Rivera was convicted of the exact same charge as Nelson Mandela. While the U.S. government (now) hails Mandela as a symbol of freedom, López Rivera is depicted as an “unrepentant separatist” bent on violence. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Thus contrary to the claims of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, López Rivera is not a fanatical endorser of violence. In fact, he and all of the now freed Puerto Rican political prisoners have – on numerous occasions – renounced violence and have expressed a deep commitment to resolving Puerto Rico’s colonial status through civic means. Former President Clinton, who released 11 Puerto Ricans incarcerated for “seditious conspiracy” and offered to release López Rivera after an additional 10 years, affirmed publically that these individuals posed no threat to civil society. In contrast to the false allusions circulating the internet, López Rivera did not reject Clinton’s offer due to a commitment to violence. The truth of the matter is simply he did

not want to accept an offer not extended to all his co-defendants.

Each of the articles and blogs postings advocating the continued incarceration of López Rivera have unsuccessfully tried to wash away the wide and broad-based support for his release. In the past several months, over 20,000 letters of support have been sent to the Parole Commission. Support is also quite diverse, including community leaders, cultural workers, professors, politicians, family, and the public at large. As seen in the recent McKinney article, supporters of his release, like Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, have begun to be attacked directly in the press. The opposition fails not only to recognize the legitimacy of support, but also the fact that supporters like Gutiérrez are not alone. This freedom campaign counts on the expressed support of Congresspersons José Serrano and Nydia Velázquez (both of NY), Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, former Puerto Rico governor, Anibal Acevedo Vilá, mayors from across the island of Puerto Rico and elected officials from the following U.S. states: New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio. Moreover, he has received the support of Nobel Peace Prize honoree South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and religious leaders throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

For the past three decades – twelve of which spent in a sensory depravation unit – Oscar López Rivera has been confined inside prison walls. Though he was never convicted of taking a life or harming anyone, he has received a longer prison sentence typically given for murder, rape, or child molestation. A parole appointed examiner recently recommended that López Rivera serve an additional 15 years. Mind you, he is already 68 years old. In addition to attempting to erase the facts of his case, they have also tried to erase the fact that López Rivera is an accomplished writer, thinker and artist. They willfully ignore his history of community activism, his Bronze Medal of Honor received in Vietnam, and his life work of fighting for a more equitable and humanistic world. His family and the Nation of Puerto Rico desperately await his return to his homeland. His continued incarceration is a human rights violation of the first order. It is time to bring Oscar López Rivera home. Anything less is a grave injustice, motivated not by the facts of his case, but by an ideological agenda opposed to freedom. Free Oscar!

To support and learn more about the
Oscar López Rivera Freedom Campaign
visit: www.boricuahumanrights.org.

Commentary by Michael Rodríguez Muñiz

Community As Campus

The Community As Campus (CAC) project is a highly innovative approach to reverse the increasingly negative trend of dropout rates and poor academic achievement among the youth in Humboldt Park. Our community is at a critical juncture in preparing our youth for the future. We must address not only the problems our youth face here at home (drop out rates due to early pregnancy, involvement in gangs and drugs, or simply a lack of hope for the future), but also the challenges they will face competing in a global and highly technological society. In the 26th Ward, none of the ten CPS schools rank above the 50th percentile in academic achievement.

As a community member, father, and Alderman, I will support the PRCC in all of its efforts to implement the CAC project. The first step will be to engage the whole array of community-based organizations (affordable housing, faith- based, etc.) and secure their commitment in participating in the CAC project. I will commit my staff resources to organize CAC Commitment meetings to accomplish this goal. I will also work with the Chicago Public Schools’ CEO, Terry Mazany, to secure his support and any resources and funding that may be available and seek funding from any appropriate City of Chicago resources to make CAC a reality.

Economic Development
on Paseo Boricua

As a former Paseo Boricua small business owner, I understand the pitfalls and challenges of these rough economic times. I created the Business and Economic Development Advisory Council, which meets bimonthly to discuss ways to strengthen existing businesses by utilizing Small Business Investment Funds (SBIFs), Tax Increment Financing (TIF), infrastructure upgrades, and other financial incentives. I will use all of these resources to the fullest extent to help small businesses on Paseo Boricua survive this economic storm. I will also support measures that will make the city regulatory process less cumbersome such as streamlining the business licensing, permitting, and fee assessment process, which could include a single, annual payment for all regulatory requirements.

In the same way, I am working to strengthen and expand the Puerto Rican Restaurant & Culture district on Paseo Boricua and will also use all City financial resources to the fullest extent to help the existing restaurants to stay afloat and eventually, expand and grow.

Greening of Paseo Boricua

The 26th Ward is a food desert and the lack of a supermarket is detrimental to the health and well being of the residents. One of my top priorities since being appointed alderman has been to attract a 30,000 square foot, high quality, affordable supermarket to the 26th Ward. Residents of this community should have the opportunity to shop for fresh produce and healthy foods where they live. Without this opportunity and the exposure to healthy foods, the health of our residents will continue to decline.

The “Greening of Paseo Boricua” and the Fresh produce Cooperative complements my vision for the ward and brings it to a higher level of food opportunity and distribution. It is a comprehensive approach to a problem that is in desperate need of creative, workable solutions.

I will commit my staff resources and any appropriate funding from the City of Chicago or other sources to make this project a reality.

Hormigueros is a small town located in the western region of the great island of the archipelago, Puerto Rico. It has a population of 16,856 inhabitants of which 5,900 constitute the labor force. Its inhabitants are known by the demonym “hormiguereños”. Its patron saint, according to the Catholic tradition, is the Virgin of the Monserrate and her day is celebrated on the 8 of September.

This colorful town is known by the moniker “the town of the miracle,” due to the alleged appearance of the Virgin; “The cradle of the emancipatory one”, because it was there were Segundo Ruiz Belvis, defender of the independence of Puerto Rico in the days of Spain and fundamental figure in the abolition of slavery was born; and “the heart of the west”, by its location. It was founded on April 1, 1874 and is constituted by six districts: Benavante, Lavadero, Guanajibo, Jagüitas, Hormigueros [Town] and Hormigueros [District].

For the origin of the name two main versions are presented. The first one talks about the great amount of people who would meet to celebrate the festival in honor of the Virgin of the Monserrate on September 8th, “an ‘anthill’ or hormiguero of people.” The second, to the topographic formation of the land that conforms it, made up of many hills that seem like the small knolls that ants form to live. Another version talks about the origin of the name of the town of “oromico” the indigenous word, which means “Gold River.” At present, the town of Hormigueros is directed and administered by the Honorable Mayor Pedro J. Figueroa, great Puerto Rican and defender of culture and native values.

From here, from the mother country of all, the heart of the west, Hormigueros and their honorable mayor invite all the Boricuas and Latin American residents in Chicago and bordering areas as well as to all the members of the Puerto Rican and Latin American diasporas in the United States, so that they meet in the 18th Celebration of the Puerto Rican festival “Bandera a Bandera” in the city of Chicago, on September 5, 2011. That day, the town of Hormigueros will bring to you the “best of our town”.

Carlos Quíles,
La Voz del Paseo Boricua

In the national pantheon of lesbian and gay history, President Obama will have a special place for
his accomplished effort to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) regulation in the United States
military. DADT, a controversial measure since its inception seventeen years ago, officially allowed
lesbian, bisexual, and gay people to join the ranks of this country’s most revered institution, only if
they did not reveal their sexuality. On December 22, 2010, President Obama, after a majority vote in Congress four days earlier, finally signed into law the revocation of this discriminatory measure.

Many in the media and including friends and associates of mine understandably applauded this act for its human rights contribution and the potential momentum it could offer to a national LGBTQ movement. However, another message was also sent that day – one in which for some is an oversight, while for others is the crux of a malicious agenda: if LGBTQ people want any sort of recognition or civil rights, it is done by including ourselves into this society, not by challenging it. The end result will not be true societal transformation or liberation for LGBTQ people, but the promotion of politics of assimilation that do not represent or address the interests of much of the “community.”

It does not take a fool to recognize that DADT was unconstitutional, as ruled by California JudgeVirginia A. Phillips on October 12, 2010 in response to a lawsuit by the Log Cabin Republicans.

However, it would be too easy just to say that the military is discriminatory and should be more open and not inquire if we should be validating such an institution in the first place. There lays a problem.

The voices that advocate for LGBTQ social justice and do not accept current institutions for all of their violence and inherent exclusionary power, are left out of the dominant discourse. It is our responsibility to ask the question: when and how does an issue become a “LGBTQ issue?” In other words, who has the power to mark an issue as representing a particular group identity? Who has the resources to make something important at the national level? How inclusive is a civil rights campaign? More importantly, which issues are deemed more important and for what reasons and what compromises are made and at whose expense? It is no coincidence that a conservative organization, whose Board of Directors are made up of all homosexual white men – the Log Cabin Republicans – were the ones who filed the successful lawsuit presided by Judge Phillips.

The repeal was passed as a stand-alone bill because it was taken out of a large Pentagon policy bill that Republicans were filibustering. The reason? The bill included Democrat-sponsored last minute provisions, most notably one that would have created a path to citizenship for undocumented peoples who came to the U.S. as children. Without coincidence, the Dream Act had been defeated again around the same time of the DADT debates. The successful lawsuit by members of a conservative elite and the belligerent refusal to pass any sort of comprehensive immigration reform speak to what is the national LGBTQ movement. It is about polishing or should I say, “whitening” the image of LGBTQ people into a non-threatening package. In other words, “dirty, brown Latina/o immigrants” are threatening this country’s institutions, while the “clean, white, gay man or lesbian down the street” are playing by the rules even if they are a “little different.”

We should have a much more open society, without a doubt. However, nowhere in the call to remove DADT was there a call to the end of the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq. The discourse has been: include us in society and not reshape it to meet the needs of everyone. In very few prominent places is there a call to reshape an institution in which people learn to kill and conquer foreign lands. Imagine a world in which the resources used to dismantle DADT were put in – with LGBTQ people at the forefront – to change U.S. foreign policy and the devastating mission of the military all together. The immediate
and long-term results of dismantling DADT will be the swelling of the ranks of a massive military industrial complex, making it a more effective fighting force of death and destruction. When there are those that say all this was a success for the movement, one must ask, for whom? For transgender people who still cannot serve? For people of color, who enlist in higher numbers, who not only suffer
homophobia and transphobia, but housing discrimination, income inequality, and everyday racism?

For us, the military becomes an only escape out of poverty and lack of opportunities. For the millions of people around the world who become causalities of war and colonialism? Now that DADT is repealed, a new kind of policy has emerged, one which says don’t ask questions, don’t tell any truths, and don’t challenge anything too much. As LGBTQ people, that is not the kind of movement we should be applauding or building.

This article has been condensed and edited.
For the full article, go to:
www.xaviersrevenge.blogspot.com

Xavier “Xavi” Luis Burgos