Anti-ROTC Civil Disobedience Encampment at the University of Puerto Rico
1/9/2004--The successful demilitarization campaign of Puerto Rico has extended from Vieques to the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez in an effort to expel the ROTC program. On September 15th [2003] a group of students established a civil disobedience camp at the base of a demolished ROTC structure that was to be rebuilt for the military program. Reclaiming the University’s mission to excellence in education and its commitment to a culture of peace, and denouncing the use of university funds that go to promote war, the students halted the construction of the building by taking over the place non-violently. For over the past three months, the students have braved everything from hostile administration officials and security officers to inclement weather and lack of basic needs like water and electricity. Students, professors, and university employees have been true to their demilitarization cause and have vowed to remain at the site until they accomplish their goals, namely, the termination of ROTC programs on all UPR campuses and the reassignment of the disputed building to serve a broader sector of the university community.
There have been several meetings with UPR administration officials, including a recent one with the president and various ones with the chancellor of the Mayagüez campus. Those meetings, however, have not translated into significant gains.
We urge anti-war activists across the United States to help us disseminate our message. We must fight the insanity of war from every angle. This requires ending all ROTC programs and their recruitment activities on our college campuses.
To find out more about our struggle and about how we can join forces, you may contact us at the numbers and addresses below.
In solidarity,
Frente Universitario por la Desmilitarización y la Educación (FUDE)
Isa Rodríguez (787) 594-0730, fude_rum@hotmail.com
Ismael Guadalupe (787) 473-1652
Héctor Rosario, PhD (787) 538-3117, hrosario@math.uprm.edu
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