Jóvenes talentos: Pamela Osorio Edgardo Allende Misere Osorio

domingo 26 de septiembre – 30 de octubre 2010
Apertura 3:00 pm

K E N K E L E B A
Wilmer Jennings Gallery miércoles – sábado 11:00- 6:00 pm
219 East, Second St, & Ave B /New York, NY 10009 (212) 674-3939

Casa Pueblo of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, is a community organization at the forefront of a growing popular movement to oppose the pipeline. The organization has a history of popular direct action beginning in the 1970’s when they led an island-wide movement opposing, and preventing, strip-mining in the region by Alcoa and other mining multinationals.
The Puerto Rican government claims the pipeline will reduce costs to the consumer but this has been challenged by University of Puerto Rico studies, as outlined in the attached. The plant that is to supply the natural gas was owned by Enron before it went bankrupt. This is significant because a pattern of monopoly control over the power grid is shaping up reminiscent of the situation in the 2000-2001 California Electrical Crisis.
The attached document (Spanish and English translated versions) also makes a powerful argument for a public policy in Puerto Rico promoting renewable photovoltaic energy and energy conservation. This is a well-researched plan with attainable goals. It would also make the pipeline redundant.
Please read the attached. It is 6 pages long, and we are working on a more stream-lined press release, but this evaluation contains the full scientific and economic arguments. I will send some recent press in Spanish and English. Here is a link to one article in Spanish. http://www.elnuevodia.com/uncrimenambientalelgasoducto-761375.html We are just getting started, but time is of the essence here. As in previous cases, the government and the multinational corporations with vested interests would like to ramrod this through with shock and awe techniques before we can mount a popular defense.
I urge you to look closely at this crisis situation and make efforts to report on and raise awareness about it. Please circulate this and help us get the word out. We need to put the spotlight on this environmental disaster in the making called Via Verde.
Please visit www.casapueblo.org or contact me for more info. I am in the process of building a dedicated page for information updates.
Thank you,

Alex Wolfe

LISTEN TO THE REPORT Lolita Lebron Obit on BBC Radio 8-6-10

Lolita Lebron did not expect to live beyond March 1st 1954. That was the day she led a gun attack on the US House of Representatives which wounded several congressman and saw her jailed for the next 25 years. The former beauty queen from the island of Puerto Rico soon became the poster woman for the nationalist struggle to gain independence from the US and she is often now compared to the revolutionaries Che Guevara and Pancho Villa.

Jane spoke to one of her co-activists who took part in the attack in 1954, Rafael Cancel Miranda, and to Angelo Falcon of the National Institute for Latino Policy.

Dolores “Lolita” Lebrón was born 19 November 1919 and died 1 August 2010

For more information,

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142199905813556&ref=ts

Por Iñaki Estívaliz/Inter News Service
San Juan, 1 ago (INS).- La líder nacionalista Lolita Lebrón, quien murió hoy a los 89 años de edad y que cumplió 25 años de prisión por participar en un asalto al Congreso de los EEUU en 1954, mantuvo hasta sus últimos años de vida la esperanza de ver a Puerto Rico independiente, pero usando un mensaje de rechazo a la violencia.

En una de las últimas entrevistas que concedió, el 22 de septiembre de 2006, Lebrón apostó porque los independentistas conmemorarían de forma “ordenada y sin violencia” al día siguiente la significativa fecha conocida como el Grito de Lares, que aquel año coincidía con el primer aniversario de la muerte a manos del Negociado Federal de Investigaciones (FBI) de Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, comandante del Ejército Popular Boricua-Macheteros.

La única mujer entre los cuatro independentistas que el 1 de marzo de 1954 irrumpieron a tiros en el Congreso de Estados Unidos e hirieron de bala a tres legisladores aseguró entonces que “mañana vamos como somos, gente decente, ordenada y que no quiere la violencia. La colonia es la violencia”.

En el Grito de Lares se conmemora el levantamiento armado contra España en 1868 y el año 2005, durante la celebración, agentes del FBI atacaron la residencia clandestina en Hormigueros del izquierdista Ojeda Ríos, de 72 años y uno de 10 los fugitivos más buscados por EEUU hasta entonces. “Nosotros vamos a cumplir con nuestro deber y a renovar nuestros votos por la liberación nacional del pueblo de Puerto Rico”, insistió la nacionalista en su casa de Guaynabo, donde colgaban fotografías suyas de su juventud, en la que exhibía una belleza arrebatadora de actriz de cine.

En una de las habitaciones había levantado una especie de santuario católico donde todos los días oraba por la juventud puertorriqueña. “Nuestra estrategia liberadora es una estrategia de paz”, aseguró Lebrón, quien cumplió en prisión “25 años, seis meses y nueve días” hasta que fue indultada en 1979 junto a Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores y Andrés Figueroa Cordero por el presidente Jimmy Carter como secuela de una intensa campaña internacional.

La nacionalista puertorriqueña indicó que en Lares “se forjó la cuna de nuestra patria” y dijo que ciertas “visitas” del FBI a casas de independentistas y el “asesinato” de Ojeda Ríos tuvieron la intención de “meterle más miedo al pueblo, pero los que somos fieles a la causa estaremos allí”. “No soy una revolucionaria de ir a matar a nadie, yo creo en la paz, yo creo que podemos hacernos libres y que nos vamos a hacer libres sin necesidad de hacer una revolución armada”, subrayó.

“No estamos arrepentidos (de los actos armados), estamos contentos, pero desde mi perspectiva, creo que no debemos ahora hacer esa estrategia sino tener otra para el momento que vivimos ahora en el siglo XXI”, añadió. Defendió el derecho de soberanía de todos los pueblos y que “la colonia está ya en agonía”, pues el gobierno local, entonces con Aníbal Acevedo Vilá como gobernador, está “entregado a un imperio” mientras crecen “la corrupción y el desorden”.

Que se sepa hasta el momento, Lebrón no pudo cumplir uno de sus últimos sueños, que le dio energías y fuerza para sobrevivir sus últimos años: hacer público un libro en el que había escrito las “revelaciones” que Dios le habría hecho en la cárcel y en el que, entre otras cosas, le pretendía explicar al ex presidente de EEUU, George W. Bush, “lo que es terrorismo”. “La violencia hay que borrarla de la faz de la tierra… toda, la institucionalizada y todas las demás. No es que yo no tire una piedra, yo no debo tirar la piedra, pero nadie debe tirar en absoluto nada contra nadie”, pensaba.

Criticó que en el último informe de la Casa Blanca sobre el estatus político de Puerto Rico se afirmara que EEUU puede ceder la isla a cualquier otro país “como si fuéramos cerdos”, lo que supone un abuso a la dignidad: “nadie nos puede entregar a nosotros a nadie”. Su fe le sirvió para sobrevivir a la pérdida de “todos mis hijos”: “a un mes del asalto al Congreso murió ahogado mi hijo de once años y mi madre murió desgarrada”.

Lebrón concedió en exclusiva aquella entrevista a cambio de que se mencionara su “agradecimiento eterno” al grupo de unas cuarenta “madrecitas” que la cuidaron durante su recuperación de un ataque al corazón y una embolia pulmonar, a Brunilda García y al Hospital El Maestro de Hato Rey, entre otros.

Ya en el Ateneo, centenares de personas esperaban en fila para ofrecerle el último adiós. Una inmensa bandera de Puerto Rico y del Partido Nacionalistas decoraban la pared exterior del Ateneo. Los Cadetes de la Repúblicas con su camisa negra, pantalón blanco y gorro con la insignia nacionalista fueron los primeros en hacerle una guardia de honor. Doña Lolita estuvo vestida de color rosa intenso, con flores colocadas en su pecho, una mantilla blanca sobre su cabellera blanca y los labios pintados de rojo, como le gustaba.

Puerto Rican nationalist Lolita Lebron dies at 89
(AP) – 4 hours ago
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Lolita Lebron, a Puerto Rican independence activist who spent 25 years in prison for participating in a gun attack on the U.S. Congress a half-century ago, died Sunday. She was 89. Lebron died at a hospital in San Juan of complications from respiratory disease, said Francisco Torres, president of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico. She had been hospitalized repeatedly in recent months for her ailments. Lebron was a leading figure in the small but passionate nationalist movement in this U.S. territory. “Lolita was the mother of the independence movement. This is an insurmountable loss,” said Maria de Lourdes Santiago, a member of the Caribbean island’s Senate from the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

Lebron was born Nov. 19, 1920, in Lares, in southwestern Puerto Rico, and moved as a young adult to New York, part of a mass migration from the island to the United States during the 1940s. There she developed her nationalist views and became a follower of movement leader Pedro Albizu Campos. In 1954, she and three other nationalists entered the U.S. Capitol with automatic pistols and opened fire from an upstairs spectators’ gallery onto the crowded floor of the House, firing nearly 30 shots. They unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and Lebron shouted “Viva Puerto Rico libre!” No one died in the attack but five U.S. representatives were wounded, including one congressman who was shot in the chest. Lebron later said that she never intended to kill anyone and that all four nationalists expected to be killed in the assault. She and the others — Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores and Andres Figueroa Cordero — received lengthy prison sentences. President Jimmy Carter granted them clemency in 1979 and they were released.

“We didn’t do anything that we should regret,” Lebron said upon her release. “Everyone has the right to defend their right to freedom that God gave them.” Back in Puerto Rico, Lebron continued to attend political rallies on the island, where the independence movement holds little sway with voters. The vast majority of people in Puerto Rico favor either becoming a U.S. state or maintaining the semiautonomous status they have now.

Lebron was arrested in 2001 at age 81 when she and five other people cut through a fence on the neighboring island of Vieques to protest the 1999 death of a civilian security guard killed by an errant bomb dropped during a U.S. Navy training exercise. The U.S. has since closed the Vieques bombing range. She was sentenced to 60 days in jail for trespassing. In recent years, Lebron tempered her support for violent struggle. “I think times have changed, and there is no need now to kill for freedom,” she told El Mundo newspaper in 1998. “I would not take up arms nowadays, but I acknowledge that the people have a right to use any means available to free themselves.”

The renowned lawyer and political analyst, Juan Manuel Garcia Passalacqua, died this afternoon in the state of Ohio where his daughter lives.

According to several former colleagues of the popular leader who requested anonymity because they did not have authorization from the family to discuss the situation, García Passalacqua died today at 7:30 pm at 73 years of age. At the moment, the cause of his death is not known, although it is known that he had cancer.

The political science professor was born on February 22, 1937 in San Juan. He studied at Tufts University, Harvard University and Cambridge College, one of the most prestigious universities in the United States. He also had a master’s degree from the Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans.

García Passalacqua, who was an adviser to Luis Muñoz Marín and former United States president Jimmy Carter, is survived by his wife of the past 45 years, the historian Ivonne Acosta, three children and six grandchildren.

For his part, Governor Luis Fortuño, his former neighbor and friend who in 2009 declared the day of his birthday, February 22, 2009, as “Day of Juan Manuel Garcia Passalacqua,” upon learning of his death, officially declared three days of mourning and flags were hoisted at half-staff tomorrow, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, except on Sunday because of the protocol of never placing the flag at half mast on Independence Day.

“This is an unfortunate thing for the people of Puerto Rico. We will miss his tremendous commentaries that were well-informed, full of truth and logic. May he rest in Peace.”
-Valerie Lebron

“May you rest in Peace, Mr. Juan Manuel García Passalacqua! My condolences to his family and comfort for them. Our island has lost a great political analyst. God bless you.”
-Rebecca Ramos

“Today, Puerto Rico lost a great human being … we are sad.”
-Charlie Straight

“He always spoke with a clear conscience. May he rest in Peace.”
-John Perez

The pride of and a treasure for our Island. He was the promoter of the mixed vote and writer of very valuable articles and essays. May he rest in Peace.”
-Magda Rodríguez

“What a great loss! A very fair person. May he rest in peace.”
-Cepero-Rosaline

“It’s a damn shame. Few intelligent men and political analysts remain. My condolences to the families.”
-Angie Martinez

“What a pity. He was one of the few people you could listen to who had respect, wisdom and intelligence, politically speaking. Another voice of the people is silenced.”
-Gladys González-

“May he rest in peace. I was fascinated by its political analysis and his smile.”
-Bahamundi Pellicier-Girons

“Excellent analyst. An expert in the field of politics. My respects. May he rest in peace.”
-Roberto Lopez-Torres

“May you rest in peace. A privileged mind on political issues and much more. He’ll Always be remembered. God bless you.”
-Jose Romero

A constitutional coup has just been established in Puerto Rico. After a year in which the present time government under the New Progressive Party (Partido Nuevo Progresista, that attempts to join the Island to the United States trough statehood) tried to and succeeded taking over many institutions that form the base of the democratic government of Puerto Rico, an atmosphere of hostility followed by many reckless actions that threaten public peace had climaxed in violent and aggressive actions of this government against the parties of the opposition, the organized student movement, the labor unions, the press, the environment, as against every area and institution of Puerto Rico’s civil society.

This constitutional coup springs from the Legislative branch of the government under the command of Senator Thomas Rivera Schatz, endorsed by the central government, under the dominance of the Secretary Governor, counselor Marcos Rodríguez Ema, with the obvious intent of having under their grasp and without opposition full control of every agency and organization that rule the judiciary, academic, economic and civil societies. Before this scenario, Governor Luis Fortuño operates without volition, has no opinion, appearance nor public responsibility.

With the complete control of the High Court of Puerto Rico, the University of Puerto Rico Board of trustees, and the alleged control of the news media, among many others, the genuine participation of the People of Puerto Rico in all democratic processes protected by our Constitution is jeopardized.

The events started (trough the rush approval of Law 7 by the Legislature) with more than 20,000 public employee lay-offs, with the allegation that this would alleviate the gigantism of the government and would find the solution of the serious public deficit, that has never been properly evidenced. This decision has caused economical chaos, public services are worse than ever and it has generated despair and gloominess in every Puertorrican family. In this same guise there exists a serious persecution against all artistic institutions of the country, strangling their budgets, trying with this actions to avoid the propagation of art as dissidence. This, while the government favors contracts of obscene sums with hundreds of advisors, contractors and lobbyists associated with their own political party.

The attacks continued in the form of the appointment to the High Court of four Judges with a well known affiliation with, and militancy for the governing political party, achieving a majority of votes in favor of the actual government on all decisions made in this Forum, on individual basis. The government went on repressing and eliminating student participation on the procedures of the State University, suppressing tuition exemption rights for outstanding athletes and artists, among others; forcing the students from all eleven campuses of the University of Puerto Rico to declare a strike that lasted 60 days, generating ample support from the people of Puerto Rico and around the world.

The students on strike were successful on their achieving their demands trough negotiations that involved a First Instance Court and an appointed negotiator; however, these accords were are trying to be invalidated by Secretary of government Rodríguez Ema who said that these accords “are not worth the paper in which they were written”

This event preceded the Central government’s action of proposing a hasty law, that was signed with no revision within hours, adding four additional members to the Board of trustees of the University of Puerto Rico. These additions to the Board are unconditional members of the governing political party The students of the State university, who on a great majority depend in Federal grants, now face an annual recurring fee of $800.00, fee they will not be able to pay and that they will not pay, forcing the students to return to their strike. With this strategy, the Central government risk the accreditation of the State University and as a consequence, the government would be able to privatize it’s assets.

Following this same direction, the government of Puerto Rico will attempt to sell and to divide for speculation a strip of land where stands the Karst formation, on the northwest of the Island. This area collects one third of our water supplies for the entire population; nonetheless, the government intends to put this area into private hands that would build a toll expressway over this zone that is rich ecologically and economically.

Passing up many other events, the budget of Puerto Rico was approved, together with countless laws which favor privatization, the dissolving of professional associations and the distribution of public funds into private hands, without the pertaining and compulsory hearings of public participation, reaching the extreme of turning off the microphones of the opposing political party members, in a despotic fashion.

The events climaxed last week when the FBI in Puerto Rico arrested Senator Héctor Martínez, NPP, on charges of bribe, the selling of influences and other charges. Martinez is Senator’s Rivera Schatz right hand on the Senate. A public squabble reached the news between the Senator and the FBI, with the Seantor fending the alleged innocence of Senator Martínez,, who has been directly associated with drug traffic and who was filmed while committing bribery.

Then, last in his many violent and reckless acts, the president of the Senate, Rivera Schatz, using force and a real padlock, censored the access of the cameras and the news media to the Senate sessions, depriving the People of Puerto Rico of direct information about the discussions and voting sessions that were taking place about this year’s budget and other matter). The events resulted in verbal and physical violence between senators, rising indignation between the people to a point of and almost unsustainable state of outrage and wrath.

Counselor Rivera Schatz has taken virtual control of the country with his tyrannical and fascist ways; and it cannot be discarded that from these same seats, this same week, acts of persecution and acts of violence will be started against other sectors of the People, all approved by the Secretary Governor of Puerto Rico.

It is 5:00 of the evening of June 30, 2010, groups of students, teachers and citizens asked for entry to the House of the Laws and they were struck and tortured by the Police, there are numerous injured people, while the National Guard is mobilized towards the Capitol Hill. Violent shocks scatter for the whole zone of the Parliament and the repressions continue.

This factual deed of control of the political power from within the Puertorrican Nation violates all elementary principles of democracy and of participation of the People in the government, for which we proclaim to the World the actual situation of contained violence that exists in our People and that is about to explode against these two politicians that had taken by assault the power in our Country. Even though in Puerto Rico there are no conditions for an armed struggle of the People because of the obvious disparity of the opposing sides, a revolution of cultural and of student affirmation is starting to take the streets and to retrieve the spaces stolen away by the originators of this coup.

We exhortat all communications media of the World to divulge and expose the current situation of the Puertorrican Nation and we ask of you, therefore, your total solidarity.

Composed by Roberto Ramos-Perea, Puertorrican Playwriter
(With the active collaboration, comments and support of more than a hundred Puertorrican citizens.)