PRSF Discussed at Meeting of Puerto Rico's Flourishing Community Anti-eviction Movement

Barriada Morales, Caguas. Photo courtesy of endi.com Meeting to coordinate neighborhood struggles Government’s “tactics” to facilitate expropriations denounced By: Ricardo Cortés Chico rcortes@elnuevodia.com Translation by: NYC Steering Committee foronyc@gmail.com *Note: Besides informing about developments in the planning of the Puerto Rico Social Forum (PRSF) as well as local events of interest to NYC social justice activists, the NYC Steering Committee’s weblog would like to serve as a source of information about Puerto Rico’s many and diverse social movements. The article below, originally published in Spanish in the daily newspaper El Nuevo Día, describes a recent meeting of Puerto Rico’s important community anti-eviction movement, where the PRSF was discussed. We need your help! Stories like this are published every day. If you are able and willing to help find and translate them, please contact us at foronyc@gmail.com. August 27, 2006 Mayagüez – Yesterday, nearly a hundred community leaders debated strategies in their struggle against “unjust” processes of expropriation, and participated in workshops on the legal and communication aspects of forced evictions in their communities. During the event, those present also outlined themes to be discussed during the Puerto Rico Social Forum, an event to be held on November 17-19 in Río Piedras whose purpose is to promote unity among communities and their tactics in the struggle against inequality. “What we want is to generate reflection before the forum that allows us to know the experiences of change that are taking place in this country. Groups like those represented here are re-making the country in their community struggles, but people don’t know about it,” noted Edwin Quiles, one of the spokespersons of the group that organized the event. The activity began in the morning with the screening of videos about attempts and processes of expropriation in the communities of San Mateo in San Juan, Los Filtros in Guaynabo, and Barriada Morales in Caguas, and a workshop in which these experiences were discussed. In the afternoon, workshops about legal aspects of relevance to the communities, the use of information and media, and the preparation of community design proposals. Jorge Ortiz, another spokesperson for the organizing group, specified that the event also seeks to identify points of convergence between community and environmental struggles. “Oftentimes the displacement of nature takes place through the same process that affects our communities. We are uniting environmental and community organizations so they know about each other’s struggles and can join efforts,” said Ortiz. According to Luis Cruz, of the residents’ board of the community of Juan Domingo, in Guaynabo, one way the government promotes the relocation of a community is the abandonment of its infrastructure, and reducing the provision of services. “This turns communities into a problem for the government. When communities become a ‘problem’, the easiest thing is to replace them, and that’s why they abandon them,” pointed out the community leader. In late June of this year, the Legislature and Governor tried to eliminate Law 232, which requires that forced expropriations in areas identified as “Special Communities” be approved by the Legislature and 75% of the residents of the affected neighborhood. Project 911 of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, which would have replaced this law, did not provide for consulting residents, and eliminated the requirement for a Joint Resolution by the Legislature authorizing an expropriation. The project, which was approved by the Legislature, was stopped when Senator Antonio Fas Alzamora asked to change his vote in favor during the very last day of the legislative session. Original Source: http://www.endi.com/XStatic/endi/template/nota.aspx?n=60603