State of Siege ~ Estado de sitio

État de siège PosterThe sad situation of the University of Puerto Rico and in general of the neo-liberal ideologies around the world remind me it’s incredible that the peoples have actually voted for Governor Fortuño, like they had for Berlusconi, George W. Bush or, indeed, Hitler.

In front of such arrogance of the power who governs, there’s no easy answer, but after the campuses’ police occupation the dialogue gap has widened. Students must not let the masked ones in their ranks, and the strikes must finish, because they will bring nothing but bad things and give power the chance to say that students are the culprits. No, the governor and his friends must be confronted with other means, more subtle, non-violent, perhaps even humorous. As @digizen wrote, they must be fought in such a way they don’t even realize they are being fought. That’s the only logic which can prevail. Violence against governnments’ disdain of the University’s autonomy has been seen unfortunately also in England and Italy, but students must find ways to fight without this.

One of the movies that most impressed me when I was very young is État de siege State of Siege: Costa-Gavras’ wonderful and terrible film of 1973, depicting a golpe in Uruguay. The scene here below applies very well to our own situation here in Puerto Rico, where the civic liberty of expression has been confined in specific areas of the University, and where the police are occupying illiberally the main campuses.

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About Antonio Vantaggiato

Professor, web2.0 enthusiast, and didactic chef.
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