*Well, that didn’t go well. PROMESA is the acronym for the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, in other words the oversight organization that’s charged with steering Puerto Rico’s $70 billion debt restructuring. It didn’t get off to a good start. The inaugural conference was shut down by protesters. VL
By Luna Olavarría Gallegos, Remezcla
On Wednesday, August 31, protesters in San Juan, Puerto Rico successfully shut down the first scheduled conference for the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), hosted at Condado Plaza Hilton. The conference was supposed to be the kickoff for several initiatives in conjunction with the United States debt restructuring bill, which President Obama signed into law on June 30th as a way to address Puerto Rico’s $70 billion debt. The bill implemented a control board of seven appointed US officials, who have power over the Puerto Rican economy. While there have been groups on the island protesting the bill since June, Wednesday’s action was a testament to the variety of organizations and individuals involved, highlighting just how deep the resistance goes.
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. . . protesters showed up as early as 5:00 am to block the traffic arriving to the hotel – including police on motorcycles, in vans, and in helicopters, as well as those on foot, who were clad in riot gear on both sides of the protestors. More than once, police officers confronted protesters physically, using batons and pepper-spraying the crowd. At least one person has been arrested — adding to a list of six that were arrested Tuesday at a protest against the newspaper El Nuevo Día.
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[Photo by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi of @defendpr]
Suggested reading
“Damn you bastards, coming here making trouble. Bunch of animals.” The two police offers responding to a call about an open fire hydrant lash out furiously at the Puerto Rican residents of New York City’s El Barrio neighborhood. It’s the summer of 1941, and all ten-year-old Nilda wants to do is enjoy the cool water with her friends. But the policemen’s curses end their fun, and their animosity is played out over and over again in Nilda’s life. She is repeatedly treated with contempt and even disgust by adults in positions of authority: teachers, nurses and social workers.
At home, though, she is surrounded by a large and loving—if somewhat eccentric— family that supports and encourages her artistic abilities. She experiences the onset of World War II and watches anxiously as several brothers go off to war; her stepfather’s poor health means he can’t work, causing serious financial difficulties for the family; one brother slinks off to the underworld, leaving behind a pregnant girlfriend, adding two more mouths to feed to the family’s already dire situation.
Named an “Outstanding Book of the Year” by The New York Times and one of the “Best Books of the Year” by the American Library Association in 1973 when it was first published, Nicholasa Mohr’s classic novel about life as an immigrant in New York City offers a poignant look at one young girl’s experiences. Issues of race, religion and machismo are realistically and movingly depicted in this groundbreaking coming-of-age novel that was one of the first by a Latina author to be hailed by the mainstream media.
“Nilda is a singular achievement: powerful, unflinching, wise and a landmark in Puerto Rican Diasporic literatures. One of the books that drove me to the page and that inspires me to this day.”
—Junot Díaz, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
“What makes the book remarkable is the richness of detail and the aching sense of a child’s feelings. Sad, funny, fascinating and honest, it will appeal to adults as well as children.”—The New York Times
“An exceptional story of hardship and discrimination faced by a poor Puerto Rican girl.”
—School Library Journal
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