Three Podcasts about GAIA, from the University of Puerto Rico

Hi everyone!

It is a momentous time at the University of Puerto Rico!  We are keeping the new silly governor from selling the university down the river.  A groundswell of awareness has manifested in defense of this public institution and what it makes possible.

What could be a better time to blog about a series of Three Podcasts about GAIA whose underlying research was too visionary to be done under the aegis of any other institution?  Developing a theory about the planet that hosts the life of our species, and the energy of love that sustains it, is what I had in mind 12 years ago when I came to Mayaguez to teach.  "What is planetary health, and how can we practice love in ways that sustain this common well being?" was the one-million dollar question that ailed my consciousness when I came back to academe after six years of activism in the sexual freedom and holistic health movements.

I could not have found a better place to search for answers than the University of Puerto Rico.  At Mayaguez, my soul was nurtured by a bunch of friendly, inspiring, passionate colleagues; my classes became spaces for intellectual communion and exploration of new ideas; and the most esoteric research projects were funded by benevolent administrators with a touch of the visionary.

In California I had experienced the consequences of a fatal mistake of the Reagan years: Investing in punitive rather than educational systems.  You invest in universities and you produce people with college degrees, you invest in prisons and you produce delinquents.  Which state is going to go bankrupt first?  No wonder in the 1990s California had more prisoners than Italy, France, and England combined!  Puerto Rico, I reflected when I arrived here, is smarter than the Golden State in this: It may be poor but it's putting its money where its mouth is.  Students pay a reasonable tuition and that makes teaching pleasant.  And free.  Because I can be myself in the classroom.  Because I can really give the gift of professing the wisdom my love of knowledge has graced me with over the years.  And students know when that happens.  Because authenticity excites and inspires young people.  Even in a tough, demanding teacher like me.

Now that miserliness has taken hold of the island's state system, an upsurge of organized, peaceful, wise, humble activism has raised in defense of the patromonio comun.  We were only teaching.  Students knew.  Their consciousness coalesced to live up to the contingency.  Now is the time to thank the university for its multiple gifts: gifts to me, for being conducive of seeking answers to that million dollar question; and gift to the world well beyond Puerto Rico for hosting una servidora as I speak publically about these answers in the social media.

Thank you, Universidad de Puerto Rico, for being so gifted!  The island-wide movement that is keeping you from being sold down the river models the paradigm shift the world needs.  Eleven campuses acting in unison!

No more privatizations that lead to "markets" where the poor get swindled.  Investments in the commons that will elaborate the sustainable knowledge of the future.  Recognition that we are in this together, as a species!  That we can only survive if we learn to love one another and appreciate our differences!

Here are my three small gifts.

An Interview on Gaia, Health, and Environmental Theory.  On Progressive Radio Network: The Gary Null Show, March 24, 2010.  Hosted by Gary Null (begins at 46th minute in 1-hour show).

The Gary Null Show -  03/24/10

Interview on Gaia, Global Heath and Ecology, World Peace, Empires that Upsurge and Collapse, the Sexual Freedom Movement, the Arts of Loving, Polyamory, the Abuses of the Pharmaceutical Industry, the AIDS Dissidence Movement, Tantric Form of Amorous Expression.  On Truther, hosted by Sean Hardin.

GAIA on Truther 

Interview on Gaia, Interpretations of AIDS and other Epidemic Diseases, Holistic Sexual Health.  On How Positive Are You? Hosted by David Crowe and Celia Farber.   

HPAY - Episode 22 – GAIA 

Thanks for listening.  Please support The University of Puerto Rico.  Eleven Campuses, one UPR System, or Once Recintos, Una UPR!  Today is a decisive day for UPR Mayaguez.  Listen to the podcasts and share with your friends.  Post your comments!  Find out more about what's happening in the UPR system!  Follow the Huelga day after day on Planeta Educativo!  Recognizing what we share is the key to the future. 

Namaste,

Serena

A Gut Feeling - Part # 2 - From The G Tales

A Gut Feeling:  Anal Pleasure, Holistic Sexual Health, and Interpretations of AIDS

Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio

Part # 2

“G,” I said as soon as we resumed the conversation, “ I’m not sure I can follow the connection between Gaia and anal pleasure, remember?  Can you get into some more detail?”

 “Sure.  Let me start with a question.  Did you know that Freud said that anal pleasure was the richest pleasure one could feel, and that experiencing this pleasure was healthy?”

“Really?  How do you know?”

“Well, my father used to say that when I was little,” G rushed to explain, “and then I read it in recent books that study the subculture of barebacking in San Francisco.” [1]

“I wonder if Freud would still say that today, when we know how dangerous barebacking is.”

“I bet he would,” G asserted, undeterred.

“How can you possibly say that?” I exclaimed.

“Because in his view what is most pleasurable is what is most repressed, and repression is bad for you because it’s unnatural--even though sometimes necessary for social peace.  He thought that the pursuit of pleasure was natural and good for you—I mean healthy.”

“So, because anal sex was so repressed in his time, this made him think that it’d be most pleasurable?” I asked.

“I suppose,” replied G.

“But barebacking can kill you! Can’t it?” I probed, concerned. 

“Only if you do it excessively and in unnatural ways, Freud would probably say.  Today we are so prejudiced against natural anal sex because we come from over twenty years of thinking that AIDS comes from infections passed through the anal mucous.”

“All right.  So, what’s a ‘natural’ way to have anal sex?’”

“A way that’s holistic: A way that enhances the main function of the rectum, which is of course, elimination of what’s unnecessary to the body’s homeostasis.”

“How can anal sex be holistic?” I asked, puzzled. 

“When one allows for a gradual opening of the sphincter, when one does it consciously and not under the effect of some substance, and when one doesn’t do it so violently or frequently as to damage the integrity of the organ and its lining and mucous.”

“Ok. I suppose one can do that.”

“Why just suppose?”

“Have you tried it?” I asked.

“You know I enjoy anal sex, and I’ve always done it naturally,” G affirmed.  “Holistic sexual health is very important to me.  I always expect respect for my body when I have sex.”

“All right.  I get the point about anal pleasure.  But how can this enhance the main function?” I asked, impatient.

“It helps one discover anal pleasure, develop a taste for it.  Then having a bowel movement becomes a pleasure too, and the body, who seeks pleasure, does it more naturally and willingly.”

“OMG.  I think of bowel movement as gross--not pleasurable!” I exclaimed.

“Well, that’s the problem, Freud would say,” G replied, amused.

“Really?  Have you thought all this up, or did you read it somewhere?” I asked, ruffled.

“I always read.  And I’ve been accused of holding heretical views in relation to this, so I research and think,” G replied, unperturbed. 

“All right.  All right,” I calmed down. “Tell me more about it.  Does this have anything to do with ‘finding the cause of AIDS?’”

“It does if you define AIDS as the depletion of the gut as a bioregion of the body that’s essential to the body’s health,” declared G, peaceful.

“But then this depletion can be related to anal sex?” I asked, curious. 

“Yes it can, if it’s not practiced in a holistic way.”  

“You mean, if it’s done violently, or excessively?”

“You’re getting there.  Turns out if anal sex is not practiced in a holistic way, it can cause intestinal dysbiosis, which happens when the biological function of one’s gut is compromised or disabled altogether.”

“If the gut is not respected, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“If it’s abused in some way?”

“That’s a way to put it,” G said.

“Thanks.  I get it,” I offered, appeased.  “Did you find out about this recently?” 

“I told you.  It’s from the guy who found the cause of AIDS.  I found a series of three videos, all about anal sex and how it can be done holistically.  Or--to be more specific--about how doing anal sex in ways that are not holistic can cause AIDS.”

“All right.  And where did you find the videos?” I asked.

“On YouTube.  They are from a presentation at the latest Rethinking AIDS Conference, in Oakland, where all those who are seriously thinking about sexual health in holistic ways got together to discuss what other hypothesis could be pursued to explain AIDS better than we do today.”[2]

“Woooooow.  That’s awesome, I exclaimed.  “And how does the presenter know about this?  Is s/he a doctor?  A scientist?  A Nobel laureate?”

“No,” G replied, serene.  “His name is Tony Lance, and he is a perfectly healthy gay man who tested ‘poz’ 13 years ago, has refused conventional treatments, and has done his own research.”

“How interesting.  Vernacular science, eh?”

“Yes, science by the people and for the people.  Very symbiotic, very Gaian indeed.  He claims the gut is an ecosystem.”

“Is it?”

“You bet,” G replied, eager.  “Any system that processes life’s energy is an ecosystem.  He compares the gut to a ‘rainforest, rich in species and interdependencies.’  Anything you do with it needs to support the system, including anal pleasure.  If you abuse it, you can destroy it.”

“And what could one do that would have that effect?” I asked.

“All kinds of things that undermine its biological function--but not anal sex per se.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, think of all the cultural obsessions that come from excessive emphasis on allopathic medicine and are opposed to holistic health.”

“That would involve practicing medicine as war against disease agents rather than as support of the body’s inherent balance and homeostasis.”

“Yes.”

“But how does that apply to anal pleasure?” I asked.  “I’m afraid I need some concrete examples.”

“Ok.  Back in the days before AIDS, many gay men who went to the bathhouses for anal pleasure did wide spectrum antibiotics on a regular basis to stave off the flu and other stuff one would get there.  It was a way to combat microbes as if they were enemies.  But in reality most microbes are very valuable symbiotic friends.  So those medicines destroyed the friendly bacterial flora that lines the gut and makes it able to absorb nutrients.  And when the gut fails to do its job you can end up with a mild case of intestinal dysbiosis.”

“Woooow.   Profound!” I exclaimed.  “And what would be a holistic way to handle that?”

“Well, doing anal pleasure only to the extent that is does not expose one to excessive flu microbes from one’s partners, for example.  Doing it in moderation and while one builds up one’s immune system with good nutrition as well.”

“Ok.  So holistic sexual health is not a way to condemn pleasure, but rather a way to enhance it and promote healthier and more conscious ways to enjoy it.”

“Yes,” G agreed.

“Is there more to it?” I asked, curious.

“Of course,” G replied.  “But I gotto go.  Can we talk about it in a couple of days?”

“Yes, call me when you’re ready.”

“Great!”

---

[1] Tim Dean. Beyond Sexuality. University of Chicago press, 2000. (A study of Freud and Lacan in their deepest and less popular implications.) Unlimited Intimacy. University of Chicago Press, 2009.  (An analysis of the subculture of barebacking in San Francisco.)  Amazon.com: Beyond Sexuality Amazon.com: Unlimited Intimacy

[2] Videos of Tony Lance’s presentation at Rethinking AIDS.  YouTube - Tony Lance

Disclaimer:  This Tale does not constitute medical advice in any way.  Readers are invited to consult their own healers and health care providers. 

The Wisdom of Love - A Double Book Launch - June 22 - San Rafael, CA - 7 PM

Deborah Taj Anapol and Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio

discuss 

The Wisdom of Love 

in their new books 

Polyamory in the 21st Century 

and 

Gaia and the New Politics of Love

in this unique double book launch 

Is the love of wisdom nothing but the wisdom of love?

What's the future of love on planet Earth?

Why write about polyamory today? 

Two wise poly women writers answer your questions!

                                    

                                                DATE: Tuesday, June 22

                                                TIME: 7 PM

                                                Cost Per Person
                                                          $ 8   Prepaid ($ 10 at door)

                                                          $ 14 Prepaid with signed copy of Gaia

                                                Deep discounts when you treat friends!

                                                WHERE: Open Secret Bookstore 
                                                                   923 C St.
                                                                   San Rafael, CA

                            Due to limited space, RSVP early!

Great discounts when you sign up now by yourself, and with one or two friends.  Check drop down menu:                                   1 Door Charge $8.00 1 Door Charge + 1 Book $14.00 2 Door Charges + 1 Book $20.00 2 Door Charges + 2 Books $26.00 3 Door Charges + 1 Book $28.00 3 Door Charges + 2 Books $33.00 3 Door Charges + 3 Books $38.00

 Book Descriptions:

Polyamory in the 21st Century: Love and Intimacy with Multiple Partners, by Deborah Taj Anapol, provides a perceptive overview of the whole range of intimate relationships that don’t conform to our culture’s monogamous ideal but endeavor to be honest, ethical, and consensual. It addresses the practical, the utopian, and the shadow sides of this intriguing, yet often challenging lifestyle while shedding light on the reasons people choose polyamory and how their lives have changed as a result. Drawing on recent findings from many disciplines, Polyamory in the 21st Century helps the reader comprehend the dynamics of long term open marriages as well as more tribal and fluid intimate networks and everything in between. ON SALE IN EARLY JULY!  (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010)

Gaia and the New Politics of Love: Notes for a Poly Planet, by Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, is the first study that links global peace, health, and ecology to the sexual freedom movement and polyamory. The book presents the concept of Gaia, the live planet, as the scientific basis to argue that the arts of loving can 'save the planet' because they are a form of the arts of healing. Therefore, the world needs a new politics of love where sharing amorous resources is a virtue. Polyamory is the subculture where the arts of sharing these resources honestly, fairly, and compassionately can be learned. These practices can turn hatred into love, fear into hope, scarcity into abundance. (North Atlantic Books, 2009.)

Authors:

Deborah Taj Anapol, PhD, has taught psychology and human sexuality at the University of Washington in Seattle and Antioch University in San Francisco, and has led seminars on love, sex, and intimacy all over the country and around the world. She is the author of Polyamory: The New Love Without Limits and The Seven Natural Laws of Love.

Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD, is a professor of humanities at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. She is the author of Eros: A Journey of Multiple Loves, and the editor of Plural Loves and Bisexuality and Queer Theory.  She teaches courses, workshops, and seminars on the practice of love and the science of Gaia.

Treat yourself to this event with your favorite friends!

Discount options to sign up by yourself and with one or two friends.  See drop down menu:

1 Door Charge $8.00 1 Door Charge + 1 Book $14.00 2 Door Charges + 1 Book $20.00 2 Door Charges + 2 Books $26.00 3 Door Charges + 1 Book $28.00 3 Door Charges + 2 Books $33.00 3 Door Charges + 3 Books $38.00

Memorable quotes:

"A world where it is safe to love is a world where it is safe to live." 

Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD

"Let jealousy be your teacher." Deborah Taj Anapol, PhD

"Is the love of wisdom nothing but the wisdom of love?" Deborah Taj Anapol and Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio (from an intuition of Luce Irigaray's)

~~~~~~~~~

In the same venue, treat yourself to a full-day workshop on July 3rd! 

Click here for info and to sign up!

Multisectorial Strike and Occupation at the University of Puerto Rico, All 11 Campuses, Supporting Public Education, Resisting Privatization

Listen to all of it and view on Democracy Now!

In Puerto Rico, an ongoing strike by students at the University of
Puerto Rico is coming to a head. Riot police have surrounded the main
gates of the university’s main campus and are trying to break the
strike by denying food and water to students who have occupied the
campus inside. The strike began nearly four weeks ago in response to
budget cuts at the university of more than $100 million. On Thursday,
a mass assembly of more than 3,000 students voted overwhelmingly to
continue the strike. The next day, riot police seized control of the
main campus gates. We go now to Puerto Rico, inside the occupied
campus at the university. [includes rush transcript]

To read, listen to, or watch the whole story:
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/17/student_strike_at_university_of_puerto

Guests:

Giovanni Roberto, student at the University of Puerto Rico and a
spokesperson for the striking students.

Christopher Powers, professor of comparative literature at University
of Puerto Rico.

Rush Transcript

This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help
us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our
TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.
Donate - $25, $50, $100, More...

AMY GOODMAN: In Puerto Rico, an ongoing strike by students at the
University of Puerto Rico is coming to a head. Riot police have
surrounded the main gates of the university and are trying to break
the strike by denying food and water to students who have occupied the
campus inside.

The strike began nearly four weeks ago in response to budget cuts at
the university of more than $100 million. Students called on the
administration to reconsider the cuts and sought guarantees, such as
no fee increases and no privatization of campus services. Students
initially called for a forty-eight-hour strike, but more than three
weeks later the strike continues and has spread to ten out of eleven
campuses. On Thursday, a mass assembly of more than 3,000 students
voted overwhelmingly to continue the strike. The next day, riot police
seized control of the main campus gates.

The striking students have received widespread support from professors
at the university, as well as unions around the country. Crowds have
gathered outside the university gates, where police have encircled the
striking students inside. Parents, family members, other supporters
have tried to throw bottles of water and food over the fence to
support the strikers.

We go now to Puerto Rico inside the occupied campus at the university,
where we’re joined by Giovanni Roberto, a student at the University of
Puerto Rico and a spokesperson for the striking students. We’re also
joined by a professor at the university, outside the campus, who’s
supporting the students. Christopher Powers is a professor of
comparative literature at UPR. He joins us on the phone.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Giovanni, we’ll begin with you.
Describe the scene right now and what your demands are.

GIOVANNI ROBERTO: Hi, Amy, and hi, people watching.

Our first—our main demand was that we reject certification of the
trustees of the university that tried to limit the tuition waivers to
students. Especially they tried to make people that have a Pell Grant
or other economic help not to be part of the tuition waiver, which in
the University of Puerto Rico, which is a public university, most of
students have economic aids in order to go to the university and
study. So we identify that the administration, what they wanted to do
is to attack especially poor students, trying to limit their right to
have a tuition waiver.

Right now in the university, we are inside. We remain for more than
twenty-seven days on strikes. We are occupying the whole campuses. As
you say, ten out of eleven campuses are shut down by students. Inside
the university is calm. We are—we have been receiving a lot of people
outside the fences helping us to resist the possibility of the police
to get in.

Since the first day, the administration demonstrate no will to
negotiate with students. Our first demand was that they’re beginning
to negotiate. We only want to negotiate with the administration our
demands. We have been working for more than one year. And after that,
we have no other solution than to go on strike, as we’re doing now,
trying to push the administration to negotiate. And they only use the
force. They’re trying to get the police in and trying to make us get
out. And that’s one of the demands.

AMY GOODMAN: Let me bring Professor Powers into this, professor at the
University of Puerto Rico. Can you talk about the scene there, as
well, the students outside, the professors—the students inside, the
professors outside?

CHRISTOPHER POWERS: Yes. Well, thank you for having me on the show.

I’m a professor at the Mayagüez campus of the UPR, so I’m not in San
Juan right now. But I can report that the strike is being maintained
at all of the eleven campuses—that’s a minor correction—because the
eleventh campus was closed today by the staff union, which represents
about 2,000 maintenance workers in the system. The staff union has
also closed the administrative buildings, the central administrative
buildings located in the botanical gardens, this morning. They moved
in heavy machinery, closing the gates, and have called for a weeklong
strike in support of the students. So all of the campuses are closed
right now. And the union is calling for the closure, as well, of
auxiliary institutions, as well. So the strike has indeed spread to
the entire system.

It has also sparked widespread support on the part of professors, for
one, but also the broad public. Parents are involved in supporting the
students in an unprecedented way compared with the strikes in the
past. The use of force to close the main campus has sparked wide
sympathy with the students. It should also be noted that the
University of Puerto Rico is a university of 64,000 students. It’s the
largest university in the Caribbean. And it’s also the premier
institution of higher learning in the country. It’s considered part of
the cultural patrimony of the island. It has produced the island’s
best and brightest. And in the context of the colonial status of the
island, in which historically so much of Puerto Rican—Puerto Rico’s
resources have been sold out to foreigners, the UPR is widely regarded
as the last best resource that the nation has to keep. So attack on
the integrity of the institution, the restriction of access for
working-class students, and the fears of privatization of the
university have sparked very wide public support.

AMY GOODMAN: Who controls the budget exactly, I mean, in relation—for
people on the mainland in the United States, given the relationship
between the United States and Puerto Rico?

CHRISTOPHER POWERS: Right. Well, the budget of the university is
controlled by the presidency and the board of trustees. According to a
law from 1966, 9.6 percent of the income into the general funds of
Puerto Rico are to be used by the university. However, the current
conservative, pro-statehood New Progressive Party government issued a
law called "Law No. 7," which is widely unpopular on the island, which
gave them emergency powers to effect fiscal measures. And this law has
been implemented in the, oh, year-and-a-half or so of the Fortuño
administration to lay off public workers, and now it’s been applied to
deny funds that have been historically available to the university.
This has caused a deficit which could be $100 million or more,
although those are based on estimates at this point.

At any rate, the austerity measures that the board of trustees and the
presidency are trying to impose have been disproportionately directed
at students, professors and staff and have not at all touched the
bloated budgets for the central administration and the chancellors’
offices. So there’s a very—you know, a sense of injustice and
unfairness in the application of the austerity measures, and the
students are not taking it. They have maintained the strike and
haven’t budged from the camps that they’ve set up at the gates of the
various universities.

It’s a very multi-sectorial movement, the students. It’s not just the
traditional activists who are protesting. The tuition waivers that
Giovanni was mentioning apply to groups like athletes and musicians,
so these students are also involved in the protests. It’s a very
exciting movement. And the mood is quite electric. And the students,
like I’ve said, have inspired a lot of inspiration and support on the
part of the population. There’s a phrase circulating now that this new
generation of students is the basta ya generation, the "enough is
enough" generation.

AMY GOODMAN: Giovanni Roberto, what are your plans now, with the SWAT
teams having moved in? Where do you go from here?

GIOVANNI ROBERTO: Well, we’re still demanding the administration to
negotiate, actually. I think the general strike called for tomorrow is
a good step forward in order to push the administration and push the
government, as part of that administration, to sit down in the table
of negotiation. We’re only demanding that we need to negotiate our
demands.

Right now, we’re going to still have—we’re going to continue to
strike. We are not going to let us intimidate by the police. We know
that if the people remain supporting us, as they have been doing for
the last three weeks, we don’t think the police are going to get in or
try to get in, because that will be a political—a serious political
problem for the government, because we think that all that support, in
water and food or in picket lines in front of the university, will
transform in mass mobilization in this country. And that’s what we’re
hoping, that all of that solidarity that have been expressed in
different ways in the last three weeks transform, today and tomorrow
and the rest of the weeks, in mass mobilization and mass protest,
especially in the strike of tomorrow. So we are going to remain on
strike, and we’re going to continue asking negotiation with the
administration.

AMY GOODMAN: Have you had support from students on the mainland United
States? And what have been the effect, for example, of the student
protests in California? Have you been following them, Giovanni?

GIOVANNI ROBERTO: Yeah, we received a letter of students and
professors of Berkeley and CUNY in New York, from Canada, from Spain,
from Venezuela, and from other countries, from República Dominicana.
We have received international attention, because, like in California,
we are receiving attacks, a budget cuts attack. And we think that the
defense of the public university obviously is not only here in Puerto
Rico; it’s an international fight against privatization and against
things that affect students. So, obviously, what happened in
California affects us. Before the strike, we made two occupations of
two faculties, in some way inspired by what’s happened in Berkeley and
the fight that Berkeley was having there. So I think for them to us
and from our fight to them, there’s a relationship between our fight
and an inspiration, a mutual inspiration, right now.

AMY GOODMAN: I understand there was a father who was trying to bring
food to his son, a student inside, who was attacked. Giovanni Roberto,
what happened?

GIOVANNI ROBERTO: Yeah, he was trying to get in bread and water, which
is in the morning for breakfast, and the police attacked him and
pushed him to the ground and then arrested him in front of all the
students. We have a video of that. That same day, in the morning, too,
another student was trying to get in, and the police attacked the
student, pushed him to the ground, hit him while he was on the ground,
and then arrested him. That happened two days, yesterday, happened
again with artists that wanted to get food inside the
university—actors, singers, famous Puerto Rican singers. They didn’t
allow them to get food, and they had to throw it over the fences in
order to get the water inside the university. There’s a law that don’t
allow any food or water to get in, according to a judge.

So, right now the situation is tense outside. We have more food than
ever. That’s important to people to know. We are creating ways to get
food and water inside. And the solidarity of the people is so
impressed that now we have food like for two weeks. So even there you
see the picture. No matter the police, what try the police, we know
that we’re going to continue the strike and that we’re going to win
this strike. We have the whole country on our side. We have the right
to do this. And we are defending only public education, public
university. That’s not a crime. One of our slogans is that we are
students, not—we’re not making crimes, you know? So—

AMY GOODMAN: Christopher Powers, the support of unions, can you talk
about that, like the AFL-CIO?

CHRISTOPHER POWERS: Yes. Well, there’s a general strike called for
tomorrow. This strike was called both by the coalition of unions,
which includes the Change to Win, the Federation of Workers of Puerto
Rico, the Puerto Rican Workers Union representing a broad variety of
the union groups and leaders. It’s also being called for by all of
Puerto Rico for Puerto Rico. The spokesperson, Juan Vera, the
Methodist bishop, called for massive support and all of the members of
this coalition of community and religious groups, known for their
involvement in the Free Vieques movement, to participate in the
strike. And as I mentioned earlier, also the staff union of the
university is going on strike for the entire week and closed down the
central administration facilities, as well as auxiliary facilities. So
the union support for the students is massive.

AMY GOODMAN: This is hardly getting attention on the mainland. Can you
talk about that lack of press coverage?

CHRISTOPHER POWERS: Well, I suppose one could relate that to— again,
to the colonial status of Puerto Rico. This is really, I think, in my
opinion, a very important struggle, in that the University of Puerto
Rico is more important for Puerto Rico than, say, public universities
in the States are for their states. And so, what is happening now is
that the students are defending the right to a quality public
education, that they are staying firm in the face of the attack on the
integrity of the institution, the restriction of access for
working-class students, and they are really serving as a model, as
Eduardo Galeano wrote in a message of support to the students. He says
that they are showing the shining path towards the future, while the
rest of the world gets used to what is already there.

AMY GOODMAN: Christopher Powers, we’ll have to leave it there,
professor at the University of Puerto Rico. Giovanni Roberto, student,
one of the student leaders of the strike, speaking to us from inside
the campus that they are occupying. Tomorrow, a major strike called
across Puerto Rico, and of course we will cover it.