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February 17, 2011

Police Withdrawn from Puerto Rico Campus 
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Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño has begun withdrawing police
occupation of the main University of Puerto Rico campus in San Juan
after two months. SWAT teams and riot squads took over the campus in
December following a massive student strike against fee hikes and
privatization. Hundreds of students have been arrested, and some have
reported being beaten, including sexually harassed and tortured in the
ensuing crackdown. An estimated crowd of more than 15,000 marched
against the police occupation last Saturday. Speaking on the House
floor, Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois condemned the
crackdown on Puerto Rican students.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez: "I want to talk to you today about a part of the
world where the right of citizens of all walks of life to protest and
speak their minds is being denied with clubs and pepper spray. A part of
the world where a student strike led the university to ban student
protests on campus and where students protesting the crackdown on free
speech were violently attacked by heavily armed police."



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