This week the priorities of this government have been very clearly exposed: on the one hand, the unjustified arrest of three well-known leaders of the union and people’s struggle during the May 1st demonstrations; and on the other hand, the false charges against Mariana Nogales, a legislative representative who is well known for her fight for the environment, for LGBTQ+ rights, and against government corruption.
There are many details in both cases, but what is really important is to know what these cases represent, which involve a police force that is under investigation for its unjustified attacks against demonstrators and a “justice” system that opens a so-called judicial process through the questionable Office of the “Special Independent Prosecutor” at the request of two complainants from the Legislature who, in themselves, are the ones who should be in the public eye accused of misogyny and corruption.
This pro-statehood NPP government, in collaboration with the pro-statehood Popular Party, has begun a campaign of hatred against protesters and their leaders and any leader like legislator Nogales, who represents a threat against their corrupt governments. In this case, Nogales belongs to the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana, which, together with the Puerto Rican Independence Party, is advancing a joint effort to defeat the bipartisanship that has done so much damage to our country in the 2024 elections.
But, contrary to the government’s goal, what is happening is that despite the media submissive to the government’s corporate interests, there are many sectors of the people who are learning about the mafia-like and corrupt affairs of the government and its cronies, and as they say, “the tables will turn” on the government.
All our solidarity to these people who do represent us: Mariana Nogales, Eva Ayala from EDUCAMOS, Jocelyn Velázquez from Jornada Se Acaban Las Promesas, and Josué Mitjá, president of UTIER.
From Puerto Rico, for Radio Clarín de Colombia, Berta Joubert-Ceci
Translation: Resumen Latinoamericano – US