SAN JUAN – Several people who were protesting this Wednesday in San Juan against the Fiscal Oversight Board (JSF) for Puerto Rico and Luma Energy, in charge of the transmission and distribution of electricity on the island, were arrested.
The arrests of these demonstrators, members of the collective “Jornada: Las Promesas are over”, were carried out after the Police warned them on several occasions to clear the road that they closed and in the who were protesting with a large sign and tires, but ignored them.
The protest took place on Luis Muñoz Rivera Avenue in front of the Seaborne building in Hato Rey (San Juan), where the JSF, created by virtue of the law called “Promise” to move towards the restructuring of the fiscal debt of Puerto Rico and the local Energy Bureau.
One of the people arrested was the teacher’s union leader Eva Ayala, who after her arrest said: “This we are not intimidated, we are going to move forward, and we urge the people of Puerto Rico to unite, take to the streets to fight”.
“Puerto Rico belongs to us. This cannot be the paradise of the rich. Puerto Rico is ours and we have to defend it,” he continued.
He also lamented that the “corrupt” governments have cornered themselves and joined the Fiscal Board to impose neoliberal ideas, cutting off electricity to hospitals and increasing electricity bill”.
“In the end, they damage everything”, he said.
“Enough of so much outrage. We are educating a country. They stole our retirement, they privatized the schools… but they don’t have the will. Because the intention is to continue privatizing and stealing, and then they say that children come first. They are scoundrels and bandits”, he added.
“This will give us more strength and courage to continue fighting”, Ayala pointed out, while shouting the slogans: “I got tired of the abuse and the street I threw myself away” and “Puerto Rico is not for sale, Puerto Rico defends itself”.
Today’s protest joins several that have been organized in recent days, specifically against Luma Energy in front of La Fortaleza, headquarters of the Puerto Rican Executive, in Old San Juan.
The constant blackouts that have occurred daily in Puerto Rico since Luma arrived on the island in June 2021 and the Increases in the energy bill despite electrical interruptions are the motivations for the demonstrations, which started last 25 August.
Banners and slogans such as “Pal carajo Luma”, “Looking for a governor who works for Puerto Rico”, “Luma is all the worst for the working people”, “No to the increase in light, not to Luma”, “Up and down, Luma pal’ carajo” and the rumbling of saucepans stood out during the first day of protest.