Why give away toys on Three Kings Day?

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By now, the reader probably knows of the riot that formed in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum on Three Kings Day during the governor's now-traditional toy giveaway. I won't go into how the activity should have been organized, or what should or should not have been done (enough has been said about that, anyway). Instead, I would like to invite the reader to rethink how this activity might be celebrated.

I should start by saying that I have never been to one of these activities. Nor have I any intention of going in the future. In fact, I am actually very grateful that I was never taken to one when I was a child. There is a very simple reason for this: going to one of these activities seems to me the worst possible way that I can think of to celebrate Three Kings Day. Who wants to spend a hot day in line waiting for a toy that may or may not be given to you by the governor? There are even people who camp out on the street or a parking lot the night before just so they can get a good turn when the activity finally starts. It is also worth mentioning the several people who fainted in this year's activity and the case of the girl who died several years ago on a previous occasion because of the heat. Quite frankly, it isn't worth it and I cannot begin to comprehend why they insist on doing this type of activity year after year.

Equally unpleasant is the image that is perpetuated of the benevolent leader who gives goods to the neediest among his people while he celebrates the traditions of yesteryear with his family. Besides being tacky and paternalistic (and I might add third-world-like), this image couldn't be farther from the truth. The reality is that the whole thing ends up being a public relations and photo opportunity for whatever governor happens to be in power. I don't think I exaggerate when I say this. This is why this year's celebration was deemed a success, when it obviously wasn't. How else could one explain the fact that this year they decided to give away notebook computers besides toys? (By the way, this year the government spent $780,000 on toys, while on other occasions private companies donated them. Whether or not the notebook computers were also bought with the government's money, I don't know.)

There are those who have said that it is important that this sort of activity continue because it fulfills an important social function. Well, yes. But I also believe that there are better ways to celebrate Three Kings Day than this one. Why not have a real people's celebration? Why not take advantage of the occasion to teach and perpetuate the best of Puerto Rico's traditions? Why give away toys on Three Kings Day and not, instead, a day that is genuinely pleasant and that anybody who wants to can enjoy?

Enough!

En español

The images and news coming from Río Piedras have left me with an unpleasant mix of feelings. The sadness, the anger, but above all, the overwhelming feeling of impotence are very strong. The temptation is to try some sort of distraction, like changing the channel, navigating away from the websites I'm viewing, or going to sleep; anything to keep me from facing the feeling of not being able to do something so that the violence stops and that the repressive forces that have taken over the University of Puerto Rico leave it alone. But I also feel that to try to ignore what is going on in Río Piedras and Hato Rey would be a gross act of indifference that would rob me of my humanity, that would take me one step closer to becoming a monstrous being incapable of feeling other Puerto Ricans' pain. I don't mean other people's pain in general. I mean other Puerto Ricans'. I would feel like I would be fulfilling the stereotype of the apathetic Puerto Rican, indifferent to what goes on around him, only looking out for his own needs and interests, unwilling to take action and say "Enough is enough!"

I refuse to fit into this stereotype. I refuse to become a monstrous being incapable of empathizing with other Puerto Ricans, the way that the Island's leaders have done, such as Governor Luis Fortuño, with his deplorable speech the other day. Or his Chief of Staff, Marcos Rodríguez-Ema, with his violent outbursts towards those who think differently from him. Or the President of the University, José Ramón De la Torre, the President of the Board of Trustees, Ygrí Rivera, and the Provost of Río Piedras, Ana Guadalupe, who, in their monumental incompetence and their obviously uncaring attitude towards the University, allow the use of brute force by the government to supposedly maintain order and security in the University's campuses. Or Puerto Rico's Supreme Court, that had the impudence to say that the University is a semi-public space and, therefore, subject to its administrators whims on how public expression is allowed to manifest itself. I refuse to shut my eyes before these things.

Make no mistake, what has been seen today is an act of government repression designed to silence dissidence, an indispensable ingredient in order for democracy to exist. These acts of barbarism cannot be tolerated in Puerto Rico. Those who have allowed and supported the suspension of civil rights and the essentially cowardly violence towards students –students who were unarmed, without bodily protection, and in number far less than the government's agents dispatched in the University's campuses– do not deserve to be held in the high esteem they continue to enjoy. They have failed in the worse possible way those who they swore to defend, betraying them without a second thought. You, dear reader, and me.

This is why as long as this disastrous administration lasts, I will continue to denounce what must be denounced and will do all that is within my power to let the world know that in Puerto Rico, right now, there exists a neo-fascist, authoritarian, and despotic government. If you also believe that this government has exceeded its reach, I invite you to do the same. Share news stories, videos, and this and other blogs to spread the word about the outrages being seen daily in Puerto Rico. I firmly believe that we can all be agents of change from a nonviolent, yet indomitable and irreproachable position.

Long live the students! We are the best thing that this country has left right now.