Despierta Yo

After reading about the recent events in Rio Piedras, Trujillo Alto, San Germán, Aguadilla and Isabela, you struggle with the inevitable outrage. Reporters getting pepper sprayed because they were trying to interview the subject of one of these FBI raids. No island governmental authority showing any jurisdction over these raids, allegedly intended to thwart some sort of independentista plot. It turns out some of the people who were subject to the raids were involved in providing housing to the poor or some such community-based activity. Clearly something that endangers our national security. They probably call sports talk shows about Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales's favorite teams. I bet they even own a DVD copy of The Motorcycle Diaries.

There really seem to be only two ways to look at the situation after the assassination of Ojeda Rios last year, this new round, and even intimations that there may be more surprise raids. Either this is a willful provocation that is part of a U.S. government strategy to push Puerto Rico into independence and conveniently brand Puerto Ricans as potential subversives and terrorists so we can all be handy Padillas, or it's just a bunch of rogue FBI cowboys who are engaged in some kind of reckless cat and mouse game with certain independentistas to settle some unknown old scores and test out some new weapons and crowd control techniques. It's a little upsetting that the latter represents the best case scenario.

Meanwhile, El Nuevo Dia's web page gives more play to the Rolling Stones concert at the Choliseo. Mick looks horrid; even the tropical moisture of La Isla does nothing for his skin. Of course my favorite story of the week involves a certain quail hunter. Actually I thought it was wabbit season so I was a little shocked about all of this. I'm not sure whether it's lack of breeding or a failure of my machismo but I usually don't find myself on a ranch with a 28-gauge shotgun firing itty-bitty pellets at birds. Perhaps we should read it this way: Cheney, representing the greater good for the people that big business and massive billion-dollar development create, was taking revenge on his 78-year-old buddy for winning all those lawsuits over the eminent domain issue in Austin. Or maybe the guy belched, loudly, and Dick thought he said "Hali-BURT-on!" spun around, and let him have it. Wouldn't you feel pressured if it just came out over the weekend that you had authorized the selective leak of information to "Scooter" Libby (not Rizutto) about a certain CIA agent's deep cover status? Just as your administration was pushing an investigation over the leaking of the domestic spying program to El Nueva York Times? It gets to the point where it feels like someone's sneaking up on you, you can feel that looming shadow behind you and...














bang!