Students in Puerto Rico end long strike

Students on strike at the University of Puerto Rico declared victory on Wednesday after signing an agreement with the system's board of regents, according to news reports on the island (link in Spanish). The strike (see "University Student Strike Engrosses Puerto Rico") lasted almost two months and paralyzed the 11 campuses in the UPR system. In a statement sent to La Plaza, the students' negotiating committee said:

The accord grants the central demands of the students represented by the NNC: the continuation of tuition waivers for meritorious students, the cancellation of a planned special fee that would have raised the cost of study by 50 percent, the rejection of initiatives to privatize the university and a commitment not to enact summary sanctions against strike participants.

The statement also says the students will recommend completing classes in the last three weeks of the semester. The accord is expected to be ratified by the larger student-strike council on Monday.

More coverage in English at Democracy Now! and in Spanish at Primera Hora.

-- Daniel Hernandez, in Mexico City