By Jose Efrain Estrella
July 29, 2010
Uniformed Thugs Suppress Protest
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On Friday July 23rd the Plaza de la Cultura in Santo Domingo became the scene of barbarism when members of the National Police (PN) attacked hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest the continuing acts of police brutality.
The protest was organized by the Committee Against Police Abuse, a coalition of several grassroots organizations and youth who have decided to launch a campaign to protest the bloodshed of innocent people that has been taking place since the Police Chief, Major General Rafael Guillermo Guzmán Fermín, took office in 2007.
The latest cases of police abuse have rocked the Dominican population.
Among the most shocking acts of bloodshed committed by the thugs of the PN include the murder in cold blood of the 23 year-old Abraham Ramos Morel and the elder Elio Reyes Severino, 81 years of age.
During the protest several young activists were injured including the prominent left activist and writer Narciso Isa Conde, who suffered a broken rib at the hands of a police lieutenant who obeyed the orders of the feared Colonel Eusebio Aquino aka "The Pepper."
The recent police repression reveals the animalistic instinct and repression of the military and its leaders in government.
But fear will not prevail in a country that would not tolerate a repeat of the bloody Twelve Years of Balaguer (1966-1978) that wiped out much of the Dominican youth.
Meanwhile, protest organizers said they will continue their struggle and prepare a separate protest on 12 August.