[New-imc] Online form: Proposed new IMC! (indymediapr)

[f_marrero at yahoo.com]

Submitted by: Freddie Marrero <f_marrero at yahoo.com> on Friday, January 17th, 2003 @ 7:27:14 am (-0800)

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imc_name:
indymediapr

city:


state:


country:
Puerto Rico

contact_name:
Freddie Marrero

contact_email:
f_marrero at yahoo.com

contact_phone:
787-608-5809

tech_name:
Omar

tech_email:
omar at yukiyu.com

tech_phone:


supporting_groups:
Amigos del M.A.R.
ASPRO
Comité Amplio Contra la Guerra
Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Congreso Nacional Hostosiano
Proyecto Caribeño Justicia y Paz
RedBetances.com
Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques
ViequesLibre.org

regional_focus:
yes

critical_dates:
April & May 2003

resources:
People attending preliminary meetings have web publishing experience on social issues and activism, as well as professional journalist experience, both among mainstream and progressive venues. Among concrete projects currently undertaken some of them are: production/maintenance of ViequesLibre.org and RedBetances.com, websites on activism and social issues; the production/edition on a video about the current war in Palestine; participaton in the only weekly newspaper of the local left: Claridad; and monthly screenings of documentaries in a public square in old San Juan.

outreach:
At this stage we have relied on word of mouth among activists and progressive journalists to discuss before anything else if there was a real need for an IMC in Puerto Rico and if there was a real commitment to devote their time and energy to start the process (the reachout, the communications, the meetings, and the work). After those initial discussions took place we have started a wider outreach campaign to be done by posting announcement/invitations several mailing lists announcing next meetings. 

introductory_statement:
We are deeply concerned by the current state of the world: war, waning of civil liberties, human rights crisis, neo-liberal globalization, privatization of information, public spaces and vital resources. Puerto Rico’s unique situation as a colonial outpost add other concerns such as the militarization of our youth and land, to which there has been growing resistances as shown in the wide struggle to oust the US Navy from the Island of Vieques, and the lack of formal political rights (we can’t vote for the President and we don’t have votes in the parliaments that rules us). Unfortunately existing press venues are limited to mainstream corporate news that fall short in their analysis of our local and global situations and fail to inform about many important struggles taking place in other countries of the world. We would like to help to improve the organizing efforts of local activists as well as connect them with other international movements.  The proliferation of IMCs in ou!
 r region of the Caribbean and Central America is also part of our current vision of what we should accomplish.