Roberto Resto Piñero As Roberto's troops raided a small village in Vietnam, destroying homes, attacking and driving out terrified Vietnamese, how could he know that this would be happening in his native country of Puerto Rico. Barely ten years had elapsed since the Vietnam experience when an invasion similar in almost every aspect drove over three hundred families from their homes in the land rescue community of Villa Sin Miedo. Within an hour-and-a-half, five hundred police had looted and burned their homes and possessions. Roberto, in a leadership role, had been involved in the laborious task of distribution of land to needy families, hewing out roads, coordinating jobs, installing an electrical system, laying pipe, and building houses from whatever scrap lumber and materials they could forage. Roberto had fostered an adult education program in the little school building, bringing in teachers from the student body and faculty of UPR. Having studied sociology at Passaic Junior College, New Jersey, and at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, he felt it important that the community develop basic skills, study their national roots and learn to establish human relationships. We camped again at the new location, impressed with the progress already made in clearing the land, reconstructing and sometimes enlarging their houses, planting their vegetables and developing home industries. A portion of the land had been set aside for parks, schools, communal areas, medical services, and an area for raising animals. Villa Sin Miedo had come into its promised land. Roberto had been wounded in Vietnam when he stepped into a booby trap. Physical handicaps beset him, but his influence is strong in the creation of a unified community. His vision of independence is more than political. He sees the importance of breaking down a sense of dependency and developing self-reliance, initiative and creative thinking. While we were there, loud-speakers announced an evening meeting. "I wouldn't go," Roberto declared, "if they didn't encourage wide participation. Poor people and colonized people need to free themselves from chains of subordination and develop an awareness of their own powers. The people here are beginning to speak up, make their own rules and regulations, govern themselves." Roberto sees this as a process of transformation, a freeing process. "They need to become more humane, more aware of the needs of their brothers and sisters of the community. Talking about independence isn't enough. One has to create his own independence in everyday living." Building a community, he believes, can become a blueprint for the eventual building of a free Puerto Rico. Sixteen commissions govern the community: finance, political, water, transportation, roads, purchases, construction, library, and education, among others. Each family has two votes in council decisions. There are no class distinctions, no one is at the top. All are equal. Everyone's opinion is important. Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator who inspires the educational program of Villa Sin Miedo, once said of the community, "In spite of my having visited more than eighty percent of the countries of the world during my exile, I have never seen before a community which maintained hope before such adversity." And so Villa Sin Miedo lives on, thanks to the idealism of Roberto and others, proof that social relationships cannot be destroyed. Roberto had taken us to visit other land rescue communities and continues his interest in coordinating their activities with those of Villa Sin Miedo. His hope is to instigate the same democratic development in other communities and encourage an interchange of ideas so as to develop an effective role in Puerto Rican economy. At our final visit to Villa Sin Miedo we witnessed the stirring moment of the raising of the Puerto Rican flag over the community, and joined in the singing of the Borinqueña. In a recent update on the community, Roberto tells of workshops being developed, such as sewing for the women and carpentry for the men. They are beginning to integrate into the neighboring community of Cubuy. They are now playing volleyball and baseball. Girls participated in a tournament with four other teams and won the championship—twelve games out of fourteen. Wrote Roberto, "The community is growing physically and spiritually. Democratic process is maturing. People are working on the construction of a community center. Headstart is now ready to accept children from other communities. It is hard work, but very satisfying to help people free themselves from oppression and colonialism."