Puerto Rico: call for independence is still alive

Puerto Rico is one among 17 cases of colonisation still 
awaiting a definitive solution, despite being considered by the 
various US administrations as a "harmonious associated 
commonwealth". On May 16, the Hostos National Independence 
Movement (MINH) constituted in Caguas. One of its main tasks will 
be to keep the question of Puerto Rico's status in the national 
arena.

Noel Colsn Martmnez, a member of the UN Puerto Rico Committee and 
an attorney by profession, said that gaining independence will be 
an "arduous and huge battle that has to alert and unite forces", 
given that it was more than 50 years ago — 1952 — that a 
resolution was approved establishing the island's link to its 
large Northern neighbour.

Those events, Colsn explained, signified the "tragic submission 
of Puerto Rico, via anti- patriotic theories of colonisation by 
consent, but this time, there shouldn't be any pigs in a poke.

"We will be calling for respect for the Puerto Rican initiative 
regarding the resolution of its status before the Decolonisation 
Committee in June."

Referendum

With the goal of establishing a platform of shared demands among 
all the political tendencies, which include leftists and some of 
the main traditional parties, the MINH has launched the idea of a 
referendum for a Constitutional Assembly on Status that would be 
in a position to demand a genuine national sovereignty of the US 
Government.

Since the day it was founded, the renewed political grouping has 
directed its energies at promoting that discussion in Puerto Rico 
and among its communities established throughout the Americas, 
and also in the international community.

In that context, pro-independence leader Juan Mari Bras expressed 
his conviction that Puerto Ricans "will strike a blow at the 
United States, which is not only trying to be the tyrant of our 
country, but of the entire world".

Based on this new stage of the struggle Granma spoke with Edwin 
Gonzalez, the MINH representative in Havana. According to 
Gonzalez, "we are in the presence of a national project with an 
inexorable destiny, which sooner or later will be 
decolonisation".

"In that effort, the front becomes like a motor — small, but 
very united and strengthened, which will involve the entire 
nation in a battle similar to the one we waged to get the Marines 
out of Vieques. The fusion of the Hostos National Congress and 
the New Independence Movement is a memorable moment in Puerto 
Rican revolutionary struggles", he emphasised.

Among the premises favourable to the convening of such a popular 
referendum is the country's long history of emancipation — first 
from Spain, then from the US.

The activists have a vast accumulated experience, backed by the 
combination of the wisdom and commitment of various generations 
of revolutionaries.

Elections

The new HNIM redefined its interests via a Programmatic Platform 
which, in addition to political objectives related to the 
independence cause, will closely follow the most important issues 
for the average Puerto Rican.

Increasing crime; drug consumption; lack of access to jobs for 
graduates; the brain drain to the United States; dependency on 
the "tyranny" of credit and banks; participation in the war 
against Iraq; and the upcoming November elections are among the 
topics the movement is prioritising.

In addition, support for democratic and revolutionary processes, 
especially the defence of Venezuela and Cuba, will continue to be 
among the organisation's central priorities. To that end, there 
is an active Committee to Free the Five Cubans patriots 
imprisoned in the United States.

Alert

Vieques has finally been left in peace — without noise, active 
contamination or military exercises. The US Marines left one year 
ago, on May 1, 2003. This was possible thanks to constant civil 
disobedience by Puerto Ricans over a period of 40 years.

Activities at the Roosevelt Roads military base (strategic 
because of the nuclear submarines that come through there) have 
also ended. The decision to close it down on March 31 this year 
was related — according to the base's military command — to the 
absence of the Vieques firing range.

In spite of that, Gonzalez commented, colonialism has many ways 
of adapting in order to perpetuate itself. In that light, the 
Pro-Vieques Rescue Committee in particular and Puerto Ricans in 
general are ready to hold more demonstrations, and to go to jail 
if necessary.

The clean-up efforts promised for Vieques by the US 
administration continue to be just that: promises. Likewise, 
reports are proliferating of a "re-colonisation" phenomenon on 
former Navy land. People are steadily arriving to purchase the 
best land, which should be available for the island's sustainable 
development.

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Based on an article by Maria Victoria Valdes Rodda from Granma