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iQUE VIVAPUERTO

RICOLIBRE!

Speech by Angel Rodriguez Cristobal, representative of Liga SocialistaPuertorriquena, Chicago, March 4,1978

This speech by Liga Socialista Puertorri-quena representative Angel RodriguezCristobal was delivered at a March 4thdemonstration and rally in Chicago de-manding independence for Puerto Rico,freedom for the four Puerto Rican Na-tionalists, the imprisoned grand juryresisters and all political prisoners, andsupport for the Chicano/Mexicano libera-tion struggles. The Chicago event was oneof a number held across the country as partof a national mobilization sponsored by theNational Committee Against Grand JuryRepression, a formation which includes thePuerto Rican and Chicano/Mexicano forceswhich have been leading the struggleagainst the repressive grand juries.Through these grand jury investigations,the US is attacking the Fuerzas Armadas deLiberacion Nacional (FALN), a clandestinePuerto Rican independence organizationwhich has carried out over 60 bombings inthe last four years, as well as the PuertoRican liberation struggle as a whole, and itss t r o n g e s t s u p p o r t e r s i n t h eChicano/Mexicano movement.

The Puerto Rican and Chicano/Mexicanomovements united firmly in the face of

these attacks, to pursue an aggressivestrategy of defending the right of their peo-ples to engage in all forms of strugglenecessary to win their liberation. As aresult, the government attack was turnedon its head, into a victory. The subpoeneesremained steadfast in their refusal to col-laborate in any way with the grand jurywitchhunt, and nine Latino activists werejailed as a result. But the FBI could gain noinformation from them, nor from anyone inthe Puerto Rican communities of Chicagowhich they harassed in their search for theFALN. Nor could the government breakthe unity of the Chicano/Mexicano peopleand the Puerto Rican people. So the March4th mobilization marked a number of vic-tories in the struggle; Maria Cueto, RaisaNemikin, Jose Lopez, Roberto Caldero, andRicardo Romero were all released fromjails, and many of them participated in thevarious demonstrations around the coun-try. The demonstrations also marked the24th anniversary of the attack on Congressby the Nationalists. Andres Figueroa Cor-dero, released after 23 years to return toPuerto Rico, has led in demanding therelease of his compafleros still imprisoned,

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Jose Lopez, Roberto Caldero and Ricardo Romero upon their release from jail. Therelease of these comrades was.a victory, of resistance against the grand jury repres-

sion which has been aimed at national liberation movements.

and in comparing the grand jury subpoe-nees to them, as a new generation of politi-cal prisoners committed jto Puerto Rican in-dependence.

As this issue of BREAKTHROUGH goesto press, the four remaining subpoenees, Ped-ro Archuleta from New Mexico, and Julio,Andres, and Luis Rosado, are coming up fora hearing demanding their release from jailin New York.

The speech which we are reprinting herewas delivered against the backdrop ofescalating revolutionary struggle withinPuerto Rico itself. In January, commandosof the Fuerzas Armadas de ResistenciaPopular captured the town offices andpolice station of Manatf, leaving sloganscalling for independence, revolutionarystruggle, and victory to the militant strikesgoing on in Puerto Rico, by the electricalworkers union (UTIER), the bus driversunion (TUAMA), and others. Late lastyear, Alan Randall, a CIA operativeresponsible for coordinating anti-labor andanti-"terrorist" planning for the colonialadministration, was brought to justice andexecuted by a group called the Labor Com-

mandos. Ever since, both counter-revolu-tionary violence and armed forms of strug-gle by the popular forces have escalated.Juan Caballero, a Teamster organizer, wastortured and killed by a police-basedDeath Squad. Miguel Cabrera, anotherTeamster, was arrested and accused ofCaballero's death and that of Randall. Asthe strikes continue, marked by increasingmilitance and police attacks, numerous actsof sabotage have been carried out. Thegenerators of the San Juan airport werebombed. The colonial administration ad-vised all tourists in the city to remain with-in the tourist quarter, El Condado, or onboard the cruise ships, as their safetycouldn't be guaranteed.

Within the US, the leadership of the Na-tional Committee Against Grand JuryRepression has pushed people to recognizet h a t t h e P u e r t o R i c a n a n dChicano/Mexicano peoples must not standalone in their struggles or in the face ofescalating attacks and violence by the Stateand right-wing forces (like the Klan patrol-ling the border with Mexico). The attemptsby the imperialists to crush the resistance ofthe Puerto Rican people or to pick off the

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leadership of their struggle for indepen-dence and self-determination, must bedecisively repudiated and defeated. Activeand concrete solidarity with Puerto Ricanindependence means making a fundamen-tal break with white left politics thatwrongly try to impose their own timetablesand definitions on the struggles of op-pressed nations. Instead, we need to iden-tify the forces within the oppressor nationwho can begin to unite now on the basis ofinternationalist solidarity.

The Liga Socialista Puertorriquena,whose representative made this speech, wasfounded in 1962 by Juan Antonio Corretjer,a former vice-president of the NationalistParty under Don Pedro Albizu Campos.The Liga was a proponent and participantin the Frente Revolucionario Anti-Elec-toral at the time of the colonial elections in1976, a united front formation which alsoincluded the Puerto. Rican Communist Par-ty and the Movimiento Socialista Popular(MSP). In discussions after the elections,

this led to the formation of the FrenteRevolucionario Anti-Imperialista (theFRAI) which has included the Liga, theMSP, as well as other non-party organiza-tions, such as independentista wo-men from MIA-Mujeres Integrete Ahora.The Liga Socialista, a Marxist-Leninistorganization, "believes that in order forPuerto Rico to be free, an anti-imperialistfront of all revolutionary forces on the is-land must emerge, and that a vanguardparty will emerge out of the armed andclandestine struggle rather than the mas?struggle.

The National Committee Against GrandJury Repression can be reached at 2403West North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647.There are also local chapters throughoutthe state of Colorado, in New Mexico andArizona, and in New York City.

The Liga Socialista Puertorriquena pub-lishes a number of pamphlets, and periodi-cals, available from Aptdo. 283, Guaynabo,Puerto Rico 00657.

Companeros y companeras, : '.'•••Before I begin I would like to extend fraternal greetings to the companeros who are here

tonight and to those who imperialism has prevented from their being here tonight. The LigaSocialista Puertorriquena is grateful for the Puerto Rican and Chicano/Mexicano comparferos forhaving invited us here to participate in this very important act. I think this act is well dedicated tothe companeros Oscar Collazo, Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores, and AndresFigueroa Cordero, as well as the compafTeros Andres Rosado, Luis Rosado and Julio Rosado andPedro Archuleta. It is evident that this act as well as the names I have just mentioned clearlydemonstrate how two peoples can unite under immense oppression and capitalist exploitation, inthe manner that intense heat binds metals. Those that exploit us are enemies of the world, andthey are equal in their exploitation regardless of whether they are called Puerto Ricans,Chicanos/Mexicanos, Venezuelans, Panamanians, Iranians, Blacks or Native Americans. Thisevening I would like to relate particularly to the case of the exploitation and oppression of PuertoRico. Our people have been repressed and terrorized by Yankee imperialism [since] prior to mili-tary occupation of Puerto Rico in 1898.1 will attempt to give you an account of some of the acts ofterrorism and violence on our people. The Yankees destroyed our economy by controlling morethan 85% of it. The Yankees disbanded our people by the forced emigration of 2 million of ourbrothers and sisters. The Yankees have sterilized more than 1/3 of our women. The Yankees haveused more than one-half-a-million Puerto Ricans to fight and die in their vicious wars of im-perialist pillage and destruction. The Yankees have destroyed or substituted our wildlife and tosome extent our language. The Yankees have conducted all sorts of criminal experiments, such asthe experiments with napalm and other defoliants upon our territory before using them on ourbrothers in Viet Nam. The Yankees have experimented with all sorts of contraceptives upon ourwomen. The pill was first distributed for experiments in Puerto Rico in 1955.

They are desperate with the stoic resistance of the Puerto Rican people. In this fit of despera-tion they intend to escalate the terror and violence to our people. So they announce their attemptof statehood for Puerto Rico. The purpose of statehood was none other than the authorization to

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rob us of our natural resources such as copper, nickel, petroleum, the air, our land, and so on. Allthese maneuvers, companeros, are geared towards the conversion of Puerto Rico into a militaryand industrial embankment from which they can continue exploiting and encroaching on the en-tire world, particularly our Latin American and Caribbean brothers. But inside the UnitedStates, these maneuvers are geared to strengthen the oppression of the Chicano/Mexicano, theBlack, Native American and Asian people.

In order to give all these plans a legal character they announce statehood for Puerto Rico.Under imperialism, Puerto Rico will always be a colony; only by statehood it becomes a legal col-ony. And this [is] where I would like to begin to denounce the repression that the shareholders ofWall Street are carrying out as part of an escalation of violence and terror against the PuertoRican workers in order to satisfy their colonial accomplices. This account is in reference tothe [UTIER] workers1 strike of the Autoridad de las Fuentes. Fluviales [Water Resources Ad-ministration] or the electric company. Wall Street also tells its colonial bosses "You want to beAmericans, then prove your loyalty to us. Repress the workers of the Union de Trabajadores de laAutoridad Metropolitana de Autobuses [TUAMA] also, and see if you can convince us." To provethis, the Yankees have given the colonial bosses all the assistance they need because they want todemoralize these two strikes. For in doing so they will also demoralize the independentista sector.This will enable them to continue their plans for the exploitation of Puerto Rico. Wall Street hasalso told the colonial bosses, "You have petroleum. Help us get it, because we need it."

The colonial bosses, in order to prove that they are more American than Nixon, readily ac-cepted the plan of the executioners of the imperialist plan. This is why they refused to settle thestrike, hoping the strikers would eventually give in. But the strikers have learned many lessonsfrom previous experiences. The AFF strike is two months old. Over 200 acts of sabotage [havebeen committed] which have resulted in the loss of over $4 million. Out of these 200 acts, 65 ofthem were with explosives.

The strike has captured the attention of all the Puerto Rican people. Practically all the workingclass sectors have unconditionally supported the strike. Simultaneously, the independentista sec-tor has begun to reorganize in such a way that they are able to strike at the enemy without beingrepressed.

"Los golpes ensenan" or: "The whacks teach you a lesson" is a Puerto Rican saying, and agood example of this is the Popular Front that was organized against the Marine forces in Vie-ques. The people of Vieques have learned their lesson well, as was evidenced by their recentdemonstration with courage and dignity, when 40 fishermen, along with their families, were ableto interrupt the operations that imperialist forces carry out on Vieques. I will relate more to thislater.

There is a popular imperialist saying that goes, "The big fish will swallow the little fish.'' But thereality is another thing. The big fish will swallow the little fish if the little one is not organized,and only if the little fish allows the big fish to choose where and when to confront each other. Evi-dence that midgets can struggle against giants is the heroic example of Vietnam. TheChicano/Mexicano and Puerto Rican can struggle together to avoid precisely that imperialismswallow us up one by one. The ants are little but they come together and they drag big worms totheir caves, and there consume them. The Puerto Rican and Chicano/Mexicano people along withthe Latin American and Caribbean countries can do the same to defeat the enormous imperialistworm.

Unfortunately at the present time the Puerto Rican and Chicano/Mexicano people do not havesufficient support within the North American left. The left in this country is intoxicated withMarxist theories that they learned at imperialist universities. At the present time this left cannotsee what is going on in Puerto Rico as a result of a plan which is not simply historical or theoreti-cal speculation but a concrete reality. This concrete reality is the massive genocide of the Puerto

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"Oa3t*a5

Striking bus drivers and their supporters in San Juan. Puerto Rican workers are conducting a militant andunified defense against repressive colonial violence directed at the public employee strikes.

Rican people at this moment, which the U.S. armed forces intends to intensify to benefit the ex-ploiters of Wall Street.

It is unbelievable that in 1978, even after the experience of Vietnam, and after the terrible ex-perience of Nazi Germany, the North American left can still sleep peacefully, and remain peacefulwhile Vieques is being used night and day by the Marines as a target practice area, not taking intoaccount the residents of that little island.

Not only are they -using us as target practice, but also they have invited the Brazilians,Chileans, Argentinians, Norwegians and French gorillas to do the same. It is hard to believe thatthe North American left has remained calm when a group of fishermen along with their familieswith the support of the people of Vieques are willing to collectively risk their lives and occupy thearea of operations of the Marines as a protest to the oppression of their people. I would also liketo add that while this was going on, helicopters of the Marines were trying to capsize the fishingboats by flying low and they criminally succeeded in overturning one of the boats.

4

It is hard to believe that they can remain calm when the Grand Jury in a fit of hysteria dragsfrom one jail to another a companero Chicano like Pedro Archuleta. These things are hard to un-derstand by oppressed people. An Iranian student was telling me the other day, "Something mustbe going wrong or happening to North American society when apparently it is only moved when itwatches television or when it is reading some science fiction novel, while it remains quiet and in-different when they see it in reality." The destiny of a society, whose emotions and sensitivity canbe programmed in computers every year and distributed so that they can be manifested inspeeches and cries against imperialism on May Day and afterwards sit and eat turkey to give

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thanks to a great nation on Thanksgiving Day, is certainly tragic. We the oppressed people cannotwait for this cycle to break to begin the struggle for our liberation.

It is for this reason that the Liga Socialista Puertorriquena considers it an obligation and acommitment to unconditionally support the actions of clandestine organizations that are strug-gling for independence and socialism for Puerto Rico and for the cause of the Chicano/Mexicanopeople, until the real vanguard of our struggle is initiated. We know that this will expose ourleadership and our organization to sudden attack by our enemies but this is preferable to becom-ing a part of the impotent and indifferent cycle of the so-called North American left and theiralleged allies.

i VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!

LONG LIVE THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHICANO/MEXICANO PEOPLE!

DOWN WITH THE IMPERIALISTS!

—Angel Rodriguez CristobalLiga Socialista PuertorriquenaMarch 4,1978

Mexicano activist Ricardo Romero emphasized the uncompromisingsolidarity between'his people and the Puerto Rican independence movement

at a March 4th rally in San Francisco.