Joe DeRaymond

About thirty students and faculty of Northampton County Community College received a crash course in Puerto Rican history on Thursday, December 6, when the Hispanic Affairs Council sponsored a presentation by Luis Sanabria , of the Philadelphia-based Centro Juan Antonio Corretjer. His slides documented a sad history of conquest by the United States in 1898 by military forces led by General Miles, who was also the architect of the massacre at Wounded Knee, the defeat of Chief Joseph and the capture of Geronimo. The years following the conquest of Puerto Rico were marked by occupation by the US military and resistance by the Puerto Rican people. Mr. Sanabria spoke of the heroes of the resistance - Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, who formed the Nationalist Party in 1930 and spent much of his life in United States jails; Juan Antonio Corretjer, who struggled with Sandino in Nicaragua and with Campos in Puerto Rico and became the National poet of Puerto Rico; Blanca Canales, who led a liberation of Jayuya in 1950 which was quashed in bloody fashion by the National Guard. The repression endured by these people was great. For example, Alizu Campos endured many years of prison in the United States and radiation experiments were conducted on him while he was incarcerated. The sacrifice and struggle in their lives highlighted the flow of history of 102 years of occupation. Luis’ words tumbled out, in rapid-fire English with an occasional burst of Spanish, as he showed how this history relates to the current struggle to end the bombing of Vieques by the United States.

The “practice” bombing and military occupation of this tropical island which lies to the east of the main island of Puerto Rico, has been ongoing since World War II. The history of the military occupation is not pretty. It is rife with abuse of the local population, particularly the women, who were often harassed and sometimes raped by the 3-4000 strong marine contingent on the island. Vieques has the highest cancer rate of any community in Puerto Rico, which is no surprise considering decades of exploding heavy metals, including depleted uranium through the 1990’s.

The occupation of Puerto Rico and bombing of Viequez have always been resisted by the Puerto Rican people. Since 1979, there have been waves of civil disobedience by Viquenzas and Puertoriquenos and concurrent waves of arrests by the United States. Currently, Luis stated that there are 30 Puerto Rican political prisoners doing time for resisting the United States occupation. The struggle for self-determination and the struggle to end the bombing have become inextricably linked. How can there be freedom if one’s country, one’s land is controlled so totally by the United States? Luis pointed out that while Puerto Ricans could not vote for President, could not be represented in the United States Congress, it is the Congress and President which control Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans, forcibly made United States citizens, have been eligible for the draft since 1898, yet were denied the right to use their language in the schools, or to fly a Puerto Rican flag till 1952, when Commonwealth status was conferred on Puerto Rico.

The question and answer session promoted a lively exchange of ideas. The fact that September 11 has placed in doubt the projected end of the bombing in 2003 was discussed. The problems of independence were raised: what model would an independent Puerto Rico follow - Cuba? Luis maintained that Cuba and Puerto Rico are two separate situations, and while there is solidarity between the people of Cuba and Puerto Rico, there will be no Cuban model adopted. Could Puerto Rico maintain itself as an independent nation? The world community has accepted the idea of an independent Puerto Rico in many venues, including the United Nations. What is needed now is a true means to separate from the United States, in peaceful and civilized fashion, to have a true plebiscite on independence. Luis examined the way the media in Puerto Rico filters all comment through the North American lens, and how the ideas and the economy are dominated by the United States, while the human wealth and natural resources are not available to Puerto Rico, but are directed for the benefit of the colonial power, the United States.

Luis closed with the idea that it had to be the Puerto Rican people who would eventually take charge of their own destiny. One audience member also suggested that the perils of independence and the bloody struggles for freedom by Latin American and Caribbean people were also the responsibility of the people of the United States.

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