Actualité - Cuba réitère son appui à l’indépendance de Porto Rico

Panama — Le président de l’Assemblée nationale du pouvoir populaire (parlement) de Cuba, Ricardo Alarcon, a plaidé aujourd’hui dans cette capitale en faveur de l’indépendance de Porto Rico, a fait savoir Prensa Latina.

Alarcon a souligné l’importance d’un Congrès latino-américain et caribéen pour l’indépendance de Porto Rico, tenu à Panama cette fin de semaine.

Le comité de travail créé dans le cadre de la réunion est un bond en avant en direction de cet objectif, a-t-il ajouté.

Il a affirmé que l’Amérique latine peut assumer un rôle important pour faciliter un processus qui se terminera par l’indépendance de ce territoire, occupé par les États-Unis depuis 1898.

Durant le Congrès, les participants ont approuvé la Déclaration de Panama qui établit la création de comités d’appui et de solidarité dans les pays de la région en faveur de la cause portoricaine.

(Granma International)

Actualité - Porto Rico : Le monde appuie les prisonniers politiques

Eduardo Villanueva, président du Comité des droits humains, a réitéré sa conviction que la communauté internationale ne restera pas indifférente et n'attendra pas la libération de quatre prisonniers politiques portoricains aux États-Unis.

Des milliers de Portoricains se sont ralliés à lui lors d'une manifestation le 8 octobre pour exiger la libération de ces personnes emprisonnées pour avoir combattu pour l'indépendance nationale.

Villanueva a dit espérer que le président George W. Bush réagisse à la demande suite aux actions de masse à San Juan pour la libération d'Oscar Lopez, Carlos Alberto Torres, Haydee Beltran et Jose Perez Gonzalez. Lerez Gonzalez a été condamné à cinq ans de prison pour avoir détruit des emblèmes de la présence de la marine américaine à Vieques, après l'évacuation de l'île par l'armée américaine le 1er mai 2003.

«Rien n'est impossible», a-t-il dit, rappelant qu'en 1976, en plein milieu de la Guerre Froide, le peuple portoricain avait obtenu la libération de Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores, Andres Figueroa Cordero et Oscar Collazo.

En 1999, Villanueva a contribué à la campagne pour obtenir du président Bill Clinton le pardon de 12 autres prisonniers politiques liés aux Forces armées pour la libération nationale et à l'Armée populaire Boricua-Macheteros.

(Prensa Latina News Agency)

Actualité - A Year After the FBI Murder: Filiberto Ojeda, Lares Still Inspire Puerto Rican Struggle

The flag of Lares, symbol of Puerto Rico's struggle for independence.

September 23 is among the most symbolic dates celebrated in Puerto Rico. Known as El Grito de Lares, this revolutionary holiday commemorates an 1868 rebellion, centered in the town of Lares, against chattel slavery and Spanish colonialism. Today, even the U.S. colonial government is compelled to give limited recognition to the holiday by closing public schools and government offices.

But after 2005, the day has new significance. In an outrageous act of colonial arrogance, the FBI chose the date to try to shatter the fighting spirit of the Puerto Rican masses by assassinating one of the most revered leaders of the struggle for Puerto Rico's independence, Filiberto Ojeda Rios.

The 1868 Uprising

El Grito de Lares -- the cry of Lares -- commemorates the day when an army of insurgents made up of former African slaves, city workers, peasants and other social layers that made up colonial Puerto Rican society, charged the city of Lares to wage battle against the hated Spanish military garrison.

At the town plaza, the people gathered to celebrate the defeat of their Spanish oppressors. With their weapons raised, the freedom fighters declared the Republic of Puerto Rico. They shouted for the first time the now solemn words: "¡Que viva Puerto Rico libre! Long live a free Puerto Rico!"

That uprising was ultimately crushed by Spanish colonial authorities. But El Grito de Lares marks the affirmation of the Puerto Rican people as a nation and the moment of definition for their struggle to achieve political independence and the right of self-determination from foreign colonial domination.

For the Spanish rulers at the time, this uprising represented the gradual decline of Spain as a colonizing power -- especially with rebellions taking place in its other colonized lands, such as Cuba and the Philippines.

The colonial rulers in Washington, who have dominated the island ever since U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, view this holiday with nothing but disdain, knowing that the annual celebration symbolizes the proud and rebellious traditions of the Puerto Rican masses.

The Assassination of Filiberto Filiberto Ojeda Rios

Throughout Puerto Rico, many believe that the FBI chose the anniversary of El Grito de Lares to attack Filiberto Ojeda Rios' home and assassinate him out of the U.S. government's hatred for the Puerto Rican independence movement.

Filiberto inspired many activists and liberation fighters in Puerto Rico and across Latin America. He devoted his life to the national liberation struggle of Puerto Rico. An anti-imperialist fighter, he was a socialist who believed that the capitalist system was the root cause of the plight of the Puerto Rican people.

He had great affection for Cuba. During his 15 years living underground, Filiberto frequently traveled there, preserving a centuries-long tradition between freedom fighters and revolutionaries from the two countries.

Filiberto founded and led the clandestine-military group known as the Boricua Popular Army (EPB), also known as Los Macheteros. For many years, the Macheteros carried out acts of armed propaganda to draw worldwide attention to the criminal presence of the United States in Puerto Rico.

Last year, as Puerto Rican independence activists prepared to commemorate the 137th anniversary of the uprising in the city of Lares, 300 heavily armed FBI agents and sharpshooters surrounded the house in the town of Hormigueros, where Filiberto and his wife, Beatriz Rosado, lived. Given the heavy show of force, Filiberto was aware of the FBI's intentions.
He managed to negotiate the safety of Beatriz, who evacuated the house with her hands raised to then be arrested. Filiberto did not surrender and chose instead to stay behind and fight.

Using high-power military automatic weapons, as helicopters encircled Filiberto's home from above, the FBI launched an all-out assault. Although outnumbered, Filiberto fought back in a manner that demonstrated the same national dignity as those who fought against colonial oppression in Lares 137 years earlier.

Filiberto was shot through the shoulder during the gun battle, but not before he managed to critically wound an FBI agent in the stomach. As the Machetero leader lay wounded on the floor, the FBI encircled the house but chose not to enter.

People in the town of Hormigueros tried to get close to Filiberto's home, but were blocked by the FBI. Residents with medical credentials offered to provide emergency assistance to the wounded Filiberto, but they were rejected and pushed away by FBI agents.

The wound that Filiberto had sustained in his shoulder was not life threatening. He died not from the wound itself but from loss of blood.

Filiberto's death could have been prevented. The logic of the FBI must have been that it was better for a revolutionary to die bleeding than to survive and continue the struggle. Since the assassination of the Machetero leader, it was disclosed that the FBI could have easily avoided the bloodshed. New York Daily News reporter, Juan González, revealed on Oct. 6, 2005, that a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer provided FBI agents with precise information about the restaurant where Filiberto frequently came to eat and the house where he lived, weeks before the attack.

By killing the anti-colonial leader on the day celebrated by the full spectrum of the independence movement and Puerto Rican society as a whole, top Justice Department and FBI officials aimed to send a message to anyone opposing the U.S. presence on the island.

But the U.S. colonial forces' assassination unleashed the opposite reaction to what the FBI expected. Militant actions erupted across the island expressing outrage against the political murder of the Machetero leader. The quest for independence gained prestige among the youth. International support for Puerto Rico's independence struggle increased in the face of such blatant colonial arrogance.

Wider layers of Puerto Rican society -- even elements who support statehood and the colonial status quo -- began to question the FBI's presence in Puerto Rico. Human rights organizations, along with members of Congress and the U.S.-installed colonial government of Puerto Rico, have been pressured to condemn the FBI's actions and call for an investigation of the circumstances in Filiberto's death.

These mainstream and bourgeois circles, however, had always been silent about the FBI's role in Puerto Rico as an agency of colonialism. What compelled them to voice the mildest disapprovals of the FBI assassination of Filiberto were the thunderous expressions of outrage from the Puerto Rican people.

The FBI did not commit a "procedural mistake" on Sept. 23, 2005, in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, as some apologists have claimed. The assassination of Filiberto Ojeda Rios was the direct consequence of U.S. colonial policy. Murder and imprisonment have historically been the punishment for outspoken leaders who dare to challenge U.S. domination. Since the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898, violence has been used to scare the populace away from the independence cause.

The opposite resulted from Filiberto's assassination. What the U.S. rulers will soon learn is that the murder of the Puerto Rican freedom fighter served them no real purpose. The peoples' movement will eventually force the demise of U.S. imperialism. U.S. assassins may have taken the life of the beloved and respected Puerto Rican revolutionary leader, but in the end, his assassination will undermine the colonial power in the island.

Because Filiberto Ojeda Rios died defending himself from the maliciousness and violence of the colonial oppressor, his death has given the annual Sept. 23 commemoration of El Grito de Lares an added meaning. That will give greater strength to the struggle for a free Puerto Rico.

(Socialism and Liberation Magazine - Carlos "Carlito" Rovira)

Actualité - Puerto Rico: A Failed Colonial Model

Franc-Parler publie une dépêche de Prensa Latina News Agency à l'occasion du 40e anniversaire de l'ouverture du mission portoricaine à La Havane. Des résistants portoricains ont discuté de la crise du colonialisme contre Porto Rico et aussi ont dénoncé les tentatives des États-Unis de renforcer leur contrôle économique, politique et social de Porto Rico en niant son droit à l'autodétermination. Depuis des décennies, le peuple portoricain lutte pour la souveraineté et ce, malgré l'oppression et les crimes de l'impérialisme américain.

Havana, Jul 5 (Prensa Latina) - Puerto Rico is suffering the worst crisis in the latest 50 years and the image the US tried to impose clashes with the peoples awareness of the need to rid it.

Hector Pesquera Sevillano, member of the Movimiento Nacional Hostosiano, celebrates in Cuba the 40th anniversary of the Puerto Rican Mission in Havana along with over 100 comrades.

He added that Washington has failed to prove that dependence and colonialism could bring progress for Caribbean and Latin American peoples when 95,000 public servants were laid off around 30 days ago.

The authorities blamed the layoffs to cash shortage but the punishment taught the people they can not live under the colonial fantasy.

Public debt is that large that most of the state budget is drained in monthly payments to debtors, shareholders and investors -around 300 million dollars, for an annual 3.5 billion dollars.

The people has become aware of the need to rid of the US colonial economic and political structure.

Pesquera Sevillano termed unexpected for the US that Filiberto Ojeda Rios' murder by FBI agents in 2005 would make him a symbol of national resistance that revived the flame of struggle and dignity.

He called Cuba's solidarity with Puerto Rico's struggle for independence a historic event that dates back the 1895 foundation of the Partido Revolucionario Cubano in New York.

Cuba started to denounce Puerto Rico's case at the UN Decolonization Committee alone but efforts along other Latin American and world comrades were crowned with two resolutions.

The independence movement now plans to submit the case to the UN General Assembly.

(Prensa Latina News Agency)

Actualité - Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre!

Franc-Parler publie un article à propos du travail de la Commission de décolonisation de l'ONU sur la lutte de Porto Rico. Cuba et d'autres pays ont dénoncé les tentatives des États-Unis de renforcer leur contrôle économique, politique et social de Porto Rico en niant son droit à l'autodétermination. Depuis des décennies, le peuple portoricain lutte pour la souveraineté et cela, malgré l'oppression et les crimes de l'impérialisme américain.

- Juan Antonio Ocasio Rivera -

At the United Nations yesterday morning (June 12) one thing was immediately clear: as the member nations of the Decolonization Committee noted, there is tremendous and lasting interest in the case of Puerto Rico and its political status. The Committee noted that, this year, the number of presenters and speakers during the hearing on Puerto Rico doubled from that of last year’s hearing, which to them is indicative of the relevance and interest in Puerto Rico’s colonial situation. Indeed, the crowds gathered in front of the United Nations main entrance were witness not only to the strong breezes of an oddly cool morning but to an assembly of Puerto Rico’s most well-known and most committed political leadership: Ruben Berrios Martinez, Juan Mari Bras, Fernando Martin, Ismael Guadalupe, Hector Pesquera, and other similarly committed regional leaders such as Miguel Sanchez and Vanessa Ramos. Important organizations such as Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano, Partido Independentista Puertorriqueno, Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico, and La Coordinadora Nacional Rompiendo El Perimetro made their presence felt as well. The Committee, formally titled The Special Committee on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, was formed to oversee and facilitate the process of decolonization of the world’s remaining colonies. Named after UN Resolution 1514 (Resolution On the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples), it has reviewed the case of Puerto Rico since the early 1970s, passing resolutions consistently at the conclusion of its hearings calling for Puerto Rico’s self-determination and independence. Its member nations include Venezuela, Mali, Iraq, Cuba, Congo, Argentina, Iran, Saint Lucia, Papau New Guinea, India, Chile, and others.

There were several significant aspects of this year’s presentations. First, for the first time, representatives of international organizations took to the podium to support the call for Puerto Rico’s independence. Gustavo Carvajal, of the Conference of Political Parties of Latin America, clearly called for an end to the colonial status of Puerto Rico and openly supported its independence, insisting that Puerto Rico was a Latin American nation and as such must join that community of nations. He also demanded that the General Assembly once again review the case of Puerto Rico, something not done since 1953. Raul Alfonsin, a former President of Argentina, representing the Committee of Latin America of the Socialist International, an organization representing more than 100 governments across the world, was another distinguished presenter. Following the theme of Latin American unity, Alfonsin also insisted that Puerto Rico is an integral part of Latin America. He stated that colonialism is a practice that runs contrary to the notions of democracy and stated that the independence of Puerto Rico has been on the agenda of Latin America since the 19th Century. He reiterated that the island has an inalienable right to freedom and independence, demanded that the island join the international community as equals, and poetically emphasized that the entire territory of Latin America must be free in order to meet the mandate of its founders.

Presenters denounced the environmental degradation occurring in Puerto Rico, with respect to water resources, nuclear weapons, and experimentation in land, air and sea. Presenters from the island of Vieques denounced the current process of gentrification that is occurring on the island, forcing many Vieques residents to move to St. Thomas and other neighboring islands as the price of land is being driven up by realtors and land grabbers. They also denounced the navy’s practice of detonating remaining bombs on the island as a method of cleaning target areas, saying this will continue to damage the health of the already afflicted residents.

Juan Mari Bras, a significant and highly respected leader in the independence movement, gave an impassioned presentation demanding action by the Decolonization Committee. He proposed several amendments to the Resolution, including demanding that language be included which conveys the urgency of the need to address Puerto Rico’s colonial situation and language that clearly condemns the assassination of revered revolutionary leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios. Mari Bras demanded action from the Committee after the dozens of resolutions the Committee has passed regarding Puerto Rico and called on the General Assembly to once again review the case of the archipelago. His testimony and furious delivery brought the public to its feet and drew a standing ovation from them as well.

Presenters from the Nationalist Party demanded an end to the current wave of political persecution, a theme repeated by Miguel Sanchez from the Coordinadora Rompiendo El Perimetro (Coordinating [Committee] Breaking the Perimeter), a group formed after the assassination of Ojeda Rios and which figuratively and literally works to break FBI perimeters such as the one that prevented help from reaching the wounded and dying Ojeda Rios last September. Sanchez gave a highly detailed and shocking account of the current experiences of Puerto Rican activists being persecuted for their political work. Accounts of small planes and helicopters flying and hovering over people’s homes, unmarked sedans following people around, FBI visits to the homes of neighbors and friends, obvious interception of phone calls and cell phone reception, all actions designed to intimidate activists who are merely working people, professionals, who simply are working to organize fellow citizens around the issues of importance. He proclaimed that these activists are not terrorists and demanded that the General Assembly become involved to address these serious violations in the colony.

The ProLibertad organization called for the release and freedom of the Puerto Rican political prisoners as part of any decolonization process and recounted a brief history of the prisoners, their incarceration and conditions of imprisonment. It denounced, along with other presenters, the current incarceration of Antonio Camacho Negron. Recent reports indicate that Camacho is being now held in solitary confinement, having unknown drugs administered to him, in an effort to silence and discredit him. Camacho had been very active in Puerto Rico denouncing the murder of Ojeda Rios and organizing a new national Decolonization Conference and organization. He had previously served 15 years as a political prisoner and was re-arrested this year by the FBI, who claimed he still had time left on his sentence — a claim rejected by his lawyers and movement leaders.

Many other organizations testified and were brilliant, but the emotional high point of the day was when Edgardo Ojeda, son of Filiberto Ojeda Rios, testified in front of the Special Committee. His voice breaking with emotion, Ojeda said that he was there to demand justice for his father. He described what the family knows about the murder and later recounted how his father, while surrounded by hordes of FBI agents, demanded to meet with a reporter. Having this demand rejected, Ojeda Rios continued to resist the effort to assassinate him until the one bullet pierced his clavicle. He was left to bleed to death by the FBI agents present, who waited until the following day to enter the house. Edgardo Ojeda proudly recounted how his father consistently and brazenly defied the agents who were obviously there to murder him, continuously yelling patriotic slogans from inside the house such as, “Asesinos Fuera de mi Patria”, “Yanqui fuera de mi patria”, “Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre”, etc. Once his wife was removed from the scene, no one knows exactly what took place in the final moments. Egardo Ojeda’s forceful demand for justice and emotional delivery shook the public section of the audience, many of whom also in tears, stood and gave his testimony a prolonged standing ovation.

The resolution (A-AC-109-2006-L7), sponsored by both Cuba and Venezuela, was passed by consensus by the Decolonization Committee, without a vote and without objection. It was yet another victory for the subjugated nation of Puerto Rico, a proud people with a rich history, which has seen some of the most brutal elements of colonialism. This was evident yesterday when statehood supporters (one of which carried an American flag with her everywhere she went) pathetically made their own presentations calling for the UN to make Puerto Rico the 51st state of the U.S. (something completely out of its jurisdiction). This unfortunate affliction is a direct result of centuries of having our island and our people controlled, governed, abused, and manipulated by another country. That is colonialism. However, the beauty of such a hearing at the United Nations was that although most understood that this will not bring freedom and independence tomorrow, surely history will record and reflect that there are Puerto Ricans who have overcome the noxious and demoralizing effects of collective enslavement and correctly and justly continue to demand that God-given right which is the right of all souls born unto this Earth — freedom and the right to forge their own destinies.

Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre!

(CounterPunch.com - 13 june 2006)

Actualité - Cuba Denounces US Grip on Puerto Rico

Franc-Parler publie un article à propos d'une intervention de la délégation cubaine à l'ONU. Cuba a dénoncé les tentatives des États-Unis de renforcer leur contrôle économique, politique et social de Porto Rico en niant son droit à l'auto-détermination. Depuis des décennies, le peuple portoricain lutte pour la souveraineté et ce, malgré l'oppression et les crimes de l'impérialisme américain.

United Nations, Jun 12 (Prensa Latina) - Cuba denounced to the UN on Monday the US attempts to strengthen its economic, political and social control on Puerto Rico by hindering its right to self-determination.

Cuban Ambassador Rodrigo Malmierca submitted the draft resolution to the UN Decolonization Committee on Puerto Rico"s case and highlighted its importance; confirmed by the massive attendance and the number of speakers on the agenda.

The diplomat said the UN has made its opposition clear along 30 years with 24 resolutions, which so far have been fruitless due to the US determination to ignore them.

Cuba"s draft resolution calls for the US to return to Puerto Rico all of its occupied land in Vieques and Ceiba, and assume the costs and effect of the cleanup in impact areas, in line with the serious consequences of US military activity for the local environment and the residents of Vieques.

The document also voiced concern at the violence against Puerto Rican freedom fighters and calls for an investigation of the September 2005 murder of Filiberto Ojeda Rios by FBI agents.

Another demand is the release of political prisoners that for 25 years have been jailed in US prisons because of their struggle for national independence.

The text also hopes the UN General Assembly will study the matter since Cuba contributes new elements and relies on proposals deferred at previous consultations.

Malmierca said this draft was made to achieve consensus, the most effective contribution to Puerto Rico"s fair struggle for its lawful rights.

(Prensa Latina News Agency)