July 25th 1998 marked the 100 year anniversary of the U.$. military
invasion that landed in Puerto Rico through Guanica in 1898. Thousands
of people came out to protest the u.s. occupation in cities across the
u.s. and in Puerto Rico. RAIL organized a contingent to attend several
of the rallies in support of the struggle for independence and
self-determination for Puerto Rico. The RAIL contingent focused on the
anti-imperialist struggle both within u.s. borders and on the island of
Puerto Rico. RAIL also drew connections to national liberation struggles
world wide.

The economy of Puerto Rico, where the average wage is far lower than in
the u.s., suffers from high unemployment and low paying jobs. U.$.
corporations control 90% of the Puerto Rican economy and the u.s. has
important military bases on the island. To control its investment, the
U.$. has set up a puppet government in Puerto Rico that does the bidding
of their imperialist masters.

The u.s. government is attempting to co-opt the Puerto Rican people's
desire for self-determination by offering a plebiscite on the status of
the island. But under u.s. military and economic domination this
plebiscite will do no more than put a democratic face on the u.s.
occupation of the island.

RAIL joins the struggle for true self-determination for the Puerto Rican
people. We demand that the Puerto Rican people be given immediate
independence from u.s. colonialism and we will not stop fighting the
U.$. imperialist occupation of Puerto Rico until independence has been
won.

New York rally
In New York city thousands of Puerto Ricans and supporters of other
nationalities joined a festive march to the United Nations to demand an
end to the u.s. imperialist occupation and independence for Puerto Rico.
The overriding message of this march was anti-imperialist and many
speakers decried the u.s. occupation while calling for revolution.
The march took advantage of the U.N. resolution 1514 which recognizes
the right of colonies to self-determination. Puerto Rico is recognized
as a colony of the united snakes and so, if the U.N. were not controlled
by the imperialists, principally by the u.s., this U.N. resolution would
apply.

A large contingent of the Allmighty Latin King and Queen Nation
participated in the march. MIM has done work with this organization and
we support their moves towards increasing involvement in
anti-imperialist political struggles. There were also organizations of
Asians and Blacks and other Latino nations promoting revolutionary
solidarity with the struggle of the Puerto Rican people.

A RAIL contingent marched in the rally under a banner demanding an end
to the U.$. imperialist occupation of Puerto Rico and distributed many
copies of the RAIL Notes pamphlet on Puerto Rico and Notas Rojas.

While many organizations claiming to be Marxist or Marxist-led showed up
at the rally to distribute their literature, with the exception of RAIL,
these groups were trying to connect the Puerto Rican peoples struggle
with the so-called working class in the united snakes and promoting
false solidarity between the white labor aristocracy and the Puerto
Rican nation.

The speakers at the march drew attention to the general strike in Puerto
Rico and the on-going phone workers strike, correctly calling for
solidarity with the Puerto Rican people's struggle. But the so-called
Marxists tried to claim that Amerikan workers' struggles for greater
parasitism were linked to the struggle of the Puerto Rican people. As
one RAIL comrade asked rhetorically in discussions at the rally: Just
exactly when was it that white labor aristocracy struggles for greater
wages ever turned into demands against u.s. imperialism? When was the
last time white workers' struggles directly tagetted or in any way
threatened capitalism? While the Puerto Rican workers are drawing
connections between the U.$. corporate control of the economy and the
U.$. military occupation of the island, the Amerikan workers are
supporting u.s. military plunder around the world.

D.C. Rally
RAIL also participated in a rally in Washington D.C., at which about
4,000 people (according to the Washington Post) demonstrated in support
of Puerto Rican independence. Speakers at the rally also paid special
attention to Puerto Rican political prisoners and prisoners of war, who
were featured on banners on the stage while family members wore flowers
to identify themselves. RAIL found that many people were enthusiastic
about reading the RAIL pamphlet on Puerto Rico, which includes a
historical article about the Young Lords Party and its program from the
late 1960s.

On the same day in Washington, pro-statehood supporters led by the
lackey Gov. Pedro Rossello rallied for Puerto Rico becomming a U.$.
state. Rossello said voting for statehood in a new referendum would be
Puerto Rico's way of ending 100 years of colonialism.(1) In fact,
statehood would only transform Puerto Rico from a direct colony to a
neo-colony - despite offering some economic incentives to the middle
class and labor aristocracy minority on the island. For the majority of
Puerto Ricans, on the mainland and on the island, MIM agrees with the
Young Lords Party of 1970 that independence and socialism is the real
road to liberation.(2)

Notes:
1. Associated Press in Washington Post, July 26, 1998, p. A10.
2. See MIM Theory 7 for an in-depth article on the Young Lords Party.
 

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