A Just Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism

The release of these prisoners has been accompanied by a
huge media offensive of misinformation about the status of Puerto
Rico and the activities of revolutionary forces. The released
prisoners were constantly referred to as "terrorists" in
headlines. Article after article claims that Puerto Rican people
benefit from U.S. domination. There are constant claims that U.S.
colonial authorities have created a "democratic process" where
Puerto Rican people can determine their own future. And it is
said that these elections and plebiscites prove that dreams of
independence have faded in the hearts of Puerto Rico's people.
But these votes take place under the guns of the U.S. military.
They take place under conditions where organized forces for Puerto
Rican independence have been infiltrated, disrupted, imprisoned,
murdered--and are now gagged by federal parole rules. And they take
place after the economy of the island has been twisted to serve U.S.
corporations. Throughout its history, the Puerto Rican revolutionary
movement has correctly exposed colonial elections on their island.
There is no "democratic process" in Puerto Rico. There is a colonial
dictatorship of the U.S. imperialists. Elections staged in Puerto Rico
are mechanisms for legitimizing U.S. domination of the island.
The three "status options" the U.S. "offered" in their latest plebiscite
statehood, commonwealth or neocolonial "independence" all
represent a continuation of the U.S. domination of Puerto Rico.
The last year has seen an upsurge of struggle in Puerto Rico the
general strike against privatization and the exciting struggle
against the U.S. Navy in Vieques. There is deep hatred among the
people for the Americanization of their island, and the creeping
imposition of English in their schools, public institutions, highways
and communities.