MIM NOTES No. 196        October 15, 1999	

Puerto Rican POWs out, with strings attached

by MC17

Eleven Puerto Rican prisoners of war were released from u.$. 
prisons in mid-September after accepting President Clinton's 
clemency offer. As we reported when the offer was made, this 
release came with strings attached. MIM welcomes these 
revolutionaries back, but emphasizes that the conditions placed on 
their release illustrates continued u$ control over Puerto Rico. 
The struggle for Puerto Rican independence and freedom from 
imperialist control continues.

The Puerto Rican heroes were required to renounce Amerikan-defined 
terrorism and will not be allowed to interact with people with a 
criminal record, including one another, in addition to being 
required to report regularly to a probation officer and follow 
other restrictive parole conditions.

These Puerto Rican independentistas were convicted of seditious 
conspiracy, essentially charged with the crime of planning the 
overthrow of the u.$. government. Puerto Rico is a colony occupied 
by the United Snakes. Puerto Ricans cannot commit seditious 
conspiracy against another country. Their convictions just help to 
reveal the complete lack of justice in the Amerikan imperialist 
system.

POWs receive warm welcome

The Puerto Rican freedom fighters released from u.s. prisons are: 
Elizam Escobar, Ricardo JimŽnez, Adolfo Matos, Dylcia Noemi Pag‡n, 
Alicia Rod’iguez, Ida Luz Rodr’guez, Luis Rosa, Carmen Valent’n, 
Alberto Rodr’guez, Alejandrina Torres and Edwin Cort’s.

Two other prisoners rejected the clemency offer. Oscar Lopez, who 
has served 19 years in prison and must still serve another 25 
years, spent ten years of his sentence in solitary confinement and 
was only offered clemency to reduce his remaining time to ten 
years. Antonio Camacho Negron, who also refused the clemency offer 
is scheduled to be released in 2002.

Two of the released POWs are returning to Chicago and the other 
nine decided to return to Puerto Rico. Upon their return to Puerto 
Rican, they were received as heros of the people. Even political 
conservatives like the mayor of a small town in the south of 
Puerto Rico praised one released prisoner's actions as a fight to 
"defend his country."(1)

Puerto Ricans have been Amerikan citizens since the U.$. forced 
commonwealth status on the island in 1917 by placing a willing 
puppet in power. But although they can be drafted into the army, 
Puerto Ricans have no vote in presidential elections and no 
representatives in congress.

The U.$. has a tight grip on the economy of the island but the 
bones it has thrown the Puerto Rican people, including the right 
to receive welfare and other social programs, have bought some 
amount of allegiance from the majority of the Puerto Rican 
population which voted against independence from the U.$. 
Nonetheless, there is strong opposition to U.$. interference in 
Puerto Rican affairs. And in recent months a tremendous national 
outcry has been seen in ongoing protests against the U.$. military 
presence at Vieques Island (part of Puerto Rico).

As the crowds greeted the returning patriots in San Juan, Puerto 
Rico, they responded with few comments, restricted by the 
conditions of their release. As one released POW, Adolfo Matos, 
said "My jail has now become a cell with invisible bars and the 
words I speak will be like those of a caged bird."(1) As Elizam 
Escobar pointed out, the parole conditions which prohibit him from 
associating with fellow convicts "are more proof of our colonial 
condition".(2) 

There has been a large and growing opposition to the imprisonment 
of the Puerto Rican POWs and this year alone activists submitted 
75,000 signatures to the White House demanding their release.(1) 
After President Clinton offered clemency more than 100,000 people 
marched in San Juan to demand the prisoners unconditional release. 
At the airport, supporters gathered to greed the returning 
prisoners chanting "Colonialists! The Real Terrorists!"(1)

The released Puerto Rican POWs recognize the reactionary nature of 
the u.s. government and understand that their release from behind 
the bars of u.s. prisons does not signal their freedom from 
persecution by the imperialists. They have planned to be 
accompanied by someone whenever they go outside, in case they are 
framed.(4) MIM agrees with this necessary caution and realistic 
approach to repression and the u.s. criminal injustice system.

Amerikan chauvinism

The condition that the independentistas renounce terrorism is 
laughable. The United Snakes of Imperialism commits genocide, 
imposes economic and military hegemony, and steals from the 
majority of the world's population. The Amerika-dominated 
imperialist system is responsible for the deaths of millions of 
people ranging from the Indigenous peoples slaughtered by early 
Amerikan settlers to children who have inadequate medical supplies 
in Iraq to victims of massacres committed by u.$.-armed fascists, 
and the list goes on. Yet, in Amerika, it is considered terrorism 
to fight for genuine self-determination and an end to the foreign 
annexation of Puerto Rico.

Increasingly after the release of the revolutionaries, letters to 
the editor, radio shows and television commentaries have given 
extensive space to settler reactionaries who say that the Puerto 
Rican "terrorists" should not have been released. And politicians 
are tripping over themselves to condemn Clinton's action as a 
concession to terrorists; the House of Representatives voted 311 
to 41 to condemn his action. The white nation chauvinist whiners 
completely ignore the fact that these Prisoners of War had already 
served longer than average sentences for the crimes for which they 
were convicted. If these closet-KKKers cannot reason based on that 
point, there is little chance of getting them to admit that U.$. 
domination of Puerto Rico is imperialist neo-colonization.

Amnesty International revealed their pro-imperialist colors and 
spoke out about the clemency offer to explain why they will not 
give the Puerto Rican prisoners the status of "prisoner of 
conscience." ''To be a prisoner of conscience, you cannot commit 
violence, and you cannot advocate violence,'' said Amnesty 
International spokesman Sean Crowley. "This is a terrorist 
organization. These people don't qualify.''(3)

MIM agrees with the supporters of the prisoners who pointed out 
that the colonialists are the real terrorists. The u.s. government 
commits and funds terrorism all over the world, only stepping 
forward to condemn violence when that violence is aimed at the 
imperialists or might hurt imperialist interests.

Groups like Amnesty International occasionally take progressive 
stances on individual issues, like their recent condemnation of 
some aspects of the Amerikan criminal injustice system. But in 
general the position that pacifism is the only correct stance 
plays right into the hands of the imperialists. By pretending 
neutrality, Amnesty and other pacifists end up supporting the 
status quo by condemning the only viable fight against repression.

MIM understands the necessity of armed struggle by the oppressed 
to end the tyranny of the imperialist minority. And we defend the 
right of oppressed peoples everywhere to engage in this 
revolutionary battle. But we also recognize the need to study 
history and carefully evaluate material conditions before waging 
armed struggle. Right now within u.s. borders the revolutionary 
forces are not strong enough relative to the imperialists to 
successfully begin armed struggle. Instead our battle is waged in 
the legal and educational arena.

MIM does not agree with the actions of focoists who believe that a 
few sensational military battles will lead to a mass uprising and 
an overthrow of the Amerikan government. These actions reveal an 
incorrect analysis of Amerikan society and an underestimation of 
the strength of the government. The majority of people within u.s. 
borders, bought off with the superprofits of imperialism, will 
support the imperialists and call for greater militarization in 
the face of revolutionary focoist attacks. And the government will 
use such actions as an excuse to crack down on all activists. 
Without the support of the people, the revolutionary forces will 
not be able to defeat this counter attack from the government.

As a Maoist revolutionary party based in a dialectical materialist 
analysis of history and current conditions, MIM is currently 
building a base of support within the belly of the imperialist 
beast and within the u.$.-occupied territory of Puerto Rico. We 
call on all activists to continue the fight for the release of all 
prisoners held for the crime of anti-imperialist organizing (or 
framed, like Mumia Abu Jamal, because of their revolutionary 
activism).

At the same time, we call on activists to recognize that the 
nature of the criminal injustice system makes all prisoners 
political prisoners. This is illustrated by the imperialists 
denying oppressed nationals a trial by their peers, placing 
arrests, trials, and sentencing in the context of a chauvinist 
court system which is set up to serve the interests of the 
imperialist system.

Join MIM in our fight to end the amerikan lockdown and ultimately 
to overthrow imperialism and replace this oppressive society with 
one that truly serves the interests of the majority of the worlds 
people!

Notes:
1. Los Angeles Times, 12 September 1999.
2. Associated Press, 12 September 1999.
3. The Boston Globe, 11 September 1999. p. A01.
4. Chicago Sun-Times, 12 September 1999.