[Note: The print version of this article said there was no
minimum wage in Puerto Rico. This was incorrect and was
corrected in MIM Notes 160. In fact, U.S. companies in
Puerto Rico do have to pay the minimum wage of $5.15. The
rest of Puerto Rico is required by Puerto Rico to pay
$4.25/hour.]
Pedro Rossello', governor of Puerto Rico and willing lackey
of u.s. colonialism, spoke at Harvard University in mid-
February. A graduate of Yale medical school who later went
on to finish his medical training at Harvard, Rossello' was
elected chair of the New Progressive Party, a pro-statehood
party, in 1991. He was then elected Governor in 1992 and
reelected in 1996 by a large margin. He was at Harvard to
commemorate Puerto Rico's "100 years of solitude" (100 years
of colonialism). It was 100 years ago in 1998 that the u.s.
invaded Puerto Rico and took over as its colonial master.
At times Rossello' sounds almost radical in his opposition
to the current status of Puerto Rico which he correctly
labels colonialism while calling for self-determination. But
this radical rhetoric is just a cover that helps him sell a
referendum on statehood as self-determination for the Puerto
Rican people. As a "Freely associated state" or
commonwealth, the Puerto Rican people have u.s. citizenship
but if they live in Puerto Rico they can not vote on u.s.
ballots. Puerto Rican's can and are expected to fight in
u.s. wars, and Rossello' pointed out that Puerto Ricans
sustain combat causalities in u.s. wars in numbers far
exceeding their proportion in the population. Rossello''s
goal, like that of other colonial lackeys who desire greater
access to their master's wealth and privilege, is to gain
full statehood for Puerto Rico as the 51st state.
Congressman Young from Alaska has proposed a bill in the
u.s. congress, now referred to as the Young bill or HR856,
which calls for a political status referendum in Puerto
Rico. Rossello' refers to this as the "self determination
process," an "orderly method" which would allow the people
of Puerto Rico to decide what they want with all the
definitions spelled out clearly for them. But this so-called
self determination is not real democracy. It is not possible
to talk about the Puerto Rican people exercising their right
to self determination with u.s. troops occupying their
island and the u.s. government controlling the country.
The referendum would offer the Puerto Rican people three
options: current commonwealth status, statehood, or status
as an independent republic. One of the reasons Rossello' is
such a supporter of this referendum is that in similar
previous referendums Puerto Ricans have supported statehood
in large numbers so the chance that it would win is high. In
Puerto Rico's last country-wide vote on status in 1993,
48.6% voted to remain a u.s. commonwealth, 46.3% for
statehood and 4.4% percent for independence. [Note that MIM
in no way sees this as truly representative of the people of
Puerto Rico.] Commonwealth status, which dates back to 1952,
means that Puerto Ricans are legally u.s. citizens and may
serve in the armed forces. But they pay no federal taxes and
cannot vote for president.
Rossello' said "the Puerto Rican electorate should be given
the right to end colonialism." But MIM agrees with the
representative from the National Committee to Free Puerto
Rican POWs and Political Prisoners who asked during the
question and answer period: "How can you speak about self
determination without the withdrawal of u.s. troops from
Puerto Rico?" Self determination is not possible for an
occupied people. Any referendum held under such conditions
does not offer the people real power and real freedom of
choice.
Several Puerto Rican activists protested outside the talk
before it began shouting "Piti Yanqui go to Hell, Puerto
Rico not for Sale." Those who spoke during the question
period in favor of independence got loud applause but only
from a minority in the audience: most of the Puerto Ricans
in the crowd were Rossello' supporters who cheered loudly
when he gave the stupid response to one question about the
national oppression of Puerto Rican people in this country
"You have a choice, you can go back to Puerto Rico." As if
in Puerto Rico the people are all living free from national
oppression because they are not in the minority. This
demonstrates Rossello' 's total lack of understanding of the
concept of colonialism and makes it clear that he only uses
the term as rhetoric to appease the Puerto Rican peoples
genuine desire for self determination.
A Puerto Rican activist with Latinos for Social Change
pointed out that in 1917 u.s. citizenship was imposed on
Puerto Rico after the Puerto Rican legislature voted against
it. And in both Puerto Rico and the united states they have
criminalized the struggle for independence. He pointed out
that resolution 1514 in the United Nations states that every
colonial country has a right to self determination and can
use every means necessary to struggle for independence. When
Rossello' tried to respond to him by also suggesting he go
back to Puerto Rico he pointed out that 60% of Puerto Ricans
on the island live off of food stamps, 13% of the island is
occupied by the u.s. military and unemployment is 19%. MIM
would add to this that Rossello' himself said that as many
Puerto Ricans live in the u.s. as on the island (where the
population is 3.8 million) so carrying out the struggle for
self-determination for Puerto Rican people within u.s.
borders is an important part of the national liberation
struggle.
After he had spoke for about a minute both Rossello' and the
Harvard moderator tried to shut up this activist, telling
him he could only ask a question and could not state his
opinion. They threatened to call security when he went on
for another sentence. And rather than respond to the
activist's statements, Rossello' said "you have demonstrated
what system you would impose on the Puerto Rican people by
your actions here tonight." This is ironic considering that
the pro-colonialism view is given hours of free speaking
time but when the pro-independence view attempts to speak
for a minute (less time than several of the other pro-
statehood questions), the speaker is threatened with arrest.
As we commemorate the 100 years of u.s. imperialism in
Puerto Rico MIM fights for genuine self determination for
the Puerto Rican people. In the united states, within the
belly of the beast, we organize again u.s. military and
political control over the island. At the same time, both in
Puerto Rico and the u.s., we organize the people for the
national liberation struggle that will overthrow imperialism
and allow the Puerto Rican people to finally exercise their
right to self-determination. Commemorate the 100 year
anniversary of Puerto Rican colonialism by joining MIM in
the fight to overthrow imperialism.
* * *
CAPITALIST ANARCHY OF PRODUCTION & DRIVE TO LOWER WAGES HURT
PUERTO RICAN WORKERS
Workers at G.H. Bass & Co. shoe company factory in Puerto
Rico will inherit 350 jobs when Bass' Maine plant closes.
The jobs are being moved to Manati, about 40 miles south of
San Juan, because it is cheaper for the company. The factory
currently employs about 400 workers and Puerto Ricans fear
that their jobs will also be moved somewhere even cheaper.
Workers in Puerto Rico make $5-$6 an hour while the average
hourly wage for a worker in Maine is more than $9. The
difference is even greater when benefits are added in.
Leather workers in the Dominican Republic earn $1.50 an
hour. The move to make manufacturing even cheaper may lead
Bass to move business there or to other Third World
countries where costs are even cheaper.
Last year in Puerto Rico 63 manufacturing plants closed,
although the total number of jobs declined only slightly
because some plants were expanded. In Manati, pharmaceutical
companies Hoechst-Marion Roessel and Hoffman-LaRoche & Co.
announced earlier this month they will close their plants.
While manufacturing jobs are leaving the united states, this
does not mean a drop in the standard of living for the white
nation. In fact, most of these workers are shuffled into
equal or higher paying paper pushing or equivalent parasitic
positions. (See MIM Theory, issues #1, #7, and #10 for the
arguments and statistics backing this up.)
Unemployment is already close to 20% in Puerto Rico. Aside
from the usual reasons for underemployment in a capitalist
economy (the anarchy of production, the need for a relative
surplus population, etc.), the competition between exploited
workers and super-exploited workers is causing job loss for
the Puerto Rican proletariat. As a u.s. colony of particular
use to the imperialists, Puerto Rico has special status as a
"freely associated state" which, along with the u.s. dollar
and investments has raised the economy of the island to a
position where the standard of living is higher than in most
Third World countries.
But even with the economic incentives the u.s. offers the
Puerto Rican people in an attempt to tame resistance to
colonization, the U.$. puppet regime in Puerto Rico still
does not allow unionization of workers.
Note: Associated Press, 22 February 1998.