Puerto Rico under Colonial Rule

Description

Puerto Rico, one of the last and most populated colonial territories in the world, occupies a relatively unique position. Its lengthy interaction with the United States has resulted in the long-term acquisition of expanded legal rights and relative political stability. At the same time, that interaction has simultaneously seen political intolerance and the denial of basic rights, particularly toward those who have challenged colonialism. In Puerto Rico under Colonial Rule, academics and intellectuals from the fields of political science, history, sociology, and law examine three themes: evidence of state-sponsored political persecution in the twentieth century, contemporary issues, and the case of Vieques.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FOREWORD BY CONGRESSMAN JOSÉ E. SERRANO
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION: PUERTO RICO’S QUEST FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

PART I. POLITICAL PERSECUTION IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY PUERTO RICO

1. Political Persecution against Puerto Rican Anti-Colonial Activists in the Twentieth Century
Ramón Bosque-Pérez

2. The Critical Year of 1936 through the Reports of the Military Intelligence Division
María E. Estades-Font

3. The Smith Act Goes to San Juan: La Mordaza,1948-1957
Ivonne Acosta-Lespier

4. Imprisonment and Colonial Domination, 1898–1958
José (Ché) Paralitici

PART II. CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

5. Puerto Rico: The Puzzle of Human Rights and Self-Determination
José Javier Colón Morera

6. The Changing Nature of Intolerance
Jorge Benítez-Nazario

7. Puerto Rican Political Prisoners in U.S. Prisons
Jan Susler

8. Puerto Rican Independentistas: Subversives or Subverted?
Alberto L. Márquez

PART III. THE VIEQUES CASE

9. Vieques: To Be or Not to Be
Jalil Sued-Badillo

10. Expropriation and Displacement of Civilians in Vieques, 1940–1950
César J. Ayala and Viviana Carro-Figueroa

11. New Dimensions in Civil Society Mobilization: The Struggle for Peace in Vieques
José Javier Colón Morera and José E. Rivera Santana

FURTHER READING
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX

Sujets

• Latin American
• International relations
• Latin America
• History of the Americas
• Caribbean

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791483381
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Edited by Ramón Bosque-Pérez and
José Javier Colón Morera
Puerto Rico
under
Colonial
Rule
Political Persecution and the
Quest for Human RightsPuerto Rico under
Colonial RulePUERTO RICO UNDER
COLONIAL RULE
Political Persecution and the
Quest for Human Rights
Edited by
RAMÓN BOSQUE-PÉREZ
AND
JOSÉ JAVIER COLÓN MORERA
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESSThe artwork used on the cover is reproduced with permission from the Estate of Puerto Rican
graphic artist Carlos Raquel Rivera (1923–1999). The only known surviving copy of this trial
1 1print of Elecciones coloniales (1959, Linoleum, 13 /4″× 18 /2″) is located at the Museo de Historia,
Antropología y Arte of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR).
Chapters 1, 4, 6, 7, and 8 are revised English versions of essays previously published in Spanish
in the book Las carpetas: persecución política y derechos civiles en Puerto Rico (ISBN 0965004309).
They are used with permission from Centro para la Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Civiles
(CIPDC, Inc.), Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.
Chapter 3 is a revised English version of the section “Epílogo” published in the 1998 edition of
La mordaza: Puerto Rico 1948–1957 (ISBN 8459984699). It is used with permission from Editorial
Edil, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.
Published by
State University of New York Press
Albany
© 2006 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form
or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, address
State University of New York Press
194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210-2384
Production, Laurie Searl and Diane Ganeles
Marketing, Susan Petrie
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Puerto Rico under colonial rule : political persecution and the quest for human rights /
edited by Ramón Bosque-Pérez, José Javier Colón Morera.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-6417-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Political persecution—Puerto Rico. 2. Human rights—Puerto Rico. 3. Puerto Rico—
History—Autonomy and independence movements. 4. Puerto Rico—Politics and government.
I. Bosque Pérez, Ramón. II. Colón Morera, José Javier.
JC599.P9P84 2005
325'.373'097295
2004016237
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1To the people of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico,
and to those in the United States and abroad
who supported their struggle for peace and justice.Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Foreword by Congressman José E. Serrano xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Puerto Rico’s Quest for Human Rights 1
Part I
Political Persecution in Twentieth-Century Puerto Rico
One Political Persecution against Puerto Rican
Anti-Colonial Activists in the Twentieth Century 13
Ramón Bosque-Pérez
Two The Critical Year of 1936 through the Reports of
the Military Intelligence Division 49
María E. Estades-Font
Three The Smith Act Goes to San Juan: La Mordaza,
1948–1957 59
Ivonne Acosta-Lespier
Four Imprisonment and Colonial Domination, 1898–1958 67
José (Ché) Paralitici viii PUERTO RICO UNDER COLONIAL RULE
Part II
Contemporary Issues
Five Puerto Rico: The Puzzle of Human Rights and
Self-Determination 83
José Javier Colón Morera
Six The Changing Nature of Intolerance 103
Jorge Benítez-Nazario
Seven Puerto Rican Political Prisoners in U.S. Prisons 119
Jan Susler
Eight Puerto Rican Independentistas: Subversives or
Subverted? 139
Alberto L. Márquez
Part III
The Vieques Case
Nine Vieques: To Be or Not to Be 153
Jalil Sued-Badillo
Ten Expropriation and Displacement of Civilians in
Vieques, 1940–1950 173
César J. Ayala and Viviana Carro-Figueroa
Eleven New Dimensions in Civil Society Mobilization:
The Struggle for Peace in Vieques 207
José Javier Colón Morera and José E. Rivera Santana
Further Reading 233
List of Contributors 237
Index 243Illustrations
TABLES
6.1 Groups of Disliked Neighbors according to Frequency
Obtained 107
6.2 Most Disliked Groups among Disliked Neighbors 108
6.3 Activities Permissible to Disliked Group (Percentages) 108
6.4 Age and Disliked Group 109
6.5 Years of Schooling and Disliked Group 109
6.6 Political Status Preference and Disliked Group 110
6.7 Political Status Preference and Attitude toward Civil
Rights of Disliked Group 112
10.1 Principal Landowners of Vieques in 1940–1941 and
their Properties in 1944–1945 178
10.2 Summary of Naval Land Acquisitions 180
10.3 Civilian Ownership of Farms in Vieques, by Barrio,
1940, 1945, 1950 190
10.4 Population of Vieques, by Barrio 191
ixx PUERTO RICO UNDER COLONIAL RULE
10.5 Barrio and Sector of Residence at the Time of the
Expropriations 192
10.6 Barrio Where Relocated after the Expropriations 193
10.7 Vieques: Civilian Land Ownership in 1940, 1945, 1950 198
10.8 Vieques: Non-Farm Property in 1940, 1945, 1950 199
10.9 Vieques: Assessed Value of Land, Improvements to
Land, and Personal Property in 1940, 1945, 1950 199
FIGURE
10.1 Population Growth, Vieques and Puerto Rico 195Foreword
ONE OF THE CONSTANT and most important congressional agendas that I
have pursued in my long tenure in the U.S. Congress has been protecting
human and civil rights. As a Puerto Rican, I know very well that political
dissidents and minorities often suffer the most from political repression and
institutional racial discrimination.
In the U.S. Congress, I defend a political agenda that promotes civil
rights in the United States and human rights all over the world. Puerto Rico,
a territory conquered by the United States in 1898, has to be part of this
democratizing agenda. As a Puerto Rican, serving a large Latino constituency
in New York, I have a particular interest in the political history of the island
where I was born and, most importantly, in its future and well-being.
I favor the elimination of the current colonial status and actively
promote self-determination for Puerto Rico in accordance with applicable
international norms. I am convinced that Puerto Rico is fully prepared to achieve
a completely democratic and noncolonial relationship with the United
States. It is a moral imperative as much as it is a political necessity.
Both Puerto Rico and the United States are ready for change. I see with
hope how important sectors of the political leadership in Puerto Rico are
actively promoting consensus-based procedural mechanisms, such as the
possible convening of a constitutional convention, to ask Congress to make
changes to the current political framework. As long as Puerto Rico remains a
nonincorporated territory of the United States, the responsibility of Congress
is to facilitate a process of full decolonization. I am going to remind my
fellow Congress members of this obligation as many times as I can. In the recent
past, Puerto Ricans have fought united against democratic deficits, poverty,
discrimination, militarism, and environmental degradation, as in the Vieques
case, in one of the most effective peace movements in recent history. What
more proof do we need of the Puerto Rican determination to achieve a
better future?
xixii PUERTO RICO UNDER COLONIAL RULE
If Puerto Rico’s effort toward self-determination is to succeed, then it is
important to inform ourselves with the historical context. In the past decade,
I have insisted in Congress on the need to get the historical record straight
as it relates to the facts of the often unknown political repression faced by
those Puerto Ricans who have opposed colonialism in Puerto Rico and in the
United States during the twentieth century. In March 2000, I asked the then
director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Louis J. Freeh, to
release classified and unclassified documents related to the FBI’s persecution
of the independentista movement of Puerto Rico in the twentieth century. I
was pleased by the fact that the FBI understood the need to begin a process
to let the hidden historical facts come to light.
More than 140,000 pages of documents have been released since March
2000. A full set of those documents is being delivered to the Center for
Puerto Rican Studies (Hunter College, City University of New York). The
documents are being prepared at the center to eventually make them
available for use by students, researchers, and the general public. Another set is
being sent to the Puerto Rico Senate, where it has assisted in the first stage
of a legislative inquiry on the involvement of federal agencies in political
persecution in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Senate has made available some of
the files to the Puerto Rican Athenaeum and to the Luis Muñoz-Marín
Foundation. The accessibility of thi