Puerto Rico, Democracy and Anti-Colonialism in a
Post-Colonial World?
Ted Goertzel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
<<I was disturbed by Victor Rodriguez's comment that:
Recently, the Machetero Guerrilla Army which since
its dramatic attacks during the 980s (including the bombing
of several U.S. Air Force Corsair planes, FBI offices) has not
conducted military operations, warned that it would retaliate
if the sale was finalized.>>
<< I can understand the frustration of statists who are
frustrated when the democratic process goes against them,
but if the elected government of Puerto
Rico decides to sell its telephone company, this is not a
moral justification for armed terrorism.>>
<<I know Victor did not actually advocate this, but using it as
a threat is also morally wrong in my view. Democracy is
very important in Latin America
as elsewhere, and people should respect the results of the
democratic process.>>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ted is absolutely right when he says I am not advocating a
military response I am just sharing information about the
nature of anti-colonial dynamics in this wacky post-colonial,
globalized etc. world. However, it seems to me the moral
issue is quite different from the way Ted frames it.
Particularly in these post-cold war times when the victorious
capitalist consumer culture has even "commodified" Ernesto
"Che" Guevara ( I saw a nice coffee cup the other day with
chic red letters "Che!") who probably was the most eloquent
proponent of military (violent etc.) response by the
oppressed.
Poet Adrienne Rich's recent piece rejecting the National Arts
medal makes a call for re-understanding Marx, indeed
Lenin's finance capital concept seems quite insightful today,
maybe deserving of a critical re-reading. Maybe we need to
think through some of the cliches about democracy in this
new era? When is democracy truly democratic?
Probably most would agree that the formal process of voting
is a necessary but not a defining element of a democratic
system. Most communist, and other capitalists dictatorships
have had elections. At the very least a democratic process
would insure that the will of the people is heard and
implemented and that there is protection of dissenting views.
Puerto Rico's colonial system does not satisfy these
principles.
First of all, at a time when the world nations are discussing
the interdependence of national political and economic
systems Puerto Rico is still grappling with the 19th century
issue of colonialism or the lack of democracy (with the
devolution of Hong King P.R. remains as the last major
colonial possession). Puerto Ricans have served (been
drafted) in to the U.S. armed forces in every military conflict
(war) since 1917 however they have not voting
representative in Congress. Puerto Rican land is held by
U.S. armed forces for military outposts, communications
centers etc. without any local sanction. Despite Puerto Rico's
constitution prohibition and Puerto Rican cultural values
abhorrence of the death penalty, federal law imposed it on
federal-related cases. Puerto Ricans can't choose their
currency, with whom they trade (unless permission is
granted by a federal bureaucrat) or decide what kind of
standards are applied to local, Puerto Rican (in Spanish)
television and radio communication, environment, or health
regulations unless a non-Spanish "American" authorizes it.
To top this off, the process to "define Puerto Rico's
status" (Young Bill in Congress) does not follow basic
international law guidelines, including allowing "foreigners"
(Non-Puerto Ricans residing in the island and whose
resident status is determined by the U.S. not local
"democratic" authorities) to vote in deciding the island's
future but not allowing Puerto Ricans who had to migrate to
the US. to vote (similar to tactics of settler states to dilute
indigenous population strength). A significant portion of the
exiles are in some sense political exiles who experienced
repression in their own homeland by federal agencies (See
Ronald Fernandez' "Disenchanted Island (1996)"
particularly Ch 8 on FBI's Cointelpro's campaign against pro-
independence followers).
Firstly, the government has a democratic facade that
hides its colonial reality (unless democracy is the ability of a
slave to determine where the branding will be placed on
his/her body) since most polls indicate that Puerto Ricans do
not want the telephone company to be sold, secondly, the
local colonial government did not have this sale as part of it
platform. Thirdly, the sale of this important local resource will
dismantle a system that has allowed the island to survive in
face of many obstacles and preclude it from having the kind
of infrastructure necessary to compete effective in new
global economy.
How come an anti-colonial struggle today against the
U.S. is branded as armed terrorism, but one led by George
Washington is hailed as a democratic epic? It is difficult for
us to discern these things with the clarity we seem to do it
with past historical events, particularly when we are
perceived as the oppressors. Next year is the 100th year of
Puerto Rico's military "conquest' ( the euphemism is the
"change of sovereignty" in traditional history) after the
Spanish-American War. A war, that I might add, also had
some questionable moral implications as we learn more of
how it unfolded as the U.S. entry into the imperialistic club.
Pedro Albizu Campos, a Puerto Rican nationalist patriot
revered today in the Puerto Rico's popular culture (with
monuments, schools and streets named after him from
Chicago, New York to Puerto Rico) used to say that the
issue of Puerto Rico's colonial status was the Achilles heel of
U.S. liberals. Next year will provide some supporting or
challenging evidence of his hypothesis.
Victor M. Rodriguez
Irvine, CA
[PEN-L:11648] RE: Puerto Rico, Democracy and Anti-colonial Struggle
by way of [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Raymond Chase) Wed, 6 Aug 1997 22:08:05 -0700 (PDT)
