World Puerto Rico: colony the U.S. won't admit Narciso Rabell Martinez is general secre- tary of the Puerto Rican Communist Party. He was in New York City in mid-August to testify before the UN Committee on Decolon- ization, which was holding hearings on the political status of Puerto Rico. This interview, conducted by Carol Ramos, was published in the People’s Daily World Sept. 21. It appears here slightly abridged. What was the significance of the resolution approved by the Committee on Decoloniza- tion in support of independence for Puerto Rico? The vote of nine in favour, two against and 11 abstentions shows the pressure that the U.S. exercises to convince other coun- tries not to vote. But the important thing is that the attempt by the United States to remove the case of Puerto’ Rico from the committee’s list was not successful. The United States doesn’t have sufficient influence to prevent the discussion of Puerto Rico in the UN. But we, too, don’t have enough power to achieve an overwhelming vote in favour of independence. The resolution approved by the UN General Assembly is also important. With only the U.S. voting against, the General Assembly declared the ‘90s the ““Decade of Decolonization.” It is important that all Americans know that their government, which arose out of the anti-colonialist struggle against England, ‘opposed the effort to end colonialism in the world in the *90s. The fundamental reason for the oppo- sition is the question of Puerto Rico. They don’t want, for military, economic and pol- itical reasons, to free Puerto Rico. What came out of the UN hearings? This year, 62 organizations testified at the UN, including 25 to 30 that favoured state- hood. Everyone agreed that Puerto Rico isa colony. Even the vice-president of the state- hood party urged the Committee on Deco- lonization to include Puerto Rico on the list of colonies and to require the United States to report annually to the UN. What needs to be done now? I think that the UN can give moral sup- port. The UN resolutions do form part of international law. It is necessary to keep the _case before the UN until the moment arrives in which the pressures on the United States have the desired effect. The U.S. has brutal economic power and uses it impudently. The important thing is that if the people of Puerto Rico unite on the basis that Puerto Rico is a colony, with the demand for a true process of decolonization, we would see how the situation would develop. If the government is going to decolonize the colony, if it makes the plebiscite process truly democratic, we will go along. But what we are seeing is not free determination. (President George) Bush orders it and the Senate committee arranges it. If what they want is free determination, then it is necessary to transfer power to the people of Puerto Rico, to guarantee a deco- lonization process of at least 10 years in which the Puerto Rican people administer their own affairs, recovering in part the lack of confidence that colonialism imposes on us, an inferiority complex that all colonial processes impose. After at least 10 years we can discuss which alternative to choose, but the people of Puerto Rico must choose freely. The people are the ones to propose the condi- tions. But the present process is ust the reverse. You spoke of the cost of colonialism. What is the cost to Americans? There are some numbers that are being floated now. The economic cost of the col- ony is somewhere between $6 billion and $6.3 billion a year, which comes from the pockets of the U.S. taxpayers. But the U.S. companies that operate under 936 (a section of tax law that exempts certain companies from paying taxes on profits made in Puerto Rico) make $12 billion a year. That is, the 8 e Pacific Tribune, October 9, 1989 American people are financing the colony for the benefit of the companies of the milli- onaires. The U.S. people are paying taxes to sustain the colony, and who benefits? The big banks, the petrochemical industry and the pharmaceutical industry in Puerto Rico. And these interests strongly oppose state- hood as well as independence, because they would have to pay taxes and they want things permanently the way they are. The taxes they should be paying could go toward hospitals, better housing, education. What is the Communist Party’s program? We have established a series of minimal points for decolonization. In the testimony we gave before the UN in 1983 we presented those points. tion has to be made as part of the coloniza- tion process, independently of whether Puerto rico becomes a state or not. As well, political prisoners have to be released, trials of political prisoners must be suspended, political repression has to be ended and the military bases have to be withdrawn. Some companies would leave Puerto Rico for other places where they could pay less for the same quality of work. But those industries like pharmaceuticals and chemi- cals, industries that require very large investments and that can’t be moved easily, like oil refineries, and which already have a technically skilled work force, would remain in Puerto Rico and would be taxed : reasonably. Caen The important thing is that if the people of Puerto Rico unite on the basis that Puerto Rico is a colony, with the demand for a true process of decolonization, we would see how the situation would develop. — Narciso Rabell Martinez We call for the transfer of powers to a provisional government, of which one-third would be made up of equal representation . by the Popular Democratic Party (which supports the present commonwealth sta- tus), the New Progressive Party (which sup- ports statehood) and the Independence Party. Another third would consist of representation of unions, religious and community groups. The other third would be composed of representatives elected by direct vote. This would be the central body that would govern Puerto Rico for a period of 12 years, after which the solutions would be proposed and discussed. The UN would oversee this process, including the withdra- wal of U.S. military bases. Compensation for the years of coloniza- What about the labour movement in Puerto Rico? The most persecuted movements in Puerto have been the independence move- ment and the trade union movement. When the Popular Party wanted to establish “Operation Bootstrap” and make Puerto Rico a paradise for foreign investment, it had to liquidate the orgamized workers’ movement, which had a socialist and inde- pendent tint. It had to destroy that move- ment to facilitate the flow of U.S. capital which, consequently, didn’t have to contend with a unionization problem. The labour movement has had its ups and downs. Presently, approximately 13 per cent of the working class is ‘organized, mainly government workers. NARCISO RABELL MARTINEZ ... party advances program for decoloniza- tion. Within industry there is virtually no unionization. One policy the corporations follow is not to hire people in the communi- ties in which they live, to prevent employees from living near each other. They have to travel two hours and when they leave work they leave the area. If you don’t have time to meet and to discuss the problems in the factory, you can’t organize yourselves. Weare reaching a point now in which the independence movement is talking with and organizing joint actions with union leaders who are not independentistas, for instance, the joint celebration of May Day. These are very positive steps and it seems to me that the labour movement is maturing. The strikes are taking on a more political char- acter, and unions are seeking support from consumers. Puerto Rican university students are stepping up the campaign against a 1991 Washington-sponsored referendum in the U.S.-controlled Caribbean island. Abraham Lopez of the Federation of University Students for the Independence of Puerto Rico, told the Tribune that among other faults, the poll would not be conducted by the United Nations. “The referendum is clearly an arbitrary move by the U.S. to legitimize Puerto Rico’s colon- jal status,” he said. Lopez added that consideration would Students rally against referendum “It’s difficult to ascertain at present because of the many U.S. mechanisms used to paint a positive picture of the con- tinuing sharing of the so-called social benefits with the mainland. There is also a lot of victimization if you come out openly and say you’re for independence.” Political observers like Dr. Emile Pantojas-Garcia, a spokesperson for the San Juan-based Caribbean Project (CJCP) for Justice and Peace, had previously told this correspondent about the ebbs and Norman Faria be made to participate in the plebiscite if the UN and other international bodies were involved. He noted that the UN, through Resolution 151415, has urged the granting of political independence to all colonies. The UN list includes Puerto Rico, the Spanish-speaking island which lies between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Indeed, the UN Decolonization Committee made its latest call on Puerto Rico on Aug. 17, 1989. Asked about the mood of the islanders regarding independence, Lopez replied: FROM THE CARIBBEAN flows of the anti-colonial sentiment depending on economic prosperity and other factors. The two biggest political parties espousing independence (Inde- pendence Party and Socialist Party) together only garnered less than 10 per cent of the national vote in the mid-1980s. ‘However, pro-independence activists like Lopez and Dr. Pantojas-Garcia say this does not mean widespread opposition to independence. Lopez points out that most of the island’s leading trade unions favour an end to the colonial status which started back in 1898 when U.S. troops invaded. Washington maintains a vice-grip con- trol on virtually all of Puerto Rico’s top political institutions, including the foreign affairs department. Despite the granting by Washington of some measure of inter- nal self-government, the stranglehold has resulted in such unsavoury developments as the effectivé discouragement of the Spanish language in favour of English. Unemployment is as high as 25 per cent. Asked about the dangers to the island’s _ people of the growing U.S. military pres- ence there, Lopez said the university stu- dents are opposed to any U.S. military presence in Puerto Rico or in any part of Latin America and the Caribbean. Research has shown the integration (training, for example) of the island’s National Guard with regional armed for- ces such as the Defence Force in Barba- dos. The big U.S. military base in Puerto Rico at Roosevelt Roads was used as a staging area when U.S. Marines invaded Grenada in 1983. The campaign by Puerto Rico’s univer- sity students for independence is sup- ported by their counterparts in Barbados. Patrick Todd, international affairs secre- tary of the Guild of Undergraduates at the Barbados campus of the University of the _ West Indies, called the anti-colonial cam- paign in Puerto Rico “legitimate”, urging the governments of the English-speaking Caribbean to take a “more active interest . in this serious and urgent struggle of the Puerto Rican people who are part of the Caribbean.”