Puerto Rico is a U.S. colony, a fact that -although widely recognized in Puerto Rico and throughout the world - the U.S. big-business press and politicians don't like to admit. It is a country - ruled by a foreign power, Washington - that cannot make its own laws, decide its own foreign policy, or control its own economic affairs.

Trampling on the rights of its residents, Washington uses Puerto Rico as a launching pad for military aggression abroad. The Clinton administration has transferred part of the U.S. Southern Command to the island and plans to construct giant radar equipment there. Meanwhile, the FBI, CIA, and other U.S. political cop agencies continue to harass independence fighters and other activists in this Caribbean nation. The plebiscite on Puerto Rico's future currently being debated in the U.S. Congress has nothing to do with self-determination. It is simply a maneuver to continue to cover up that country's colonial status. Who is the U.S. Congress to discuss the future of the Puerto Rican nation?

In 1898 Washington seized Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines as these peoples were winning independence from Spain. Cuba was the last country to free itself from Spanish colonial rule, after peasants and former slaves fought off and defeated 500,000 Spanish troops in two wars of liberation that spanned 30 years.

But it was the Cuban revolution in 1959 that finally established the first free territory in the Americas. That revolution, which overthrew the U.S.- backed Batista dictatorship, broke the grip of Yankee domination and wrested political and economic power from the exploiting classes, foreign and domestic, placing it in the hands of workers and farmers. This is how the Cuban people won true independence.

The Cuban revolution is an example for Puerto Ricans seeking their sovereignty. That is one reason why Washington is so afraid of Cuba -Puerto Ricans and others may get the same idea.

In an attempt to intimidate advocates of Puerto Rico's independence, capitalist politicians are leading an "antiterrorist" witch-hunt in the Puerto Rican community of Chicago. They seek to silence those who tell the truth about U.S. colonial rule and who fight discrimination against Puerto Ricans in the United States. This assault on Puerto Rican rights should be condemned by supporters of democratic rights.

Puerto Ricans living in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere are an integral part of the working class in the United States. That is one reason why the fight for Puerto Rico's self-determination strengthens the struggles of all working people.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Puerto Rican people's fight to end the Yankee colonial domination of their country. Last year, when China took back Hong Kong, Puerto Rico became the largest remaining colony in the world. That victory by the Chinese people was a step forward for humanity and a blow to imperialist and colonial rule everywhere.

"As long as there's one Puerto Rican who defends the idea of independence," said Cuban president Fidel Castro, "we have the moral and political duty of defending the idea of Puerto Rico's independence." This is the forthright stance the labor movement in the United States should adopt.

Free the 14 independence fighters!

Stop the witch-hunt of the Puerto Rican community in Chicago!

U.S. military, FBI, and CIA get out of Puerto Rico!

Independence for Puerto Rico!  
 
 
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