Vol.64/No.11 March 20, 2000
Thousands in Puerto Rico march for statehood
BY RON RICHARDS
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico--Tens of thousands of people rallied here on March 5 to celebrate their U.S. citizenship. The march was called by the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP) to counter what they called the "separatist" message of the February 21 action of 85,000 opposed to the resumption of bombing by the U.S. Navy on Vieques.
Orlando Parga, a PNP legislator, had proposed the march some months ago but the party leadership never took the idea seriously until the success of the Vieques march. As part of preparations to enter World War I, U.S. citizenship was extended to Puerto Ricans on March 2, 1917.
The north side of the capitol was a sea of U.S. flags and a few Puerto Rican flags.
The official police estimate put the size of the march at 90,000, which is 5,000 larger than their estimate of the pro-Vieques march. The estimate by the police has been questioned in the press.
Carlos Romero was one of the main speakers at the rally. He said that the Spanish had left Puerto Rico impoverished. By contrast, the invasion of the United States in 1898 has been good for the island.
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