Vol. 74/No. 26      July 12, 2010

Distinguished Chairman and honored committee members:

The Socialist Workers Party salutes the tens of thousands of students at the University of Puerto Rico who just won a resounding victory in their two-month-long strike. The students set an example for working people and youth around the globe—including here in the United States—on how to fight the capitalist rulers at a time when millions face an unprecedented economic, social, and political crisis of the world capitalist system.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. colony. The people of Puerto Rico and workers and farmers in the United States share a common enemy—the U.S. billionaire families and their government in Washington. And we share a common struggle to get that enemy off our backs.

That is why a successful fight for Puerto Rico’s independence is in the interests, not only of the people of this Latin American nation, but of the vast majority of the people of the United States.

As long as the U.S. rulers control Puerto Rico’s destiny, their oppressive hand will be strengthened, while the solidarity and fighting capacity of working people in both countries will be weakened.

State and city governments, including here in New York, are slashing funds for schools, libraries, and public employee wages and benefits. In New York City St. Vincent’s Hospital has just been shut down and the city is cutting back subway and bus service.

It’s not a mystery what caused the deadly explosion and unfolding BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico—the indifference of BP and the U.S. government to anything but the profits of the bosses.

Puerto Ricans living in the United States, who face systematic discrimination, are among those who bear the brunt of these attacks on our living standards and rights.

I join with others here today in demanding the immediate release of Oscar López and Avelino González, Puerto Rican political prisoners locked up for the “crime” of fighting for the freedom of their nation. Oscar López has been in U.S. prisons for nearly three decades. We also celebrate the victory of the imminent release of Carlos Alberto Torres, a Puerto Rican patriot jailed for 30 years.

These assaults are a part of the imperialist rulers’ war on working people and the oppressed around the world—from Afghanistan to Pakistan, Iraq, and North Korea. We face decades of imperialist wars and economic crisis as the historic crisis of the 21st century unfolds.

Through these experiences, millions in this country are seeing more clearly the real face of capitalism, of the dictatorship of capital. The U.S. rulers know these conditions will generate working-class resistance, of which we see examples today: from the recent strike by 12,000 nurses in Minneapolis, to the demonstrations on May 1 by a quarter million workers and youth demanding legalization of all undocumented immigrants.

In anticipation of the coming resistance, Washington continues to take steps to undermine the political rights of workers. These attacks include recent moves by the Obama administration and the Supreme Court to weaken Miranda rights, that is, to increase the power of cops to interrogate “suspects” without informing them of the right to remain silent and to have a lawyer.

Mr. Chairman,

We call on the U.S. government to release Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, and René González. These exemplary Cuban revolutionaries have been unjustly held in U.S. prisons for nearly 12 years, serving sentences of up to life in prison on false “conspiracy” charges. Their only crime was to defend Cuba.

The colonial masters peddle the lie that Puerto Rico cannot survive without Washington’s guiding hand. But the Cuban Revolution shatters that myth. For 50 years the workers and farmers of Cuba have successfully defended their hard-won freedom in face of Washington’s relentless economic war and other assaults. Cuba’s socialist revolution shows that when workers and farmers take state power out of the hands of the capitalist minority, they can use that power to win genuine independence and effectively combat all forms of oppression. Cuba offers an example for working people worldwide, including right here in the United States.
 
 
Related articles:
UN hearing condemns U.S. rule in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico students block fee, tuition hike  
 
 
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