https://socialistaction.org/2019/08/01/puerto-rico-defiant/
Puerto Rico defiant!
/ 13 hours ago
Aug. 2019 Puerto Rico flags (AFP)By WYATT MUND
The island of Puerto Rico has been the site of massive unrest and
protest for over the past two weeks. Hundreds of thousands have taken to
the streets in the largest demonstrations in the island???s history.
After a fierce struggle, the initial call from the streets for the
resignation of Ricardo Rossello as governor of Puerto Rico has been won.
Despite much push-back, by July 24, Rossello announced his resignation,
finally conceding to the overwhelming force of the movement.
However, the protest movement has not ended; nor has it faltered in
momentum. It is clear that the roots and tensions at work in these
protests have not yet come to the surface, and indeed the deep crises
facing Puerto Rico go far beyond one scheming politician.
The protests began on July 14 in outraged response to leaked
documentation of private messages between Rossello and nine other
members of his administration. The messages, filling almost 900 pages,
were riddled with crass misogyny and homophobia, targeting many
politicians and celebrities, and ridiculing the devastation of Hurricane
Maria. Thousands died in the hurricane, and the effects are still
acutely felt on the island. The messages not only ignored the depths of
the tragedy, but they cruelly mocked the dead.
Some jokes mentioned attacking oppositional politicians with
violence???including ???shooting??? San Juan Mayor Carmen Yul??n Cruz, who had
denounced President Trump for the meager aid that his administration
sent to the island after the hurricane.
Trump was quick to throw his support to the governor, tweeting on July
18: ???A lot of bad things are happening in Puerto Rico. The Governor is
under siege, the Mayor of San Juan is a despicable and incompetent
person who I wouldn???t trust under any circumstance, and the United
States Congress foolishly gave 92 Billion Dollars for hurricane relief ??????
In many ways, the publication of the vulgar conversations by Rossello
and his close associates was the straw that broke the camel???s back.
Rossello???s administration was already embroiled in a corruption scandal,
with two former officials arrested on July 10 for funneling some $15.5
million in contracts to businesses with which they had personal ties.
Protests grew rapidly, with ferocity, demanding the resignation of the
governor. The movement became known as #RickyRenuncia, echoing the
#MeToo movement???s self-designation. This could be said to reflect the
queer and feminist character of a layer of the protests, with many
protesters working to have a visible queer presence.
Quickly, the force of the continuing protests became overwhelming. By
July 21, Rosello announced he would not seek re-election, hoping to
deescalate the situation that had already developed out of his control.
But the pressure and mass protests did not let up, and though initially
the Rossello proclaimed he would not give in, the governor soon
officially resigned. He is scheduled to leave office on Aug. 2.
The protests have been on an enormous scale in the capital of San Juan.
Nearly a third of the island, over half a million Puerto Ricans, joined
the demonstration on July 22. Many people walked off their jobs to
participate, and much of the city was paralyzed.
The Puerto Rican diaspora has responded with strong enthusiasm and
support, organizing solidarity protests around the mainland United
States, and with many people going directly to the island to participate
in the streets.
The anger and resentment that have boiled over into these mass protests,
however, are a response to more than just Rossello???s and his cronies???
actions. As the protests have continued past Rossello???s defeat, the
focus has begun to shift. Calls for radical change and opposition to the
entire line-up of succession for the governorship have become loud and
vocal. Puerto Rican protesters have had enough with the entire
government of the island.
Puerto Rico???s colonial status and subjugation to U.S. imperialism is the
fundamental root of the tensions plaguing the island. The aims of the
protest movement can only be effectively resolved if they deal firmly
with this fundamental injustice.
For over a century Puerto Rico has been an open colonial holding of the
United States, subject to all the crushing stages of changing capitalist
exploitation from the days of early monopoly capital rule through the
rise and decline of neoliberal projects. The colony has always been
denied any semblance of democratic representation in the U.S. federal
government. And in 2016, the PROMESA authority board (the Puerto Rico
Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act), a completely
unelected and undemocratic apparatus, managed in Washington, was foisted
on the island???with the power to revoke any acts of the Puerto Rican
government.
Political control has been entirely removed from the colonized peoples
of Puerto Rico in the interests of ensuring that the big banks and
capitalist speculators can efficiently recover payments on the island???s
$74 billion bond debt.
The management of Puerto Rico under American capital has provided
decades of ruin and a stranglehold for the working people of the island.
Until the 1950s, the island was kept underdeveloped as a vast sugar
plantation. During the postwar boom, special tax breaks and the prospect
of ultra-cheap labor caused U.S. businesses to swoop in and set up light
manufacturing and textile shops???devastating Puerto Rico???s agricultural
base in the process. Beginning in the 1990s, however, most of the
capitalist enterprises fled the island for even cheaper labor in Asia,
and Puerto Rico was plunged into a lasting depression with high
unemployment.
The island???s pro-capitalist politicians resorted to obtaining large
loans in the form of bonds to keep the economy afloat. Imposed debt to
the U.S. government has only mounted since then and has become a primary
source for the economic death spiral. Widespread unemployment and
lowering wages have and continue to be the rule of the day.
The modern neoliberal era has been particularly devastating. Austerity
policies aimed at paying the debt have seen the gutting of social
services and education, and ever shrinking revenues for the island???s
government. Unpaid debt has become a market for capitalist investment,
with further attempts to squeeze Puerto Rico. Debt has become the main
leash of U.S. imperialism around the island, ever used as justification
to cut back on any democratic control or aid.
The calls and dreams of a free Puerto Rico cannot be fulfilled without a
full break with the humiliating and lethal relation of the island to its
imperial ruler. The illegitimate debt must be abolished as a crucial
step on the path to true self-determination in Puerto Rico.
Though the demand to abolish the debt has not yet been widely
articulated by the massive but unorganized movement, we must raise the
call clearly while standing in solidarity with the developing struggles
in Puerto Rico. Self-determination for Puerto Rico! Abolish the debt!
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August 1, 2019 in Caribbean, Latin America. Tags: Puerto Rico
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