Puerto Rican National Unity Through the

Development of a Puerto Rican

Human Rights Agenda:

The Campaign to Free the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners & its Relationship to

the Vieques Movement

The Question?

• Considering the heavy divisions amongst Puerto Ricans regarding the status issue,

how was it that such diverse sectors of the population were able to put their political

differences aside and support a movement such as Vieques? Did the campaign to free

the political prisoners create a foundation to unify Puerto Rican society, both on and off

the island, such that the Vieques movement was able to capitalize on that foundation and use that momentum to achieve the

successful removal of the navy?

Methodology

Primary Sources• Participant

observation• Interviews• Rare printed

materials• Legal articles• FALN communiqués• FBI records

Secondary Sources• Books• Academic journal

articles• Reports

The Continuous Colony

• Spanish colonialism of Puerto Rico 1493-1898

• United States colonialism of Puerto Rico 1898-Present

• Political/economic policies created the Puerto Rican migration to the US in the late 1940s.

• Oppression produces resistance

“Yo Seria Boricano Aunque Naciera en la Luna: The Puerto

Rican Political Prisoners

• Oppression produces resistance• Nationalist Attacks 1950 & 1954• 1966 & 1977 riots in Chicago: rebellion

breeds Puerto Rican political activism• National/World context: civil rights

movement, Vietnam war, & 3rd world social movements

• Importance of US-based Puerto Ricans to the status debate

Roots of Political Activism

• Confronting racism• Identity & Culture as a form of

resistance• Campaign to Free the 5

Nationalists• Youth Activism

The Arrests

• 1976 - Grand Jury• April 4, 1980• May 29, 1981

Seditious Conspiracy

• “the agreement among two or more people to oppose the authority of the US government by force”

• “The impossible crime”

The Campaign to Release the

Prisoners• Immediate organizing• Focus on humanizing the prisoners• Created the dialogue of a Puerto

Rican human rights agenda• Intentionally sought support

amongst Puerto Ricans first• Was able to change paradigms

with changing world

Vieques Movement

Two PhasesPre-1999 - Angel Cristobal Rodriguez

• Independence movement

Post 1999 - popular movement• Peaceful, non-violence, civil

disobedience• Broad-based - across political lines

The Relationship

• Prisoners campaign activated a broader base through fostering a Puerto Rican human rights agenda as part of a Puerto Rican/Latino agenda

• Vieques was able to capitalize on the activated base to gain success quickly

• The importance of US-based Puerto Ricans

• Cultural Nationalism on the Island

Rescuing our Sovereignty

• Cultural Nationalism - political, collective action

• Human Rights Agenda - highlighting the contradictions

• The potential to build on this to begin the status dialogue

Questions???