Once a nationalist sympathetic towards Latin American armed movements, and than a pacifist autonomist with deep respect towards democracy, I feel as if it is necessary for me to clarify my position on armed revolution in light of the recent rebirth (and popular acceptance of) the the terrorist Popular Puerto Rican Army (EPB.)
|
A statue of nationalist leader Albizu Campos in a
Chicago community of Puerto Ricans. |
I would first like to acknowledge that valid revolutionary forces are present only when there is a sector of the population that feels as if they are oppressed. One of the reasons why I think so lowly of the U.S. invasion of Iraq is not due to sympathy towards the Hussein administration, but an acknowledgment that the Iraqi people themselves have not yet stood up against their ex-dictator. If Fidel Castro and a handful of doctors and guerrillas can take over Cuba, the Iraqi people can rebel against Saddam. Sure, things were bad, but were they bad enough in the eyes of the people themselves to create a band of Filiberto Ojeda's? A dictatorship cannot stand long against the will of the people, even if democracy does not exist. Is it cause these same dictatorships oppress the people so much that they have no chance to rebel, even if they wanted to? Many say that Batista was worse than Castro.
When a minority feels oppressed, then you have your Ojeda's and Albizu's, but when the majority feels oppressed, than you have your Sandinistas. The point is, that there is a sector of the population that does not feel "free".
Puerto Rico is a democratic nation. I can give you that much. I take pride of seeing such large amounts of our population go to the polls, and I look down upon those who abstain from voting. (In fact, I feel as if voting should be mandatory.) But there are a number of events in our history that prove that undemocratic events can occur within a constitutional and democratic system. For example,
1) Persecution of independentistas prior and after obtaining the right to draft our own constitution.
2) The fact that an intensive campaign of assimilation was forced onto the country during the first decades of U.S. occupation.
3) The fact that our constitution was "proof-read" and tweaked by the U.S. Congress prior to passing into effect.
4) The carpetas.
5) The Cerro Maravilla shootings
6) The Ponce massacre.
7) The disobedience of the U.S. Navy against the Vieques referendum held in 2001.
8) The tampering of the Vieques referendum. (July 22, 2005.)
9) The U.S. court decision to take jurisdiction over the pivazo issue. (November 21, 2004.)
10) The initial U.S. court decision to overturn the results of the 2004 elections.
11) The nerve to send observers to our 2004 elections. (November 1, 2005.)
12) The questionable circumstances of the death of Filiberto Ojeda.
While there are many Puerto Ricans who will dispute my claim that such events were violations of democratic principals, few would dare discard all of them. All of these events, I would like to add, took place during times where Puerto Ricans in one way or another were permitted to go to the polls to elect their representatives.
The existence of Filiberto Ojeda's throughout the country is no surprise when the above events are put into perspective. In fact, I am surprised that there does not exist more groups such as the Macheteros considering such violations as serious as the overturning of an election.
Filiberto is a terrorist criminal, I admit, but he is the creation of the U.S., as hard as it is for people to swallow. Does that justify his actions? No. Do I endorse his methods? Not at all. Those of Hugo Chavez, Salvador Allende, and Luis Munoz Marin proves to be more effective, acceptable, and democratic.
|
Guerrilla warfare, caudillos, and populism seem to be ingrained into Latin American culture. |
One thing that people tend to overlook and a fact often misunderstood by
norteamericanos is the strong presence that such forms of violence have in our culture. All throughout Latin America urban terrorism, populism, government intervention, violent nationalism, and guerrilla warfare are the rule of the hour. (Hell, "guerrilla," and "junta" are Spanish word.) Even the head of the pro-statehood party, Pedro Rossello, resembles more the Latin American
caudillo than the All-American Democrat (read May 22, 2005's "
Rossello and the Senate Presidency" and November 11, 2004's "
The Caudillo of Puerto Rico".) Good thing we don't have a military cause otherwise we already would have had half-a-dozen coups.
|
A Puerto Rican softball team named after the "Macheteros," an armed Puerto Rican terrorist group. (Link) |
Not only are yesterday's dictator exiles today's candidates (Rios Montt, Rossello), but yesterday's terrorists are today's heroes (Che, Ojeda Rios.) Pedro Albizu's nationalist party only won 2.7% in the 1932 elections and now hundreds of streets, schools, universities, carry his name. His portrait can be found in some town halls and he is a nationally acclaimed hero. Ojeda will follow this trail years from now.
One of the most interesting observations that I had made on the 3+ hour caravan from Caguas to Ojeda's funeral were the large amounts of people that would run from their houses to the side of the road to throw their fist into the sky in a sign of revolutionary solidarity. These were normal, everyday fulanos from the campos and caserios, not fupistas or bearded intellectuals. While we all scorn armed insurgence and independence a la brava, deep down inside we all respect it.
