marisol morales presentation
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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???
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