disposed to every sacrifice to impose their independence. We would appreciate it if you would continue to present only those luminous libertarian figures to our people.
If that was so in ‘68, as you rightly say, that more civic virtue was needed than today to defend the cause of liberty, you will undoubtedly deem it justified, that today, according to what you affirm that it costs nothing to do the same, let us urge men and women to fulfill the most important civic duty: To immediately constitute the free, sovereign and independent republic.
“THE NATIONALIST PARTY WILL ACCEPT ONLY THOSE POSITIONS THAT DEPEND ON THE SOVEREIGNTY OF OUR PEOPLE,” SAYS LCDO. ALBIZU CAMPOS
In connection with the letter from Mr. Luis García Casanova, President of the Local Board of the Nationalist Party in Caguas, published in our edition of the day before yesterday, in which he declines the position of Director of Public Works that was offered to him by Dr. José Reguero González, alleging that the policy of his Party prevents him from accepting anything that implies “contact with the usurping government of the rights of our people, which is the government of the United States of North America,” we interviewed Lcdo. Pedro Albizu Campos, President of the Nationalist Party and asked him the following questions: What should be the future attitude of the Nationalist Party in electoral matters, as such a political collective? Will you register candidates with the Executive Secretariat? Mr. Albizu Campos made the following statements to us: “The attitude of the Nationalist Party is defined in the declaration that is formulated in the program adopted in the last assembly and which reads as follows: “That the immediate suppression of North American colonialism is urgent and commits itself to holding the constituent convention that establishes in Puerto Rico the government of a free, sovereign, and independent republic, as soon as it receives the suffrage of the majorities.”
“To achieve this purpose, it will resort to the polls and avail itself of all legal means at its disposal, including, of course, registration with the Executive Secretariat or before any colonial body existing according to the Electoral Law then in force. “The Nationalist Party will only accept those positions that depend on the sovereignty of our people, that is, only elective positions, but will never directly or indirectly solicit positions in the administration of the colony that depend on the will of the President of United States, or his representative in Puerto Rico, the Governor of the colony.
“Nor of course will it enter into arrangements, understandings, alliances or pacts of any kind with any other political party based on the division of the budget because that practice is corrupting of public morals. “Any understanding that the Nationalist Party might reach, will have to be based on its program which is clear and conclusive in demanding the immediate suppression of colonialism and the peremptory establishment of an independent republican government, responsible exclusively before the Puerto Rican nation. “Such is the sovereign will of the party in repudiating from the year 1924 until now the combinations that the existing parties have proposed to it. That will was definitively expressed when the last Sovereign Assembly adopted the program that today governs the actions of our collectivity. “The leadership of the Nationalist Party in Caguas is brilliant. It is perfectly oriented and capable of all sacrifices for the achievement of the ideal of Homeland independence. “The letter from don Luis García Casanova, a member of the National Board, is not only a definition of our policy, but also a definition of public morals.”
COMMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONALIST PARTY ON THE MARGIN OF THE REPORT SUBMITTED BY THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTE
Christian civilization has imposed the norm of law in the internal life and in the external relations of nationalities. It is true that there has been a violent attempt against that norm, but that it is respected, under penalty of falling back into barbarism, is undeniable. Even the war of dispossession requires justification. The masses of the aggressor must be mobilized with ideals of respect for rules of a higher order. One cannot appeal to their sense of sordidness or selfishness, if one wants to create armed institutions capable of heroics that have as their limit the sacrifice itself. When attacking the neighbor, it is necessary to give explanations to the world. Foreign intervention in the conflict is a danger that is always taken into account, because it is in the interest of all nations to maintain the equilibrium that allows each one to develop within its full sovereignty. Although the sinister designs of Estados Unidos were always to seize the Antilles, to convert the Caribbean into a Yankee lake, and thus exert a strategic influence over Méjico, Central and South América, it was not possible to make known to the North American nation the true purposes of conquest. It was spoken of waging a war for reasons of humanity. Before international opinion, the case of Cuba and Puerto Rico under Spanish sovereignty was presented as something so intolerable in the light of civilization that it forced a nation anxious not to disturb the peace to intervene so that our right to enjoy freedom would be respected. Thus, North American patriotism exalted, the concerns of other powers lulled to sleep, Antillean hopes unduly exalted, war was declared. The Yankee invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898, meant the disappearance of obscurantism, and the oppression of the Spaniards and, the advent of a regime of freedom, equality, fraternity and material prosperity, to judge by Yankee propaganda. And all that happiness came to us imposed generously by North American philanthropy and a sense of humanity. The invaders imposed the Treaty of París on Spain. We were not consulted for its drafting or approval. They forced Spain to cede Puerto Rico as war indemnity.
All this threw to the ground the touted Yankee humanity, but its propaganda exterminated Puerto Rican concerns and international suspicions. The Puerto Ricans prepared, without distinction of parties, to cooperate in this supposed advent of freedom. No one believed that the invader had dedicated himself to profaning the most sacred terms for man. They implanted an absolute regime to be able to dispose of all franchises and determine the displacement of all wealth from native hands to the invaders. Thus agriculture, industry, commerce, and the means of communication became practically theirs. Today, scarcely twenty percent remains in the hands of the natives. Voices of alarm, cries of patriotism, imprecations against the invader, were heard. But Yankee propaganda again lulled the Puerto Rican conscience to sleep. With our suspicions allayed, before the eyes of our own and strangers, we were presented as a country enjoying extraordinary prosperity, due exclusively to the presence of the magical North American flag. The workers came to believe that their good salaries depended on the Yankee government; many intellectuals placed their dearest hopes in occupying a high position in the North American government, especially in the diplomatic and consular service; farmers were warned against possible worker demagoguery; commerce was attracted with the supposed advantages of free cabotage between Puerto Rico and Estados Unidos; the property owner became convinced that he had to deposit his money in invading banks because Yankee propaganda veiledly accused us all of a lack of honesty; the professoriate became convinced that it had to teach everything in English, in short, the nation assented to its material and moral dismemberment, anesthetized with the supposed good intentions. The patriotism of some natives was of no avail. The worker could not believe that the Yankee government was the promoter of latifundismo and absenteeism of the destruction of all native industry, so that unemployment and cheap labor would arise on a large scale so that the Yankee corporations would accumulate enormous capital. Commerce lost all sense of accounting. It did not expect the inevitable bankruptcy and liquidation for it, as a result of free cabotage that forces us to sell to the Yankee at the price that he deigns to set, and forces us to buy from the same subject at the price that he deigns to stipulate. The naive property owner, attracted by foreign propaganda, believed that the branches of the foreign banks were backed by piles of millions of dollars and deposited his savings in them, with which the invader reconditioned his own companies, and withdrew that money from the market, took the interest rate, making it impossible for the native to rehabilitate himself. The colonist became a slave of the exploiting companies and, sooner or later, had to deliver his profit to the
creditor who was lying in wait for him. The government taxed his estate at the highest possible price, and allowed, and continues to allow, the invading interests to conceal all kinds of assets, set low prices on the declared assets, and tolerate them not paying the taxes already stipulated, exonerating them from the application of the coercion and auction in public auction. While year after year, in the most systematic way, estates of the natives are auctioned off in many cases, for an amount that does not exceed two dollars. Still, with the excuse of teaching English, a system of public instruction is maintained that employs the language of the invader as the only vehicle of teaching, at a cost of more than four million a year. In reality, English is not taught, and what is done is to brutalize the youth by obliging them to study science and Latin in English, and other languages in the language of the invader. The invader reached the point that he did not need to justify himself. Natives on salary had already emerged to do so. Thus, we have conspicuous “pedagogues” in the Department of Instruction sanctioning the barbarities that we have pointed out. Lawyers abound to defend the invading interests. There is a group of pseudo-intellectuals who have dared to preach the formation of the hybrid type, that monster half Yankee, half Puerto Rican. North American propaganda had triumphed. Despite these facts, it was insisted that prosperity was real and effective, that the most advanced civilization was our peculiar good. Abroad, we were passed off as a prosperous, happy people, and definitely delivered, enjoying so much well-being that we deserved to have emulators. A nationalist movement arose that was not confined to the colony. It sought international cooperation. It pointed out the lie of North American goodness in Puerto Rico. It is painful to confess it, but abroad itself, there were Puerto Ricans who accepted the task of the government to continue maintaining such falsehood. With Puerto Rican opinion oriented towards the nations of our race, the colonial legislature was encouraged to send a cablegram to the sixth American conference that was being held in Havana. Everyone knows the wrath that that message produced in the despot Coolidge. In his reply, although he continues to maintain that the progress of Puerto Rico is due exclusively to North American direction, he outlined the new propaganda of misery. When Puerto Rico was supposed to be prosperous and happy under the American flag, there was no reason to lower it. Now, that it was composed of miserable and hungry people, there is no reason to lower it either, it is needed to help this people. Exhausted the propaganda of prosperity, the propaganda of misery begins. Comes the San Felipe storm and the colonial Governor Roosevelt to justify it. This man, with the sense of the vulgar neighborhood politician,
passes himself off as a great friend of ours, goes into the mountains, takes photographs of our nakedness and our hunger. He propagates them in Estados Unidos, solicits North American public and private charity, alleging that we do not have resources to attend to our needs. The unwary soon fall. The servile, as always, are moved to hear the voice of the master. Others fear to combat him. Everyone applauds. The Nationalist Party raises its voice of protest against that perverse propaganda that throws to the ground our credit and our prestige.
It resides it in the Legislature itself of the colony. It points out that there is neither public nor private charity in Estados Unidos for Puerto Rico. It affirms with pride, that if there were, we do not want it. We demand only justice for our nationality.
We demand that its right to govern its own destinies, to constitute itself as a republic independent of all tutelage, be respected.
The colonial Governor asks for special powers from the Legislature to resolve the supposed crisis. He goes into the Capitol itself to give orders. No one dares to protest against his presence.
He wants all municipal administration, which is the only thing that is partially in Puerto Rican hands, to be submitted to his absolute will. There are suspicions. The Legislature refused.
But he obtains from it the creation of several bureaus that will operate under his direct command. They are so important that he did not allow them to be placed in any department. We will speak extensively about this issue.
He speaks of the industrialization of the country. The whole world is stunned by such a welcome hope.
He presents to the directors of the parties in the legislature, to Davidson Bros., as our saviors. These newcomers are going to build, according to Roosevelt, a large refrigeration plant for the country’s fruits; they have many millions of dollars and will be able to distribute many millions.
But they need the Legislature to give them six thousand square meters of land with a sea front in the first port of the country, San Juan, to build large docks that facilitate the docking of deep-draft ships. The solvency of Davidson Bros. is investigated. They appear incorporated in Florida with a capital of TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
We have just been informed that these gentlemen are mere agents of the fearsome Yankee octopus, the “United Fruit Co.” And now we explain the presence in San Juan of a representative of the United Fruit Co.
We warn that we would not allow our misery to serve as an excuse to finish stripping us. Industrialization is off to a bad start. Now Roosevelt intends to make us believe that the salvation of Puerto Rico depends on a donation of three million that the Congress of Estados Unidos makes to us, by the way, very reluctant to cede a cent.
Here his empire has triumphed. They do not need to disburse money for their propaganda. We do it and pay for it gladly. THREE MILLION! What are three million to resolve the crisis
of a country? Cease the farce. We demand respect for our opinion. Neither Roosevelt, nor his substitute Beverley, nor his subordinate Domenech, dare to reward the great North American interests, which are owing many millions to the treasury.
Instead, they strike down the Law that facilitated the payment of taxes to small property owners. In a word, pretending to alleviate misery, it is necessary to intensify it. And now the report of the Brookings Institute reaches us. Its publication coincides with the presence of Roosevelt in Estados Unidos. This does not surprise those who know something of the Yankee propaganda system.
The “experts” paint a somber picture. They recommend drastic measures to resolve the crisis. Let’s see some: That the colonial Senate disappear.
In practice, this body has not existed yet. It has always yielded to the will of the colonial governor. Not to make the story long, let’s examine the case of the appointment of the current Treasurer Domenech. His party was opposed to his appointment. No one wanted him in that position.
But his appointment was confirmed unanimously! Since the colonial Legislature is a comedy, accepted until now, according to the institute, it would not be strange if despotism in the hair were accepted.
It is dangerous to maintain a comedy giving opportunity to serious actors to convert it into a tragedy. That municipal power be restricted, that the direct centralizing power from Washington be increased, etc. etc., are measures necessary to our salvation, according to the opinion of these “experts.” The important thing is that latifundismo be legalized. The restriction of the five hundred acres that disappears because it no longer exists. The colonial legislators never put it into effect.
Let Puerto Rico be a factory. Cheap peons, foremen, and policemen are needed. A factory does not need a legislature or political power. It is necessary to economize. Suppress the superfluous organisms. When all the Puerto Rican wealth passes to these invaders, they will have, for the first time, to bear the weight of the budget. There will no longer be natives to cover their disbursements.
Public power will frankly be a department of the factory’s administration. Puerto Rico will be another Hawaii. We Puerto Ricans will be peons, foremen and policemen, to guarantee the invaders in the enjoyment of our wealth in the face of our opposition that may arise.
And yet, there are those who dare to ask for tolerance for the invader. The moment has come to apply sanctions to those who cooperate with the invader here.
There is misery but not for lack of resources.
It is necessary to suppress the hoarding of those resources. We have to distribute them among our people. The legion of property owners that we had in 1898 must arise again. The Nationalist Party is not surprised by the declarations of the Brookings Institute: We know the machinations of Yankee propaganda. We have to thank these “experts” for having filled the cup of the elements until now unconditional. The politicians who do not militate in our party, it must be warned that the Puerto Rican nation demands the immediate suppression of this regime and that it is not going to allow, that it be disoriented in the effort that it makes to terminate definitively with this situation. We will not tolerate simulations of rebellion. If there is sincerity, as is to be expected, before this great collective tragedy, why are not the respective general assemblies of each party held immediately, and in them is it resolved to demand the recognition of our right to constitute ourselves, in a free and independent Homeland? The Puerto Rican Nation demands definitive actions from those who pretend to represent it.
P. ALBIZU CAMPOS
LETTER TO LCDO. EUGENIO FONT SUAREZ
San Juan, P.R. May 28, 1930
Lcdo. Eugenio Font Suárez, San Juan, Pto. Rico.
My dear friend: It is the hour of decision. The country orders everyone to enter into immediate struggle. To the individual and to the political groupings it imposes commitment that requires unpostponable sacrifices. It is not enough to declare oneself in favor of national independence. That declaration in a party program is not sufficient. It is necessary to commit publicly with specific measures to immediately put an end to this colonialism that crushes us. The patience of our grieved people is exhausted. If we are to consign in a political program the demand for independence to later dedicate ourselves to the struggle for the colonial posts, may the earth open and swallow us all. For that reason, the Nationalist Party has committed itself before the nation, in the most solemn way, to hold the constituent convention of the republic of Puerto Rico, as soon as it receives the suffrage of the majorities. It is pleasing to see the resurgence of the fighting spirit in all sectors. We salute the advance that arises in the “Unión de Puerto Rico.” We hope to see the patriotic spirit reveal itself with equal vigor in the other political parties. The renovation is general. But let us not forget the motto: Immediate action. I congratulate you for the brilliant document that in the form of a letter directed to this your friend, as President of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, you have just launched to publicity. You did not need to give explanations. Thus the whole country will have understood it. Your patriotism, your love for the cause of Maestro de Diego are known to all. You are animated by the value of lived conviction and consecration to the liberty of the Homeland. Grateful for your cordial esteem,
Embraces you your friend and S.S.S.,
PEDRO ALBIZU CAMPOS, President of the Party Nationalist of Puerto Rico
THERE IS NO NATIONALISM OUTSIDE OF THE NATIONALIST PARTY
San Juan, Puerto Rico July 17, 1930
Mr. Don José Lameiro. San Juan, de Puerto Rico.
Distinguished friend and co-religionist:
We have recently received several ships loaded with “patriots”, all commissioned for various purposes in Estados Unidos: to ask for alms, to extend to Puerto Rico all the laws of that country, to end the association of Maestros de Puerto Rico, to destroy our culture, to support the policy of the colonial governor and thus ingratiate themselves with the power, and to convert us into Yankee instruments in the diplomatic and consular service of that country in its systematic invasion of Latin América.
All these gentlemen require physical rehabilitation after such effort. The Homeland will not deny it to them opportunely.
It did not occur to any of them to say in Estados Unidos that our only necessity is Independence to resolve our own problems; that we have abundant capacity and natural resources to attend as is due to our Nationality.
The only necessity is Independence to be able to dominate the invasion of the latifundiary invading capital, and to restrain the insolence of the foreign banks that want to end our wealth, to protect our workers against the invading exploitation and to regulate our commerce by means of treaties that suit us. In a word, to end the hoarding of all our resources and impose a better distribution of them that allows our citizens to live a decent life in harmony with the exigencies of contemporary civilization so that our people can reach the complete development of their spiritual and physical life.
But no. These commissioners come proud of the suggestions that they offer to the power so that it annihilates us completely, giving it opportunity to make its demolishing work appear as an act of supreme charity.
They repeat like parrots the already worn language of the Yankee teacher who occupies the fortress.
Could not the sepoys have thought of anything else?