“For some time now, influence has been exerted on the company “Radio Corporation of Porto Rico” subsidiary of the “International Telegraph and Telephone Co.” to suspend the transmission by radio of nationalist speeches.
It is absolutely certain that the North American government wanted to suppress our propaganda by air and it is also absolutely certain that the pro-Yankee elements yearned for the same purpose.
We must call attention to the fact that in the United States there is no freedom of speech by air. What has been denominated indirect censorship prevails there, which is a formal admission that there is no freedom of speech, nor of thought, in that country. In the Yankee Congress a bill is being considered to suppress those restrictions of thought and of right.
Under a regime of force such as the one that prevails in Puerto Rico, under this North American military occupation, there is no right and yes a mere tolerance in the emission of thought, because the North American power trusts in its strength and in the dominion of the press.
Propaganda by wireless had national and international effects and has forced the invader to unmask himself, imposing a censorship.
The excuse given by the “Radio Corporation of Porto Rico”, subsidiary of the “International Telegraph and Telephone Co.” is trivial. To allege that a transmission of thought so vital for Puerto Rico is suppressed, to dedicate its apparatus to commercial announcements and to news of the races of the Hippodrome, is to confess that they are acting under the coercion of the North American government and in agreement with the oppressor policy of that government, especially when those radio transmissions represented a very substantial income for the company.
They intend to besiege us by air since we are by sea and land.
Here are published the cables that do not harm the North American imperialist policy and the information agencies Associated Press and United Press transmit news that is of interest to that government.
The “International Telegraph and Telephone Co.” has incurred in a very serious responsibility by lending itself to this maneuver of the North American government and we must demand the corresponding responsibility.
The same haste that the head of the North American occupation, Colonel Roosevelt, has had to deny statements not made until the moment, on the interference of the North American government in this serious matter, confirms that interference.
The country can raise a transmitting station if it so wishes. And it must do so immediately, to put an end to the monopoly that the foreign company “International Telegraph and Telephone Co.” enjoys.
It is true that permission is needed to transmit, which could be denied by the North American occupying power. It is worth, however, forcing the invader to take off his mask completely.
If that permission were denied, it must be dispensed with. The Puerto Rican nation must not tolerate being besieged by air.
The “Radio Corporation of Porto Rico”, subsidiary of the “International Telegraph and Telephone Co.” and denominated Station W.K.A.Q., has declared itself an enemy of our sacred rights. The entire nation has to demand responsibilities from this local corporation and from the “International Telegraph and Telephone Co.,” of which it is subsidiary and which without a doubt has sanctioned that attack against our sovereignty.