The book War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson Denis looks into the actions of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party during the 20th century and how it affected US-PR relations. As time went on and the US still occupied Puerto Rico, the North American imposed government in the island was faced with several uprisings against it let by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and its leader, Pedro Albizu Campos. Albizu Campos organized the agricultural workers of the island and executed and agricultural strike in order to get higher wages from the sugar cane syndicates that owned most of the farmlands. This was the first time that an organized protest against the United States ruled favorably for the Puerto Ricans (Denis webpage). Albizu Campos and
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This is just one of the many instances where the rights of Puerto Ricans were infringed upon US officials appointed to the government in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico’s Gag Law (Law 53) was enacted with the specific purpose to overpower the nationalist movement in the island. This law made it a crime to display the flag of Puerto Rico, sing a patriotic tune, or assemble with regard to the issue of the political status of the island. The sanctions imposed on anyone found violating this law were imprisonment for ten years, a $10,000 fine, or both. The National Guard was allowed to enter the private home of any person suspected of violating the Gag Law without a warrant and be susceptible to search and seizure. This law was passed by a legislature that was dominated by the Popular Democratic Party, which advocated for a “free association” with the US, and was signed by the Governor Jesús T. Piñero, a US appointed official and a Puerto Rican national. The law is a clear violation of the rights provided to the Puerto Rican people by the US Constitution in the First and Fourth amendments that protect US citizen’s rights of free speech and assembly and protection against unlawful search and seizures …show more content…
Currently, Puerto Rico is suffering its ninth year in an economic recession, 15% unemployment, junk credit ratings, rising crime rates, growing diasporas in the mainland USA, and still no answer the that dreadful political status question. After over a century of persecution by the US, the independence movement is a political minority in the island, falling behind the statehood advocates and those who advocate maintaining free association with the United States. Puerto Rico has its own constitution, created in 1952, which deemed the official title of the island “Estado Libre Asociado” or Free Associated State, in English; however, that is not the title that was given to Puerto Rico in English. The English title given to Puerto Rico is “Commonwealth”. One would ask why the change of translation in the title given to the island? Many speculate that it was in order to be able to treat Puerto Rico as a colony, but take Puerto Rico out of the United Nations list of colonized nations by giving it a title that acknowledges it domestically. The issue that Puerto Rico faces is choosing a status that
This is just one of the many instances where the rights of Puerto Ricans were infringed upon US officials appointed to the government in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico’s Gag Law (Law 53) was enacted with the specific purpose to overpower the nationalist movement in the island. This law made it a crime to display the flag of Puerto Rico, sing a patriotic tune, or assemble with regard to the issue of the political status of the island. The sanctions imposed on anyone found violating this law were imprisonment for ten years, a $10,000 fine, or both. The National Guard was allowed to enter the private home of any person suspected of violating the Gag Law without a warrant and be susceptible to search and seizure. This law was passed by a legislature that was dominated by the Popular Democratic Party, which advocated for a “free association” with the US, and was signed by the Governor Jesús T. Piñero, a US appointed official and a Puerto Rican national. The law is a clear violation of the rights provided to the Puerto Rican people by the US Constitution in the First and Fourth amendments that protect US citizen’s rights of free speech and assembly and protection against unlawful search and seizures …show more content…
Currently, Puerto Rico is suffering its ninth year in an economic recession, 15% unemployment, junk credit ratings, rising crime rates, growing diasporas in the mainland USA, and still no answer the that dreadful political status question. After over a century of persecution by the US, the independence movement is a political minority in the island, falling behind the statehood advocates and those who advocate maintaining free association with the United States. Puerto Rico has its own constitution, created in 1952, which deemed the official title of the island “Estado Libre Asociado” or Free Associated State, in English; however, that is not the title that was given to Puerto Rico in English. The English title given to Puerto Rico is “Commonwealth”. One would ask why the change of translation in the title given to the island? Many speculate that it was in order to be able to treat Puerto Rico as a colony, but take Puerto Rico out of the United Nations list of colonized nations by giving it a title that acknowledges it domestically. The issue that Puerto Rico faces is choosing a status that