July 25 is the 100th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico, one of the acts that marked the rise of U.S. imperialism in the world. But July 25 also marks 100 years of irrepressible struggle by Puerto Ricans for their national self-determination. Despite their power and resources, the colonial masters in Washington have proven unable to stamp out the resistance and national aspirations of the Puerto Rican people, including the independence movement.
Today there is a new rise in nationalist and pro- independence struggle among Puerto Ricans, both on the island and in the United States. A new generation of boricua youth are becoming active in this fight. Many Puerto Rican fighters sense that their main enemy - the imperialist rulers headquartered in Washington - are weaker today. This imperialist decline has led to a resurgence of national liberation struggles within the imperialist countries, from Quebec to Northern Ireland.
In the United States, the growing political resistance among Puerto Ricans - resistance to second- and third-class status in U.S. capitalist society - is intertwined with the broader pickup in working-class struggles.
A number of Puerto Rican independentistas are attracted to the example of Cuba's socialist revolution. Through their 1959 revolution Cuban working people shook off political and economic domination by imperialism and won genuine independence - only 90 miles from U.S. shores. The workers and farmers government in Cuba has consistently championed the Puerto Rican independence struggle in all international forums.
For workers in the United States, championing the fight for Puerto Rico's independence is central to building a revolutionary movement that can lead a fight to get rid of capitalist rule and establish a workers and farmers government. Uncompromising support for Puerto Rican independence has been at the heart of the strategy of the communist movement in the United States for the coming American socialist revolution, since the 1930s. This is why the Militant has consistently supported the Puerto Rican independence struggle and the campaigns to free all Puerto Rican political prisoners locked up in U.S. jails.
Militant readers have plenty of opportunities to build the July 25 actions. This means promoting the range of events that are being held in several cities over the coming weeks to publicize the demonstrations. They can be built among co-workers on the job as well as on high school and college campuses. Where coalitions to organize contingents to the actions exist, we urge you to join and build them. In other cities you can work with others to initiate such a coalition - to organize to get buses to the demonstration, to raise funds broadly to enable the maximum number of people to attend the rallies, and to appeal to unions and other organizations to support these events, among other activities. These actions can attract fighting unionists, from the auto workers on strike against General Motors to the striking transit workers in Philadelphia.