BY WENDY LYONS AND JAKE PERASSO
MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico - Close to 100 members and guests attended the 24th National Congress of the Federation of Pro- Independence University Students (FUPI) in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

A declaration passed by the Congress describes the colonial bondage the organization is dedicated to fighting: "U.S. imperialism still exercises illegal control over Puerto Rico in matters of defense, citizenship, foreign relations, immigration and emigration, currency, postal service, communications, foreign trade, air and maritime transport, parks, forests, and natural resources. It also wields the power to unilaterally impose whatever federal legislation it wants on Puerto Rico." The declaration insists, "The independence of Puerto Rico, for our membership, is a struggle that is not negotiable."

FUPI was founded in 1956 during an upsurge in the struggle for Puerto Rican independence. In recent years the organization dwindled in size. The congress marked a turning point in reconstructing a national independentista organization of students.

Local FUPI chapters are experiencing new growth. "Young people today are more interested [in the independence movement]. Their parents are having a hard time, and that is reflected among the youth," declared Rafael Cancel Miranda, a long-time independence fighter who served 28 years in U.S. prisons for his anti-imperialist actions. He continued, "Most of the university students are the children of working people. When workers are under attack, such as through the effects of privatization, their children pay the consequences." The rise in pro-independence sentiment "is not a coincidence, it is based on objective reality."

A one-day general strike of the labor movement here last October, in response to threats by the Puerto Rican government to privatize the telephone company, had a deep impact that was registered at the Congress in comments by students who participated in that action.

FUPI chapters have also helped organize protests in Vieques, where a U.S. Navy base occupies some two-thirds of the island. In the last several years there have been more than a dozen protests against a proposed radar installation on the island. In a document adopted by the congress, FUPI declared, "Our homeland is one of the main launching points of U.S. imperialism in the Americas. It is the military bastion from which they secure their domination over Latin America."

"They steal our land to attack other people!" declared FUPI member Ismael Guadalupe Torres from Vieques during the congress discussion.

Pedro Zenon commented, "We don't want the navy in Puerto Rico, Cuba, or in any other place. We want a world free of the military boot that crushes us daily."

FUPI has a rich history of resisting militarization of Puerto Rico. During the early 1970s, FUPI waged a successful fight for the expulsion of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) from the Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico.

Political presentations and discussions at the congress included the history of the U.S. invasion and colonization of Puerto Rico, the fight to free Puerto Rican political prisoners, a history of the student movement for independence, and an official presentation of FUPI's political principles. There were video showings on the U.S. invasion of Panama, and the fight of the people of Vieques against U.S. military occupation of their land.

The political principles debated and adopted pledged to continue the fight for independence and socialism, for autonomy and democracy in the universities, for unifying progressive forces, for international solidarity, for environmental justice, and against patriarchal ideology.

Numerous changes were proposed from the floor, most of which strengthened the anti-imperialist character of the documents.

Frank Torres, national president of FUPI, talked about the importance of international solidarity. "One of our political principles is international solidarity with all revolutionary processes and understanding that we come from a Latin American and a worldwide reality," he said. "We understand we have a common enemy, which is imperialism. We understand Cuba as one of the bastions that historically has generated great opposition to imperialism, specifically North American imperialism."

In an act of solidarity with the Cuban people, FUPI is planning to send a delegation to Cuba this summer, where they will dedicate a bust of Fefel Varona. Varona was a leader of FUPI during the 1960s who was killed by the U.S. military in Vietnam while on a solidarity visit.

The Young Socialists (YS) from the United States presented greetings to the congress. Cecilia Ortega, a member of the YS National Committee who is a chemical worker in Chicago, expressed solidarity with Puerto Rican independence fighters. She pledged efforts to build the July 25 demonstrations in the United States to free Puerto Rican political prisoners and celebrate the 100th year of resistance to U.S. imperialism.

Ortega described the participation of Young Socialists in struggles by workers in the United States, such as the UAW members at Caterpillar. "We have organized demonstrations against U.S. war threats against Iraq," she continued. "We explain to fellow workers and youth that the expansion of NATO is part of the preparations of the U.S. rulers' drive to take back the territories where workers made revolutions to free their countries from the grip of capitalism," Ortega said.

Participants of the congress included high school students who are members of the Pro-Independence Student Federation (FEPI). They described the challenges high school students face in the fight for Puerto Rican independence, such as the fight for free speech and the right to hold meetings against the overwhelming police presence in the high schools.

Ernesto Juan Delgado Soto described how he was expelled from high school for wearing a button celebrating Che Guevara's life around the 30th anniversary of Guevara's assassination in Bolivia. His classmates rallied to his defense, and Delgado was readmitted to school.

Wendy Lyons is a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees in New York. Jake Perasso is a member of the Young Socialists in Santa Cruz.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home