RAFAEL CANCEL MIRANDA "Puerto Rico: Independence Is A Necessity"

The expected release from jail of 11 Puerto Rican political prisoners registers a victory for all working people and a step forward in the fight for Puerto Rico's independence. It's the result of the new rise for more than a year of the struggle to end U.S. colonial rule of the island nation, which has coincided with a change in the mass psychology of the working class in the United States. It's a pressure similar to what Rafael Cancel Miranda points to above - referring to the release of himself and four other pro-independence fighters from U.S. jails 20 years ago -that brought about this result.

One indication that this struggle has a growing mass character today is that the demand to free the Puerto Rican political prisoners became a prominent issue in bourgeois politics in recent weeks. The storm of debate among capitalist politicians touched off by Hillary Clinton's call to withdraw her husband's "pardon" offer shows that.

The conditions for release imposed by the Clinton administration are onerous. Supporters of the defense campaign correctly took the stance that they would respect whatever decision the prisoners made on Clinton's offer. As Cancel Miranda aptly put it, "We will greet any freed prisoner with open arms, but we demand all 17 prisoners be released immediately with no conditions. They are all patriots and none is a criminal. Justice cannot be done halfway."

Independentistas from Chicago to New York to San Juan are now preparing a hero's welcome for the fighters when they walk out of jail. There's every reason to celebrate. At the same time, supporters of Puerto Rico's independence and all backers of the struggle to free the 17 must remain vigilant and demand the Clinton administration hold its word and release them now. After 12 of the prisoners accepted Clinton's restrictive conditions prior to his September 10 deadline, the White House said the release was now out of its hands and under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. But the bureau's officials were among the first to oppose the U.S. president's offer of "clemency" to begin with. Until they walk out of prison, the fire must remain on the Clinton administration to free them immediately.

This struggle is completely intertwined with the fight for the independence of Puerto Rico, which is a necessity to advance the interests not only of the Puerto Rican people but of the overwhelming majority of the people in the United States.

The conditions U.S. domination has created in Puerto Rico - where the average income is less than half that of Mississippi, the poorest U.S. state - have forced 4 of every 10 Puerto Ricans to emigrate to the United States in search of jobs and a living income. Puerto Ricans are an important component of the working class in the United States.

U.S. colonial rule of Puerto Rico reinforces racism and other divisions among working people in the United States that undermine the labor movement and serve the interests of the employers. Colonialism feeds every reactionary force in U.S. society - from those who promote "English only" measures and want to end bilingual education, to those who attack affirmative action and other hard-fought gains of working people.

Colonial rule of Puerto Rico also strengthens the ability of the U.S. rulers to erode the democratic rights of working people in the United States. FBI spying, harassment, and frame- ups of Puerto Rican advocates of independence, unionists, and other fighters have been well documented for more than half a century.

All those who work for a living have a stake in learning and telling the truth about the struggle against U.S. colonial rule in Puerto Rico.

We urge our readers to join a campaign of protests and public events to press the U.S. government to stop delaying its release of 11 of the prisoners, as well as to oppose any victimization of them once they are out. And we must redouble our demand that Washington free all the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners.  
 
 
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