NEW YORK — More than 125 people marched in the Bronx here Aug. 16 demanding independence for Puerto Rico. Thousands marched in similar actions in Puerto Rico and cities in the U.S. over the last month.
Speakers pointed to the deepening crisis working people there face without running water for days at a time, frequent electrical blackouts, high unemployment and a serious housing crisis — all consequences of over 100 years of U.S. colonial rule.
“Independence is the solution,” Justin, who prefers to use only his first name, speaking for the Diaspora Pa’lante Collective, told the crowd at a short rally before the march stepped off.
Along with banners calling for independence for Puerto Rico, there were placards demanding “Yankees out of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean,” a reference to Washington’s recent moves to expand military bases there to attack Venezuela and threaten Cuba.
A central theme of the march was the impact of 10 years of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, imposed on the island’s people in 2016 by then President Barack Obama and a bipartisan U.S. Congress. Widely known as the Junta in Puerto Rico, it has veto power over all financial decisions by the colonial regime. Its purpose is to force working people in the U.S. colony to bear the burden of paying the $72 billion in government debt to wealthy U.S. bondholders.
The board made paying the debt the government’s priority, while the island’s housing and water and electrical systems deteriorated. According to the water department workers union, over the last period, the number of workers there was cut nearly in half. It’s estimated that some 60% of water for homes and businesses in Puerto Rico is lost because of unrepaired leaks in the system.
U.S. rulers impose Junta
“The Junta Fiscal is one of the most tangible expressions of Puerto Rico’s colonial oppression,” Ben Ramos, from the Pro-Libertad Freedom Campaign, told the Militant. “In the last 10 years there’s been a consistent decline in services in Puerto Rico, an energy crisis, a water crisis, a privatization crisis, a remilitarization crisis. A lot of this comes from the demands of the Junta.”
“We know that the financial board is a fundamental part of the crisis,” Eric Ramos, a leader of the New York chapter of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, said at the march.
Paul Mailhot, Socialist Workers Party candidate for governor of New York, and campaign supporters participated in the march, carrying signs saying, “Solidarity! Workers in Puerto Rico and U.S. fight together! Independence for Puerto Rico! End U.S. blockade of Cuba!”