ORGANO TEORICO

DEL M.LN.

LUCHALONG LIVE THE HEROIC

PUERTO RICANPRISONERS OF WAR!

•BEYOND SABANA SEGA

•ON THE PRIMARIES

• ARMED STRUGGLE

PALESTINE • IRELAND50$

BOOKS AND LITERATURE AVAILABLE

Puerto Rican Nationalism: A Reader - English .$5.00By Jose E. Lopez - 1^77 - First Edition - 218 pages

A collection of v.rorks which include the most importantoriginal material available in English about the Nation-alist Party of Puerto Rico. Introductory note on thehistorical development of United States imperialism inPuerto Rico.

Trilateral Commission: The New U.S. Imperialist ''-'oriel Strategy. .$3.00By M.LiK. Political Studies Commission - English197° - First Edition - 8̂ 4- pages

A tonic which has had little analysis, but which isessential to understand in order to program for theconing decade of the 80's.

Jisarm the Police or Arm the People - English. .................. -">2,50By Colorado Committee Against Repression

An analysis of the growth of repression against Chicano/I'.Iexicano, Puerto Rican and other 3rd ':orld people in the

.... . U.S. (i.e. police, F.B.I, and Grand. Jury regression)

Toward Feoplo's- P'ar for Independence and Socialism 'inPuerto Rico: In Defense of Armed Struggle - English,', ,...,...,.. '32.50By Interim Committee for a New Puerto Rican So'Iidari t.y Movement

Phf> book contains speeches and articles by leadinrforces' in the revolutionary oublic Independencemovement ac well as statements and communiquesfrom the armed clandestine organizations.

***L-:: ""stria Radical - onaniBh.,. o . 0 . . . . .*,.. . 0..... i ........... .$^.00P'or Juan A. , ton io C o r r e t j e r - ' 978 - Cuarta Edicion - 150 ugc.

***La Lucha Por La Independencia de Puerto Rico - Sranich.. . « . . ,6>3.00Por Juan Antonio Cor re t j s r - 1977 - Quinta Edic ion - 1^9 Pgs.

***These two books \vill :;:oon be available in Englisli.

I would like to help in the development of

REBELD1A. Enclosed is a donation of $

NAME:

ADDRESS:

CITY: STATE ZIP

SEND TO: REBELDIA 2520 North Lincoln Ave.

BOX 233

. Chicago, Illinois 60614

Heed The Message Of FALNThe following was taken from the Milwaukee

Courier Sat. March 29, 1980, on the editorial page.HEED THE MESSAGE OF FALNAs supporters of the Puerto Rican Nationalist

movement for the complete liberation of the islandfrom United States authority, we see a valuable les-son for the Black community in this week's interven-tion into the campaign offices of Republican hope-ful George Bush and President Cater.

Just as the Southern Africa freedom fighters inZimbabwe, Azania, Namibia ,Mozambique and An-gola see armed struggle as the only way to win free-dom against an intransigent white force, FALN, theArmed Forces of National Liberation , sees directassaults against the system as the only way toward aliberated Puerto Rico. They recognize, just as theirAfrican brothers and sisters, that to wait on an opp-ressive system to move its gears and perhaps grantindependence somewhere down the line and eventhen with strings attached, is a process that leavesthose suffering now with no relief- and little hopefor the future.

While the Black community ponders over whoto support in upcoming November presidentialelection, many already announcing their backing ofan incumbent who has failed in more instances tolive up to the promises that garnered him 92 percentof the Black vote in 1976, the Puerto Rican nationa-lists spend their time taking direct action againstthose people who, because of the ever-present theoryof white man's burden, feel they can speak for ThirdWorld peoples. They see no hope in relying on elec-tions to gain freedom and emphasize that feeling inNew York in Bush's office and in Chicago at theCarter-Mondale headquarters. No one was hurt andthe message was left loud and clear.

Such action was also taken up by Black Libera-tion forces in the 1960's. Witness the takeover of theCalifornia court by Jonathan Jackson and companyin 1970. But those times seem to be far off for theBlack community in 1980, despite the continuing

Despite relatively little change for the masses ofBlack people in this country, the traditional Blackleadership continues to rely on living within the poli-tical system as a means of winning the small conce-ssions they see as adequate. The "We Shall Over-come mentalty lingers sickeningly on. Someday isthe promise.

Someday is here for the FALN, or they will dietrying. They realize that to leave four of their mostprominent comrades languishing in prison cells sincethe early 1950's tells that the system does not carefor them and is nowhere near ready to concede totheir demands. Despite Jimmy Carter's release ofthe four Puerto Rican Nationalists last year, the lib-eration forces for island freedom recognize that suchtrivial matters along the course of liberation are mutewithout the final verdict of "freedom now'"areality.

UBERAOON NACIONAL PUERTORfc lQUENA

Why do we as a people fail to see the message inthe work of the FALN and even decry their methodsAlthough it is regrettable that people have died as aresult of FALN liberation activities, we cannotforget that America is all to willing to kill people toget its own way. Witness Mark Clark and FredHampton. Witness Dr Martin Luther King. WitnessMalcolm. Witness Vietnam...

While current Black leadership poo-poos the factthat none of the presidential candidates felt it impor-tant enough to come before the Black political con-vention in Richmond late last month, they accept itand go on announce their support for four moreyears of the same. They have lied down in the heavyfire of status quo and the rightward American turn.

The message written on the walls of the campaignheadquarters,words of liberation for Puerto Rico,could very well have been freedom talk for Blackpeople. Sadly, they were not.

We did not accept slavery. Why do we todayaccept neoslavery? "fr

ContentsLONG LIVE HEROIC POW'S ...... 3

CHICANO/MEXICANO IN VIEQUES.

BEYOND SABANA SECA 5

PALESTINE ............................... 6

PRIMARIES ................. . . . ...... 7

IRELAND... 9

ARMED STRUGGLE 13

SUPPORT THE Freedom FightersDe Pie y En Lucha

LONG LIVE THE HEROICPRISONERS OF WAR!

On April 4, 1980, police in Evanston, 111. captured11 Puerto Rican men and women who they accusedof being members of the FALN (Fuerzas Armadas deLiberacion Nacional) a Puerto Rican armed clandes-tine organization.

These eleven Puerto Ricans, 5 women and 6 men,are now facing various state charges ranging from autotheft to possession of weapons. The most seriouscharge is against Haydee Beltran de Torres, who isbeing charged with murder. Haydee is being accusedof bombing the Mobil Oil Company in N.Y. where oneperson was killed. She is presently being held in theNew York Metropolitan Correctional Center and willbe tried on May 19, 1980. The other 10 who are stillin Chicago will also be tried on May 19, 1980.

The 11 have taken the position that they arePrisoners of War and that they do not recognize thejurisdiction of the U.S. courts or any domestic legalproceedings. In their position the 11 have put forththat they must be turned over to a neutral countryand tried by an international court.

The Position of the 11 is consistent with theposition taken by the Five Nationalists Lolita Lebron,Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores, Oscar Collazo, andAndres Figueroa, who were the longest held Prisonersof War in the Western hemisphere. These five freedomfighters refused to recognize any type of domesticlegalistic methods to gain their release.

William Guillermo Morales, who was the firstperson to be captured and accused of belonging tothe FALN; was also the first person to refuse to makeany type of legal defense, stating that he was a Prisonerof War. William was convicted of various explosivesand weapons charges. He was sentenced to 89 years injail, but escaped in May of 1979.

Following the examples already set by WilliamMorales, Angel Rodriguez Cristobal, member of theCentral Committee of the Liga Socialista Puertor-riquena, and one of the 21 people arrested May 21,1979, for demonstrating against the U.S. Navy's useofVieques for target practice, the eleven took the P.O.W.position and refused to recognize the authority of theU.S. courts. Angel was sentenced to six months fortrespassing on military property and sent to a federalprison in Tallahassee, Florida where he was assassinatedby government agents.De Pie y En Lucha

The position of P.O.W. is based on the fact thatPuerto Rico was militarily invaded in 1898 by theUnited States and that since then Puerto Rico has beenan occupied nation at war with the U.S. invaders; thattheir imperialist invasion and continual occupationgoes against all the laws of humanity and nations. Assuch, the task of ending their occupation falls uponthe people of the occupied nation, in this case thePuerto Rican people. The right to free itself by anymeans necessary is recognized by all freedom lovingnations of the world, and negated only by the invader.

Resolution 2621 (XXV) approved by the GeneralAssembly of the United Nations on October 12, 1970,stated that colonialism in all its forms and manifes-

Resolution 2621 (XXV) approved by the GeneralAssembly of the United Nations on October 12, 1970,stated that colonialism in all its forms and manifes-tations is a crime, constituting a violation of theCharter of the United Nations. Puerto Rico wasofficially recognized a colony of the-United States bythe United Nations on September 12, 1978.

In its Declaration of the Granting of Independenceto Colonial Countries and Peoples (Resolution 1514(XV), the U.N. states that "It is the inalienable rightof colonial people to struggle by all means at theirdisposal against colonial powers which suppress theiraspirations for freedom and independence." OtherUnited Nations resolutions also reaffirm the right ofevery colonized people to struggle for independence,even when they should resort to armed struggle.Resolution 2852, approved December 20, 1971 andResolution 3103, approved December 12, 1973,established that all particpants in Liberation Move-ments struggling for their independence and self-deter-mination when captured shall be treated according tothe stipulations made in the .Geneva Convention.

The United States refuses to accept any of theU.N. resolutions or the position of Prisoners of WarInstead the United States has proceeded to applydomestic criminal laws to try the eleven. Domesticlaws that are specifically designed to protect UnitedStates interests at home. As such, any so called courtproceedings have a pre-determined outcome. It is thesevery same laws which the U.S. uses to justify thecolonization of Puerto Rico. For this reason the elevenhave refused to make any defense what so ever. Toparticipate in these farsical court hearings, would be tosay that justice can be found in the U.S. courts. Thelaws of a capitalist country are made to facilitate ex-ploitation not eliminate it.

The nature and character of the U.S. judicialsystem has already been exposed by the occurences atthe preliminary hearings, jk

,. Cent, on Page 13

Chicano/Mexicano? in ViequesAs members of the Chicano/Mejicano commission

of the M.L.N. it is our responsibility to respond tothe political situation in regards to the Island ofVieques and the whole question of Independence andSocialism for Puerto Rico. In the last four years therehas been forged, in the heat of revolutionary struggle,an unbreakable unity between the Chicano/Mejicanopeople and the Puerto Rican people. That unity cameabout as the result of the repression unleashed by theU.S. government against the Puerto Rican Indepen-dence movement and its closest allies, the Chica.no/Mejicano people. As many people already know, in1977, Federal Grand Juries were convened in NewYork City and Chicago, Illinois. At that time theF.B.I., which is an instrument of U.S. Imperialism,tried unsucessfully to break the unity of Chicano/Mejicano and Puerto Rican people by subpoenaingthree Chicano/Mejicanos; two men and one women totestify before the Grand Jury. All three refused tocooperate with the U.S. government's attempt todivide the Chicano/Mejicano peoples and Puerto Ri-can peoples struggle. As a result of their refusal totestify, Pedro Archuleta spent eleven months in Fe-deral prison in New York and Chicago; Maria Cuetospent 10l/2 months in Federal Prison in New York; Ri-cardo Romero spent 4 months in Federal Prison inChicago.

The U.S. government has a great fear of this unityand has made every attempt to destroy it to the extentof harassing Chicano Mejicano political activists withthe FBI visiting their families, jobs, and threateningthem with subpeonas if they refuse to cooperate withthem. Also by visiting post offices and taking theirmail and photographing it; by tapping their telephonesfor periods of nine months and in a particular smalltown in New Mexico, they went to the extent of tap-ping all the public telephones in the town. As a resultof this repression the National Committee AgainstRepression in the U.S. was created; composed ofChicano/Mejicano and Puerto Rican people. TheNational Committee Against Repression in the U.S.has been intensifying its work around the .question ofREPRESSION in MEXICO working with the NationalCommittee there to expose to the world that thereare 600 political activists and revolutionaries in Mexicowho have disappeared, and over 3000 politicalprisoners in Mexico.

The latest ploy that the U.S. government has usedto try to confuse and destroy the unity between theChicano/Mejicano and Puerto Rican people centersaround the Island of Vieques; by using a so calledChicano/Mejicano who in reality is a vende Patria anda scout for U.S. Imperialism, Alex de la Cerda toattack the Puerto Rican Independence Movement.From the beginning, when he was appointed to headthe U.S. Navy community relations with the fisher-man of Vieques, we knew why a Chicano/Mejicano

De Pie y En Lucha

from San Antonio, Texas was picked for the job. TheU.S. government had other plans for him. When Alexde la Cerda was arrested for the bombing of a lawyerscollege and learned to be part of an anti-communistgroup our suspicions were confirmed.

The F.B.I., C.I.A., also the Army and the Navyintelligence have a big recruitment drive in the U.S.for Spanish speaking people -be they Chicano/Meji-cano or Puerto Rican. They are needed by theseagencies for intelligence work in Central America, theCarribean, South America, and Mexico. We wouldlike to set the record straight. Why did the U.S.government expose one of its agents, in this case, dela Cerda, by arresting him. It is obvious to us that theyare trying to create disillusion and confusion by usingone of their Chicano/Mejicano lackies and pitting himagainst the Puerto Rican Independence Movement sothat the Puerto Ricans will get the understanding thatthe Chicano/Mejicano people are against Puerto RicanIndependence and Socialism.

Alex de la Cerda is not part of the Chicano/Me-jicano struggle; he is not part of the millions of uswho struggle for reunification of our homelnad. Since1848, we, the Southwest, part of U.S. in the states ofTexas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado,have been an internal colony of the U.S. Our peoplesuffer from racism, unemployment, drug addicition,loss of our lands, and police repression. Last year over130 Chicano/Mejicanos were killed by the police inthe U.S. Alex de la Cerda is an enemy of the PuertoRican people and is a traitor and enemy of the Chicano/Mejicano people. WE CONDEMN his actions in PuertoRico. We completely understand that he is a lackeyand a scout for U.S. IMPERIALISM, if

BEYONDSABANA SEGA

Juan Antonio Corretjer

REPRINT - EL NUEVO DIA - JAN. 11, 1980In my constant determination to explain our peo-

ple to myself and at the same time to them, a factoras important as is revolutionary clandestinity occup-ies my attention in a very particular way. With thismotive I return to the violent skirmish of SabanaSeca. I want to explain how it is concerned withsomething more-and even this would already be agreat deal-something more than a victorious episodeof the revolutionary armed forces in the military his-tory of Puerto Rico. Because its political and militaryimportance goes very much further than those thirtylightning seconds of concentrated fire on the morningof December 3, 1979. Let's see.

September 23,1979 the clandestine organizations,Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN) op-erating in the U.S., the Fuerzas Armadas de Resisten-cia Popular (FARP), the Ejercito Popular Boricua(EPB), popularly known as the Macheteros; and theOrganization of Volunteers of the Puerto Rican Re-volution (OVRP) signed and circulated at Lares a"First Joint Communique." It was the only unitaryact produced in the "altar of the Homeland" thatday. The only one, since the call of the recently liber-ated Four Nationalists was lamentably unheard by allexcept for the signers of the Communique. It was alsothe first public unitary act of the four clandestine lib-eration organizations, even though earlier the OVRPappeared in military parts of actions carried out sepa-rately by the EPB and the FARP. October 18,1979,the four organizations operated together in bombingtargets of the U.S. Navy in both Puerto Rico and inthe U.S. The communique of Lares was authenticatedin action.

So the enormous importance of the ambush atSabana Seca rests upon its persistent testimony to aunity on the rise. When for so many years the majorvociferation in all independentist sectors has beenfor unity, when the major reproach against the inde-pendentists is around their disunity, the clandestineorganizations appear exemplifying unity by deeds-and what deeds! The -preaching without practice ofthe rest and the reproach without alternatives of theothers.

This consistent unitary process in the develop-ment among the most important elements of indepen-dentism wifl reflect itself increasingly in the dispersedforces of legal independentism. Because, being dis-persed but not disunified, they possess an instinctivedesire for unity upon which extralegal revolutionaryactivity will act magnetically.

This is the maximum importance of the unitaryexample of the clandestine forces. And this is also themajor motive for the hatred and resentment withwhich they are hated and resented by the enemies ofindependence.De Pie y En Lucha

The armed struggle is the highest of the forms ofstruggle. With this classification "the most elevated"one wishes to say that it is the most difficult. Clearlyit is. It requires, among other things, an ideologicalformation much stronger than that of the legal strug-gle. It requires inviolable discipline. In essence tri-umph depends on such an inseparable relationship be-tween ideology and discipline. Polemic encompassesall the sciences, but they will be effectively promotedif they are sustained by these two poles. This meansnot only material triumph, in the logic of actions inrelation to how they develop in military time andspace. It is also, above all, the triumph of principles.With this harmonious relationship, politico-militarydirection will be assured in relation to democraticcentralism; the most delicate factors of the armed re-volutionary process will be balanced and it will besecure against the primacy of militarism.

The politico-military action, of Sabana Seca de-monstrated a coordination of factors attempted pre-viously in operations divided among some of the or-ganizations participating on this occasion: the logis^tical operation of Campo Alegre in Manati, for exam-ple, mounted by the EPB and the OVRP; and that oflast October 18, which united in an internationaloperation the national vanguards and their rearguardin the United States.

. .: .-.--- -.:

The time taken in arriving at Sabana Seca seemsto reveal to us a laborious unitary development still inprocess. The years in which they have expressedthemselves publicly in their communiques, the stylemanifested in their operations, pointed towards dif-ferent origins, both of class and of politics and ide-ology. This difference revealed itself, as is natural,most notably between the FALN and its equivalentsin Puerto Rico, but also among the operatives in thecountry of Puerto Rico. The 'very development ofeach of them seems different, perhaps unequal amongthem because of the distinct experience and possibleformation of their leaders, in order to climb labori-ously to the search, through praxis, for unitary ac-tions and through discussion to the notion of unity asa necessity in the philosophical sense of the word.But this unitary process is incomplete. It still remainsto be known now far away from appearing togetherwith them is the other clandestine organization, theComandos Revolucionarios del Pueblo (CRP).

Cont. on Page 15

PALESTINEREPRINT - PFLP BULLETIN - MAR. - APR. 1980

The Syrian regime's decision to regroup its troops in Lebanon,withdrawing them from the Beirut area, was announced at the end ofJanuary. This provoked a response from all parties to.the conflict inLebanon and served to accentuate their present positions.

The Syrian decision was motivated by two factors:

First, expectations concerning an Israeli military operation throughLebanon to strike Syria. Accordingly, the troops should be regroupedto insure Syrian defense against such an attack.

Second, Syrian refusal to have its forces used as a security net for theLebanese regime's maneuvers.

The Sarkis regime has always functioned in close understandingwith the fascist Lebanese Front, but its own weakness has dictated arelatively cautious policy. However, in recent months, with there-building of its army, the regime has begun to assert its pro-fascistpolicies more forcefully. Under this cover, the Lebanese Front hasbecome more aggressive in its demand for Syrian withdrawal and theend of the Resistance's armed presence in Lebanon. The fascist forceshave become bolder in their military provocations to further theseaims.

Initially, the regime responded to the Syrian decision by declaringthat it would deploy the army in Beirut and other areas vacated bythe Syrian forces. Moreover, Sarkis took the opportunity to declarethe regime's rejection of all armed presence other than the Army, theADF and the International Security Forces. The Lebanese Frontcalled for army deployment to replace the ADF.

However, certain realities imposed themselves. The LebanesePatriotic Movement clearly rejected army deployment for internalsecurity purposes. This firm stand reminded the regime that its armyis not yet strong enough to withstand a head-on confrontation withthe LPM, and its ally, the Palestinian Resistance.

Thus, the Syrian decision served to confront the regime with itsown unresolved crisis. Official Lebanese-Syrian negotiations began inDamascus, resulting in Syria freezing implementation of the measuresit had announced.

The Zionist-Imperialist Response

Carter responded by accusing Syria of stirring up trouble inLebanon in order to divert from the Afghanistan events. Begin warnedof planned 'Syrian aggression' and loudly renewed the "Zionist pledgeto protect 'the Christian minority' in Lebanon, by which he means thefascists. We know this rhetoric all too well. As history has repeatedlydemonstrated, such proclamations are customarily issued to justifyimperialist-Zionist aggression.

In fact, Zionist support to the fascist forces is being stepped up,with the frequent presence of Israeli troops and armed vehicles in theborder strip of South Lebanon. Heavy Israeli support has always beennecessary for maintenance of Saad Haddad's enclave; this need hasbecome more acute recently in light of the success of the Lebanese-Palestinian joint forces' operations against the Zionist-fascist occupa-tion in the South. The Zionist-fascist forces responded to the situationwhich arose with the Syrian decision, by resuming almost dailybombardment of the camps and villages of South Lebanon thismonth.

We can see that the reactions from various sides indicate no basicchange in the positions of the forces involved. On the one hand,Syrian refusal to go along with the official Lebanese maneuversindicates a^strengthening of the ties between Syria, the LPM and thePalestinian Resistance. On the other hand, there is the continuedincapacity of the regime to re-establish the Lebanon desired byimperialism and the local comprador; as of now this regime merelymaintains the official framework, in which the Zionist and fascistforces can continue their aggression.

Exactly how and when this Zionist-fascist aggression is carried outdepends to a great degree on what suits their source of support, i.e.imperialism. Implementation of the imperialist plans for the areaentail dealing a crushing blow to the Resistance in Lebanon. To thispurpose in the past, the fascists have ignited a civil war and 'Israel' haslaunched a major invasion into Lebanon. Both failed to achieve thedesired results, but remain as options to be launched again at thesuitable time.

The combination of developments in Iran and Afghanistan,coinciding with the current dead-lock for the Camp David plan,concerning 'autonomy' have brought imperialism's dilemma in ourarea to a head. The overall reactivation of the mass movement meansan increasing number of contradictions, which imperialism is unableto solve to its advantage. The US's latest initiative to overcome thisdilemma is renewal of the cold war in the name of supporting Islam.Precisely this campaign gives Arab reaction a convenient banner underwhich to carry on its cooperation with US-imperialism. A major Israeliaggression at this time would create confusion in this campaign. Itwould embarrass Arab reaction before the masses. It might jolt the'normalization' being enacted on the Israeli-Egyptian front, ratherthan extending this normalization to other fronts as is planned.

Thus, the most probable development is sustained aggression onthe South of Lebanon and localized clashes in other areas. This wouldaim to wear down the Resistance, the LPM and their mass base, whileimperialism seeks new avenues on the road to a political settlement. Inthis context, we can also expect continuous provocations of internalunrest in Syria and intensified pressure on Syria from Arab reaction.

Although the confrontation in Lebanon may continue on a levelshort of all-out war, the situation is nonetheless dangerous. A highdegree of political and military alertness is required of the LPM andthe Resistance: to redouble efforts to protect the masses fromcontinuing Zionist-fascist aggression and to liberate the occupiedborder strip which facilitates this aggression; to consolidate the unitywhich until now has prevented the enemy from crushing the positionsof people's power established in Lebanon.

The LPM has taken the correct position in its stand on the newsituation which arose, by rejecting army deployment until it is in thecontext of Lebanese action to confront the Zionist danger and with aclear definition of commitment to the Palestinian cause and therelation with Syria. It is in harmony with this position that thePalestinian Resistance can protect its armed presence and mobilize themasses in Lebanon in a continuation of the long-term war againstimperialism, Zionism and reaction.

This issue was sent to press Feb. 23, 1980.

De Pie Y En Lucha

ON THE PRIMARIES1. INTRODUCTION:

The Republican and Democratic Party Prima-ries were held in February and March, respectively,in Puerto Rico for the first time in the 82-year his-tory of U.S. colonial domination over our homeland.Without a doubt, the primaries represent a consolida-tion of the annexationist base. They were an impor-tant step toward the liquidation of the Puerto Ricannationality in the juridical sense of the word, and afirm step towards one of the bloodiest chapters yet tobe written in the annals of human history. No a-mount of words can wipe away or divert the inexora-ble course to civil war which the United States ispushing in Puerto Rico. No State Department study,no newspaper article, no resolution in the U.S.Con-gress can explain away the immense suffering whichU.S. policy over the last 82 years is heaping on thepeople of the U.S. and Puerto Rico. No warning bythe most humane petitioner will change the courseupon which U.S. capital has embarked in relation toPuerto Rico. The toll in lives will be great.

This is perhaps the real significance of the pri-maries just held in Puerto Rico. And because it is sosignificant a development, and so much subject tomisinterpretation and miscalculation, it should beplaced in perspective for all those who have a genu-ine interest in what has happened. Without preten-ding to see it all, or know it all, we will attemptto answer the two fundamental questions raised bythe primaries; what have the Puerto Rican peoplesaid, and what are the prospects for the November,1980 colonial elections.

We will also, in the course of this short analy-sis, try to show why armed struggle is the only se-rious answer left to the Puerto Rican liberation move-ment, and why the colonial system is trying despe-rately to postpone the confrontation, or at least de-fuse the explosive situation in Puerto Rico until it canmobilize the masses of the Puerto Rican people tosupport their annexationist plans.

There are some background factors to considerin why annexationism has become so virulent in thelast decade. These are: the potentially large depositsof petroleum in the Puerto Rican coastal shelf, themineral wealth in its subsoil of such strategic warmaterials as nickel and copper, the economic valueof its consumer market which is totally controlledby U.S. capital, its strategic location in the Carrib-bean for U.S. political aand military interests, and fi-nally the arrogant inflexibility of U.S. foreign and do-mestic policy.

The potential petroleum deposits in the coastalshelf of Puerto Rico are estimated in the tens of bil-lions of barrels. The U.S., however, is not in a hurryto exploit it. Politically the issue is explosive, be-cause it could generate a strong movement for inde-pendence within the ranks of the autonomists. Eco-De Pie y En Lucha

nomically, it is worth more untapped to U.S. capital,because its value increases as the world's resource isdepleted. Nickel in Puerto Rico's subsoil is estimatedat 45 per cent of the world's total available to theU.S. Nickel is essential to armor and metallurgy.Copper is to be found worth nearly $100 billion.It is a strategic material in reserve. Exploitable quan-tities of other basic metals are also to be found.

The Puerto Rican economy generates between$5 and $7 billion in profits to U.S. corporations year-ly. The consumer credit debt is well above $10 bil-lion, and the worth of U.S. capital investment inPuerto Rico surpasses the $21 billion mark.Puerto Rico sits astride the Caribbean and Atlanticshipping lanes, and has been used as a major deploy-ment center for the U.S. military against Caribbeanand Central American targets.

Annexationism, then, is the principal means forsecuring such an important bastion of U.S. capitaland military interests.

To guarantee their continued hold over PuertoRico, the U.S. allows a minimal political colonialstructure to exist, with a limited number of judicial,fiscal, and political-legislative powers. These powersare circumscribed by various U.S. government agen-cies, among them: Congress, the President, the U.S.Supreme Court and courts of appeal, the U.S. JusticeDepartment, the National Security Agency, the PostalService, the U.S. Department of the Interior, theTreasury, State, Customs, etc., etc.

At any one time, and on any one fiscal, legisla-tive or juridical matter, each and any of these agen-cies can overrule or disregard anything decided bythe Puerto Rican people or its elected officials andtheir appointees. This is done routinely often. TheU.S. capital and legislative and judicial stranglehold inPuerto Rico is such that the life and decision of everyPuerto Rican, voluntary and involuntary, is deter-mined-indeed, predetermined!—by some agency orcorporation in the U.S. Puerto Rico is a large reserva-tion!

The electoral system, and the elections they en-gender, must be seen within the confines of this colo-nial reality we have outlined. This is the principalreason why the use of the tactical consolidation pro-

Cont. on Page 8

PRIMARIEScess spoken and written about by Lenin on the usesof the legislative apparatus of the bourgeoisie in thebourgeois and semi-feudal nation state is so out of fo-cus when pseudo-marxists argue for it within the co-lonial framework. It is no insignificant matter thatthe colonialists have time and again amended coloniallaw in Puerto Rico to allow for the validation of anelectoral party of independence when that party haspolled so few votes it has failed to qualify as an elec-toral party. This is why the colonial newspaper ELMUNDO, in an editorial dated March 11, 1980, saidin welcoming the Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP)as the newest party to register for the Novem-ber, 1980 colonial elections: "We welcome the Socia-list Party and call upon it to maintain the debate atthe highest level and to watch, jointly with the otherpolitical parties, over the purity of the electoral pro-cess ..."

The editorial warned that "to create obstaclesfor the legal participation of a party (in the elections)is to push it in the direction of CLANDESTINE

ACTIVITIES which have such toxic results for thecountry." (See EL MUNDO, p. 8A, March 11, 1980).

This is the background against which the pri-maries were held— and against which all elections areheld in Puerto Rico. When the U.S. press and thepropagandists of the State Department argue that thestrength of the independence movement is only thesix per cent shown at the polls, their self deceit, andthe deceit perpetrated on the peoples of the worldand the U.S. public is so great as to make the comingagony of all our people a prolonged and painful one.

II. THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM:The electoral system in Puerto Rico under U.S.

colonialism is a continuation of the Puerto Rican le-gislative system which came into being with the Char-ter of Autonomy under Spain in 1897., To appreciatefully the significance of electoral politics in PuertoRico, we suggest the reader turn to Juan Antonio Co-rretjer's "La Lucha Por La Independencia" publishedby the Liga Socialista Puertorriquena (LSP).

Since the resumption of the electoral process in1900 (two years after the invasion of Puerto Rico,and immediately upon the closing of military admi-nistration), autonomists and staehooders have con-tended for colonial administrative power— either inalliance or as single political parties. The history ofthe electoral process is the history of the changingof power from the hands of one set of compradoresto those of another, from the hands of those whowould make Puerto Rico a state to those who wouldhave it retain a colonial status with a measure of au-tonomy, gDe Pie Y En Lucha

In 1940, with the rumble of war in the neardistance and the need to consolidate friendly govern-ments against internal and external subversion, theS. incarcerated the Nationalist leadership and en-trusted the colonial administration to a liberal auto-nomist administration. For the next twenty yearsthis autonomist administration repressed and op-pressed the people of Puerto Rico while facilitatingthe penetration and ultimate control of U.S. mono-poly capital. In 1968, U.S. capital thought it coulddispense with the autonomists and address the ques-tion of annexation. The natural resources of PuertoRico had come to the attention of colonialists. Therediscovery of Puerto Rico's political and militarysignificance in the world game of chess had becomean important item on the agenda.

That year, 1968, Puerto Rico's richest compra-dor, Luis A. Ferre, became the governor of Puerto Ri-co under the banner of a new statehood party-thePartido Nuevo Progresista (New Progressive Party)-PNP. This party was organized out of the older anddiscredited Republican Statehood Party, which sincethe first decades of the U.S. invasion of Puerto Ricohad represented the interests of the latifundist agra-rian bourgeoisie. Now, under the PNP banner, theirsons-trained, schooled, and shaped in the U.S.-took up the reins of U.S. interests in Puerto Rico.After losing the elections of 1972, the PNP cameback in 1976 with an aggressive and sophisticatedannexationist strategy which threatens to drivePuerto Rico to civil war.

The autonomists, once a reformist partywith social progressive tendencies, has held powerin four of the last twelve years.

The first independence electoral party wasformed in 1947 out of a large group of lawyers andcivil servants from the autonomist party^PPD) whohad become disenchanted with that party's growingrejection of independence. It has gone to electionsevery four years despite three elections prior to 1972,in which it failed to get enough votes to remain offi-cially an electoral party. In the wake of eachthe legislature had to lower the per cent of votersrequired to re-register the party, in order to have theindependence option rejected at the polls,for U.S.and international consumption. Since 1972, undera new leadership, it has held steadily at about100,000 votes.

More recently, the Puerto Rican Socialist Party(PSP) has opted for an electoral policy following in-creased repression of its rank and file in direct pro-portion to the increase in armed action by urban gue-rrillas in Puerto Rico. Its influence in the electoralprocess is so negligible that it cannot be statisticallymeasured, and its policy of "using the elections tobroaden the socialist base among the masses" is sounintelligible that it is having difficulty explainingit to its own party membership.

Cont. on Page 10

IRELANDIRELAND: 32 COUNTiES IN STRUGGLEby Revolutionary Struggle, Ireland, 1979

Section 1. 32 Counties—Divided and Dominated

A. Background analysis

The 32 Counties of Ireland are one single socialformation. *The political separation of the North Eas-tern part of Ireland (the six counties of Armagh, An-trim, Deny, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone) from the26 Counties of the south is an imperialist partitionimposed by British rule for the last 60 years.

This partition divides the political structuresand correspondingly the political position and situ-ation of all the social classes of the island. This di-vision is primarily the result of the defeat of the po-pular forces in the Civil War of 1919— 22 of whichfollowed the Easter Rising of 1916 and still consti-tutes the primary— the essential—political contradic-tion of the social formation.

But inside this division, the 4^ million Irishpeople live and produce under capitalist relations..Capitalism is the DOMINANT mode of production—though pre-capitalist forms of production still per-sist in certain parts of the country...especially thewest and north-west. All struggle for a better lifeis therefore, essentially, a struggle against the ruleof capital...whether the people who are strugglingare conscious of it or not.

This dominant rule of capital has historicallyassumed very particular national forms. This shows

itself in the structure of social classes as well as in theform that the restructuring of classes is taking underthe gigantic influx of international capital into thecountry over the last 15 to 20 years.

This particularity (the fact that capital is domi-nant in a non-unified social formation) is well reflec-ted in the deep historical and political divisions ofthe various social classes. This is evident in their high-ly asymmetric inter relation of forces and especiallyin the form of the power of the state(s). While thestate contains classic bourgeois democratic appearan-ces, it is, in fact, a state with exceptional features.

This contradictory aspect of the state is the"other side" of another important feature of the Irishsituation—the weakness of the bourgeoisie. The ow-ners and controllers of capital in Ireland are weak—primarily because they are divided. This division isdeeper than the usual contradictions between frac-tions of the bourgeoisie in any country.

The divisions which criss cross the Irish bour-geoisie have wide historical roots which spread acrosseconomic, political, cultural, religious and social as-pects. The essential source of that division was the

A historically and geographically determinedterritory where various modes of production coexist.De Pie y En Lucha

desire of the major part of the dominant class tobuild an independent and sovereign capitalist economyunfettered by colonial domination ; thus, the full par-ticipation of the bourgeois class in the "independentwave" starting in the late 19th century. A smallerpart of the bourgeois class— mainly situated in the sixcounties— chose to continue its rule in close collabo-ration with British Capital. That "choice" of theUnionist bourgeoisie (ideologically, culturally, politi-cally and economically determined) still bedevils theRule of capital in the 32 Counties as a whole.

It is their choice, and the consequent capacityto draw some sections of workers as well as middlestrata into their political projects, which constitutesthe heart of the national question. Choice, no doubt,fanned by the imperialist interests of the British Stateup to very recently.

Thus has developed the very peculiarly nationalsituation in Ireland; a situation in which the majorpart of capital— in which international capital is nowdominant part— see economic and political unifica-tion as a desirable project. An ever diminishing andweakening part of the Unionist bourgeiosie— allied toa small fraction of British capital— see partition andthe continuation of British rule as essential to theirsurvival ...... which, of course, it is!

The effect of those divisions among the bour-geoisie oh the Irish masses provide the background tothe highly explosive and charged situation of perma-nent war; 2,000 dead, prisons full to the brim, re-pression and all the bitterness and division which re-sults from a partial war in a small country.

It is in this context that international capital ispouring into the country, north and south. It is inter-national capital that has shaped and moulded theeconomic, political and social life of the people tosuit its needs and interests.

B. Products of DominationAs a result of this domination, the standard of

living of working people has been shattered over thelast 7/8 years by a crisis which is the direct effect ofthe domination of the country by international capi-tal. British, American and German capital EXPORTtheir crisis into the Irish economy. The 32 countiesprovides one outlet for this crisis of overproduction.Out-of-date technology is exported, outlawed pro-duction processes are imposed on the 32 Counties ascapital desperately tries to resolve its crisis. The everdeeper penetration of international capital has de-formed and disfigured the economy, politics andculture. Irish children are "educated" by Kojak, TheProfessionals, Charlie's Angels. Both north and south,work, leisure, education, culture, media, press, foodhabits, transport, environment, and language ......scarcely any area of everyday life has been left un-molested by the terror of capital.

Cont. on Page 12

PRIMARIESNo one questions the fact that consciously or

unconsciously, the abstention in colonial elections isvery high. The percentage which abstains consciouslyis thought to be small. It has never been scientificallymeasured. But the abstention rate today stands atabout 300,000 out of 1.2 million active voters; and atone-million out of the 2 million elibible to vote.

Such is the electoral system in Puerto Rico.The issues and names change periodically, but thesubstance of status and objectives remain the sameyear after year. As the consciousness of the massesgrows, the electoral boycott-abstention, becomes themost significant form of expression against the elec-toral system.

JIBARO SIIII. THE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES:

The transformation of the statehood move-ment's strategy for annexing our homeland to theU. S. to facilitate the exploitation of our people with-in an internationally recognized legal framework can-not depend on support from the masses, which havehistorically rejected it. Lacking support, annexation-ists turn to the transformation of the national politi-cal, cultural and economic infrastructure into vehiclesof Americanization. One of the cornerstones of thatstrategy is to supplant the traditional electoral par-ties and colonial elections into U.S. electoral partiesand U.S. elections- bringing about a de-facto annex-ation. The annexations say that statehood "will bephased in" over a 10-year period should they winthe 1980 colonial elections. The first step in thatdirection were the primaries; the second step are theNovember colonial elections. The following seriesof steps are the consolidation of power over the colo-nial institutions in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Ricancommunity institutions in the U.S.: the referendumon the status issue in 1981, and the building-processof linkages with U.S. political, cultural and economicinstitutions over the 1980-1990 period.

The recent primaries were both a polling ofstatehood strength in Puerto Rico and a measure ofwhat numbers of people could be mobilized to sup-port the establishment of U.S. parties in Puerto Rico.The statehood strength, for our purposes, could bemeasured by the number of votes cast in the Republi-can primaries-200,000. The integral and peripheralstrength of the statehood movement stands at thenumber of votes obtained by the Jimmy Carter pri-mary vote-400,000 approximately. The mobilizationcapacity for electoral participation within the U.S.parties framework amounts to slightly above 800,000out of an electorate of 2.2 million.

To measure the strength of the assimilationisttendency in a real sense, however, we must look atthe portion which went to the primaries and votedfor President Carter, whose committment to state-hood was stated over and over again. The Carter votewas about 453,000-including in it about 70,000 to100,000 persons who had voted already in the Re-publican party primary the month before and whowere mobilized to vote a second time by the PNP.The real Carter vote may very well have been be-tween 350,000 and 375,000-which is the real strengthof the PNP in Puerto Rico. If this is true, then thePNP strength within the voting Puerto Rican electo-rate of 1.2 million is approximately one-third of thetotal vote.

The autonomist vote for Kennedy, whichturned out almost fully, was about 425,000. Thisrepresents about one-third of the electorate. What,was surprising was the rate of abstentions. Some'400,000 abstained. This too represents about one-third of the electorate. If we follow the traditionaland conventional measurements offered to us by poll-sters and electoral experts in Puerto Rico, then two-thirds of the 1.2 million electors rejected statehood,while 400.000 voters heeded the call by the PuertoRican independence movement and patriotic forcesto boycott the primaries.

De Pie y En Lucha

The colonial administration and U.S. expertsmonitoring the process had said that the primarieshad a plebiscitary character-that is, that the pri-maries should give them a clear indication of wherethe Puerto Rican voters (one-third of the populationand one-half of all those eligible to vote) stood on thestatus issue. Forgetting that one million who do notvote and who have not been polled or measured inany way as to why they do not vote, we'll find thatthe statehood drive is stalled at the mass level andthat the electoral system in Puerto Rico may notprove useful to U.S. capital as a vehicle for annexation.

One of the clear indications of the primaries isthat the base of the electoral organzations have notchanged significantly since 1968, and that the addi-tional hundreds of thousands of voters since thenhave either preferred to abstain or have become inde-pendentists. The electoral base of the three principalparties (the PSP does not measure in per cent becauseof their negligible voter appeal) may be said to standat about 400,000 for each of the PPD and PNP, whilethe PIP counts with a base of about 100,000. Thereis another 300,000 voters who either abstain, or votein very small numbers. Of these latter, all abstainedfrom the primaries. ^

10 Cont. on Page 14

Sabana Seca Communique

On the morning of the 3rdof December the joint forcesof the 'organizacion de Vol-untaries para la RevolucionPue r to r r i quena ' ( O V R P )(Organization of Volunteersfor the Puerto Rican Revo-lution), the 'Ejercito PopularBoricua' (EPB — Macheteros)(Boricua Popular Army) ,and the 'Fuerzas Armadfts de

Resistencia Popular' (FARP)(Armed Forces of PopularResistance) carried out a mili-tary action against the occu-pying Yankee military forcesthat operate in the "U.S.Naval Security Group Activ-ity" in the Barrio SabanaSeca, in the town of Toa Baja.

The aggressive imperialistenemies of our people havelately massacred two youngpatriots at Cerro Maravillaand very recently a youngfarmer and patriot, AngelRodriguez Cristobal, in thedungeon of the Federal Pri-son of Tallahassee, Florida.

The assassination of AngelRodriguez Cristobal was per-petrated by the Yankee Intel-ligence to intimidate our peo-ple and their leaders in a use-less attempt to make us ceaseour struggle. Instead of beingintimidated our people have

responded with shame andindignation.

The plot by the ColonialGovernment, the principalhangman in the assassina-tions at Cerro' Maravilla, thethe North American (\J.S.)Government, executioner ofAngel Rodriguez Cristobal isevident. Persisting in theirimperialist efforts -to perpetu-ate the control and exploita-tion of our people they try toparalyse the patriotic forcesin their revolutionary and lib-erating advance by using thepolitics of terror and repression.

T,he Yankee military strate-gists should not deceive them-selves. The blood of thePuerto Rican martyrs andpatriots will be revenged withthe blood of the Imperialists.The Yankee occupying forceswill be a target of the Patri-otic Fire every time that the

assassin hand of the Imper-ialist takes the life of a PuertoRican patriot. We warn theImperialists that they shouldrespect the life and security ofour prisoners according tothe Geneva Convention,otherwise they will be respon-sible for the irreversible con-sequences that will follow asa result of our people's popu-lar indignation.

The clandestine organiza-tions that subscribe to thisstatement are not playing atwar. We are prepared to takethis struggle to it's last con-sequences, "fr

For independence and soc-ialism!

Long Live Free Puerto Rico!

SUPPORT THEARMED

CLANDESTINEMOVEMENT!

POEMS FROM THE PRISONERS OF WAR

To Our Revolutionary Children TO FUTURE FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Children of our country,Children of armed struggle,always ready, always strong,soon your moment will come.

We strengthen youwith the rifle's seed;We now anxiously awaitthe fruits of victory.

We adore youidentical with our homeland;a t the same time we wait for youto bring us Liberty.

Tomorrow will be very lateThe people will not waitArise Borinquenitos,"w e have given the sign.

Children of our homeland,Sons and daughters of liberty,Never suffer, always laughing,and fooling the bourgeoisiethat cut short our joy.

Rise and stand proudfor it soon will be your timeto aid in the strugglethat will bring us our freedom!

We all have a responsibilityto work towards this goalsince it meansLife or death for our people!

Strengthen yourselvesand stand on sure groundand remember that it is in unitythat we will achieve victory!=

Learn to question what is around youand never take things for granted.Otherwise,you will remain ignorant of the truth.

We all have something to contributetoward our liberation,open your hearts and mindsand live as a true Borinqueno!

Free Puerto Rican Prisoners of WarDe Pie y En Lucha 11

IRELAND

At the economic level, domination means thecomplete uprooting of old traditional industries liketextiles, shoe and leather manufacture, food processingand ship building in the North. In their place, capitalimposes highly exploitative, high technology, capital-intensive "new" industries like drugs, chemicals, elec-tronics and synthetic textiles.

STC, SPS, ECCO, AKZO, SHELL, BP, TEXA-CO, PFIZER, ABBOTT, SYNTEX, ELI LILLY,EXXON, COURTAULDS, BURLINGTON, DIGITAL,ALCAN, ASAHI, SNIA, RENAULT, VW, FIAT,WESTINGHOUSE, TOYOTA, BAYER, and some"Irish" monopolies like SMURFITS, CEMENTROADSTONE, GULF, WATERFORD GLASS toge-ther with a number of semi-States share out to theIrish bourgeoisie a tiny fragment of their internationalproduction. And a tiny part of their internationalprofits. Already we are experiencing the cycle ofcapital rationalisation, as multinationals close down,lay off and make redundant thousands of workers.

Section 2. An Economic OverviewPolitical Effects

In the ghettoes, the people suffer severely inhousing, unemployment and inflation— the effectsof a worsening economic crisis. More and more, theterror of capital is felt amongst the protestant wor-kers. There are thousands of young people who havelived 10 years of war, who live by violence outsidethedirect control of any single political force, and towhom repression is the only means offered by the so-ciety for their integration.

As long as this situation continues, it is likelythat the war will be "resolved" while the interests ofworking people remain excluded from the politicalarena. It means that new imperialist forces will con-solidate a new form of economic and political domi-nation of the people, north and south. It means thatthe aspiring petty bourgeoisie, on both sides of thesectarian divide, along with a comprador bourgeoisclass, will attain political power.SHORT AND LONG TERM PERSPECTIVE OFREVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE

STRATEGY1 The first element of our strategy is to attackthe PROCESS OF RESTRUCTURING. New Agen-cies, Tribunals, Boards and Committees which haveDe Pie y En Lucha 12

been charged with the implementation of capitals'plans. WE OPPOSE ALL REFORMIST ATTEMPTSto give credibility or legitimacy to these agencies ofso-called "development," "modernisation," "indus-trial revolution" and "New Projects."

HITTING THE PROCESS OF RESTRUC-TURING hits capital and State in their transition; attheir weak points. By "hitting" we mean oppositionat any level theoretical investigation and counter-information, refusal to cooperate and organised re-bellion against the plans by ANY MEANSNECESSARY.

By "hitting" we mean transforming the wide-spread individual or sectoral withdrawal of workingclass people from these plans into an offensive attackon State and capital. Our strategy sees the mistrust,apathy, cynicism and occasional hitting out by wor-king people at these new institutions of change as apositive rejection of these new managers of new dis-orders.

Hitting the process of restructuring defines forus further, what our strategy will NOT be. We willnot be simply "exposing" capital and State's newplans. We do not imagine that organisation can bebuilt through "informed fear." Rather, the power ofa class is built through its practice of opposition.That practice of opposition we want to organise, so-lidify and extend across the breadth and width of theproletariat.

Neither are we democrats, hoping to invite par-ticipation in the self-management of oppression, ima-gining that working class people will thus be "educa-ted" as to the futility of capital. No! This part ofour strategy is to hit back now, responding to theshort and medium term NEED of the working classand other classes to disengage themselves from the lo-gic of capital and State's solution to the crisis of pro-fitability.

2 All of Ireland is dominated by imperialism.The immediate imperialist enemy of the Irish peopleis British imperialism. The short to medium termenemy is U.S. imperialism. In the chain of domina-tion, we define the 26 County capital and State asthe weak link. Politically weak, not only in its rela-tionship to the British army presence in the 6 Coun-ties, but also weakening daily in its economic rela-tionship with Britain. The organisation of those in-ternational relationships— being so weak— is carefullycontrolled and supervised by American and Europeanpolitical directives. Our strategy is to focus, at anyand every level, on Fianna Fail: the present 26 Coun-ty Government's international relationships. Pre-cisely, this means directing various forms of actionand protest against individuals, organisations, occa-sions and study centres who organise, manage anddirect their foreign policy. In this we join, wherepossible, with other organisations and associationsconcerned and outraged by the increasing political,military, economic and ideological interference in thedaily lives of Irish people,

Cont. on Page 14

Armed Struggle

At each hearing the freedom fighters have beenforcibly dragged into court and beaten up before theeyes of the community supporters who have beenattending the hearings. The courts attitude has beenone which says we are going to give you "justice" evenif we have to kill you doing it. Community supportershave been shoved, pushed, threatened and in somecases arrested. Since their arrest the eleven have beenthreatened and brutalized by every official from thejudge down to the prison "guard."

A few days after capturing the eleven, F.B.I,officals separated Haydee Betran de Torres from theother ten. Haydee was sent to N.Y. to be tried formurder, stemming from the bombing of a Mobil Oiloffice building in 1978. The trial which is to begin onMay 19th has all the makings of a "legal lynching,"including a jury which is to remain anonymous.

The eleven however, do not stand alone. Thecorrectness of their tactics and the political positionswhich they have advanced over the years, has material-lized into a base of support that has surpised and im-pressed those most critical of armed struggle (and eventhe state itself).

Ironically as it may seem, the arrest of the elevencomes almost as a necessary step in the constructionof the subjective conditions which will lead to PeoplesWar in Puerto Rico .The capture of these eleven patriots,one of them as young as 19 years old, has given aphysical character to the current struggle-for PuertoRico's independence. Many people have come to ac-cept that the struggle for Puerto Rico's independenceis not a relic of the past, nor an abstract dream forsome undetermined time in the future-, but that it is aphysical reality who's future is determined by thehere and now.

While the F.A.L.N. carries out armed actions inthe U.S., the emergence of more than five armed clan-destine organizations in Puerto Rico, along with theincreased militancy of the mass movement, has movedthe question of Puerto Rico's independence from thedrawing board to the phase of trial and error. Thecombination of theory and practice, armed action andmass movement, will lead to protracted Peoples War,and only Peoples War will lead to victory, -fr

De Pie y En Lucha

Press Release April 9, 1980

The past April 4, forces in the service of yankiimperialism jailed 11 freedom-fighters for the inde-pendence of Puerto Rico. The imperialists allegedthat they had struck a heavy blow to the FuerzasArmadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN) and to thestruggle for the independence of our people.

We, the revolutionary organizations that arestruggling from clandestinity in Puerto Rico, as wellas in the very entrails of the monster, understandthat any offensive of this type constitutes a blowfor our people in struggle. What it does not mean, byany means, is that they have been able to weaken inthe least the rising growth of our liberation struggle.

We represent a people enchained and exploited,which every day demonstrates that its liberty andindependence will be won, regardless of the sacri-fices which might be necessary.

We want the comrades in jail to know they cancount on our militant solidarity and to know that oursupport and aid for our people's freedom fighters isunshakable to the ultimate consequences.

To our people and to the independence fighterswe say that we, the organized revolutionary forces,will continue to strengthen ourselves with firm stepsand that very soon our organized people in strugglewill triumph.

Our hundred-year struggle against exploitation,colonialism, racial discrimination, corruption and allthe unjust products of capitalism will never bestopped. It will be cemented with the blood of ourmartyrs, the bravery of our patriots and the force ofour working class.

Moreover, the government of the United Statesshould remember that they are obligated to respectthe life and the rights of the captured comrades inChicago, as Prisoners of War. They are responsiblefor this before the peoples of the world and alsobefore us.

The peoples of the world have the moral force todemand it, and we have the physical force and thecourage to support what they demand.

Long Live Puerto Rico Libre!

Long Live The Revolutionary Struggle!

Puerto Rico Will Win!

Organizacion deVoluntarios por la RevolucionPuertorriquena (OVRP)Ejercito popular Boricua (Macheteros) (PRT—EPB)Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN)7uerzas Armadas de Resistencia Popular (FARP)

13

BETANCES: Dr. Ramon Emeterio Betances, Padre de la PatriaPuertorriquena, Ifder maximo del movimiento libertador boricua definales del siglo pasado.

PRIMERIESThe colonial elections of Novermber, 1980, are

another story. Here, social issues become relevantto the way the electorate votes.

THE NOVEMBER, 1980 COLONIAL ELECTIONSCome November, every four years, one of the

colonial parties will assume control of the colonialgovernment bureaucracy and manage the dispensa-tion of services and public bribes which maintain thepeace in the colony. But what is certain is that itwill not be one of the two electoral independenceparties. Jointly, or separately, neither will do betterthan 10 per cent-and even six to eight per cent willbe more likely. The reasons are fundamental andelementary. Neither has the money, the institutionalindependent power, nor the support of U.S. capitalessential for winning, or even for making a decentrun at electoral influence.

Colonial elections in Puerto Rico are designedto guarantee the continuation of colonialism. Inde-pendence parties are needed in the electoral game tovalidate the process and for no other reason. That iswhy they are encouraged. That is why they are sub-sidized by the very colonial administration they at-tack. Like Don Pedro Albizu Campos said: "If elec-tions were good for the people of Puerto Rico, theyanquis would never hold elections. . ."

The lessons of the primaries show that the PNPwill win the 1980 colonial elections. But that thePPD is not as dead as we assumed. It also shows ahigher rate of electoral abstention than in all previouselections.

The factors which make the primaries differentfrom the general colonial elections held every fouryears is that while the primaries centered on foreignpolitical realities, the quatrenial elections in PuertoRico center on national and social issues of vitalimportance to the Puerto Rican people. This differ-ence explains the larger voter turn-out in theNovenber colonial elections. •&

NO TO STATEHOOD

NO TO THE FREE ASSOCIATED STATE

INDEPENDENCE AND SOCIALISM

BEYOND SABANA SECA

A feeling surely began to unite them and this feel-ing calls them to the duty of complete unity: patriot-ism. In this purest fountain, in this ancestral feeling,is their true origin and the emotional motor thatmoves them and motivates them. In it their link, theirlife to that of our homeland from its strongest andmost evident roots; there they join with the Betancistand Albizuist callings; there they testify how "patiot-ism is a competition with the ancestors" in the mostbeautiful classical sense (these are the words of TaciTacitus). And from there also, from this incorrup-tible patriotism, the lucid consciousness that hasanimated all of them: without independence, allPuerto Rico can be is a colony.

For me, the certitude that this is so means a greatdeal because it promises a free and independent lifefor Puerto Rico, once it has overcome the present dis-grace of colonialism and whatever other possible fu-ture avatar in the internal or international life ofPuerto Rico. •&

IRELAND

WE ARE

Revolutionary Struggle is a communist orga-nisation. Its method of analysis is based on Marxismand those Marxists who have enriched marxisttheory. It is a marxist organisation. Our method ofstructuring ourselves is based on Lenin and the en-richment of Lenin's theory of organisation adaptedto suit Irish conditions. We are a Leninist organi-sation, using internal democracy to make decisionsand employing internal debate to guide our centra-lised decision-making, based on collectively agreedbroad lines of strategy. •&

EDITOR'S NOTE: We regret that we were not ableto print the second part of our series on the Chi-cano/Mexicano National Question. However, weintend to continue the series on this very impor-.tant topic in the next issue of our publication.Thank you for your support.

De Pie y En Lucha 14