July 25th marked the 125th Anniversary of the U.S. Land Invasion of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican Cultural Center marked this day by holding a community viewing of the 1990 film “Show of Force”, which tells the true story of the 1978 execution of two pro-independence activists at Cerro Maravilla by the FBI. Following the movie The PRCC’s Executive Director José E. López gave a talk about the day and the horrific violence that has come from the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico, including the murder at Cerro Maravilla. He went on to share The
Puerto Rican Cultural Center’s own history with the FBI as the anti-colonial organizing work of the Center made it a target of the FBI’s infa-
mous Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) in the 70s. This day was a reminder of our dark past and how important it is to continue
the fight against colonialism. Below is a statement by Power 4 Puerto Rico on the 125th Anniversary of Puerto Rico, and a call to action to support the current work to decolonize Puerto Rico:
By Power 4 Puerto Rico On today in 1898, U.S. forces invaded a Puerto Rico that had just achieved its greatest level of autonomy from its then-colonizer, Spain. Puerto Ricans’ march towards self-determination –the right of a people to chart their own future free of intimidation or undue influence– was violently interrupted and derailed.
Today, in 2023, Puerto Rico remains a U.S. colony. An unelected colonial board imposed by Congress rules and impacts all aspects of life in this Caribbean country. This is beyond unfair and undemocratic, it is a suffocating injustice. Instead of supporting a Puerto Rico-forward vision and a post-colonial United States, institutions, including the Supreme Court, have doubled-down on subjecting Puerto Ricans to harmful policies, year after year. As with so many actions historically directed at Latin America, the Caribbean, and marginalized communities, the undergirding belief and justification for intervention and institutional colonialism has been white supremacy.
The Puerto Rican diaspora has been a part of a long resistance to colonialism and the insistence that all that is spoken about human rights apply to Puerto Rico. We reaffirm the right of our people to lead and choose our own future and decolonize our home-land on transparent and participatory terms, not the terms of dark money or based on what the Democratic or Republican parties would find beneficial for them.
July 25th also marks the anniversary of the 1978 execution of two pro-independence activists at Cerro Maravilla. Hearings in the Puerto
Rico legislature and investigative reporting revealed that the subsequent coverup of this crime was led by the FBI in conjunction with local
authorities. We are reminded of current attempts to shut down the voices of Puerto Ricans, whether it’s the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the right of Puerto Rican journalists and public to access all of the colonial board’s records, to rising police and private security violence against environmental protestors.
History is once again on our doorstep. We need to finish the struggle led by our ancestors to fully decolonize Puerto Rico under the process and status our people choose. That is why Puerto Rican diaspora organizations seek to remind U.S. residents that their government is still holding colonies in 2023 and that they can express their solidarity with Puerto Ricans by joining the Diaspora and taking action.
