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By Luis Cordero Santoni & Victor Quintana Originally published in Comite Noviembre's 2020 Puerto Rican Heritage Month Journal . This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of El Comité-Movimiento de Izquierda Nacional Puertorriqueño, one of the main organizations of the Puerto Rican left in the 1970s in New York City.  The people’s struggles of the 60’s and early 70’s for civil rights and against the Vietnam War spawned many grass roots organizations. El Comité was one of those organizations. El Comité was born on the summer of 1970 in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, what was then the Urban Renewal Area. In that summer, a group of 200 families took over various buildings slated for demolition on the West Side. The courageous action of these squatters to secure decent, affordable housing motivated a group of young people, led by Federico Lora, from the community to take over a storefront on 88th Street and Columbus Avenue. Their goal was to convert it into an office and es

  November 2, 2020 New York City . Members of the Puerto Rican community in New York today confronted longshot presidential candidate and bitcoin billionaire Brock Pierce at an event in Manhattan to oppose his support for Puerto Rican statehood and his bitcoin dreams for the island. Pierce did NOT come to Puerto Rico to save us. He moved to Puerto Rico to avoid paying taxes under local laws known as Act 20/22. He's been attracting like-minded bitcoiners and Wall St. vultures to the island in an effort to create a “Puertopia.” A Puerto Rico in their image. The disaster capitalists have been buying properties (and politicians) all over the island, displacing long-term Puerto Rican residents and gentrifying our island. Also, Pierce is an accused pedophile with ties to racist Steve Bannon, Jeffrey Epstein, and has even called Trump "a patriot". Puerto Rico will also be going to the polls on Tuesday, November 3rd. The ruling party (PNP) cynically placed a statehood question on

 Washington, DC, October 26, 2020 In the early hours of the morning of Sunday, October 25, Puerto Rican independence  organizations projected images on walls of emblematic places in Washington DC, the capital of the United States, with messages of NO to Statehood and claiming Freedom and Independence for Puerto Rico. One of the buildings onto which images were projected was the Trump International Hotel, located on Pennsylvania Avenue. The messages of "Free Puerto Rico", "No to Statehood", as well as "Independence for Puerto Rico", among others, could be clearly read. “The activity served a dual purpose. First, it is part of the Day of Celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Nationalist Revolution of October 30, 1950, a historical event where the Republic of Puerto Rico was declared for the second time. This event was the result of a one-sided struggle carried out by the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, led by Don Pedro Albizu Campos, against the Unite

Collage by Iris Zavala-Martinez irzamar@gmail.com

José E.Velázquez Luyanda - Jevche@aol.com   On July 17, 2020, we mourned one of America’s greatest heroes, “the conscience of the nation,” civil rights leader and Congressman, John Lewis. His well-deserved six-day memorial services included being the first African-American to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. The entire country relived that fateful Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965 where civil rights marchers gathered to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama to the state capital in Montgomery, in a campaign for the right to vote.  It has been 55 years since the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and some may have forgotten how under the mantle of “states rights,” local governments repressed the right to vote of African-American men granted by the 15th Amendment to the Constitution (1870), and to African American women by the 19th amendment (1920). After the “Compromise of 1877,” southern Confederates who lost the Civil War ended “Bl

José E.Velázquez Luyanda (Jevche@aol.com)  With only several weeks left to November 3, 2020, the battle to win the hearts and minds of the American (U.S.) people has intensified. The American people face an existential threat with the possible re-election of Donald Trump. Candidate Trump now seeks to replay the successful Nixon Republican strategy of 1968, essentially focusing on “law and order,” withdrawal from foreign conflicts (“peace with honor”), and the encouragement of a white backlash based on fear. Added on is the now customary appeal to American nationalism, jingoism, xenophobia, racism, and economic populism. Taking advantage of the Covid pandemic, the Republican Party seeks to discourage voting and to raise questions about the legitimacy of a possible electoral defeat. On the other hand, the Democratic Party faces the challenge of insuring a massive turnout during a pandemic. The Democratic Party must win back the voters that they lost to Trump in 2016, pa

Editor's note: The Frente Independentista Boricua (El Frente), a New York based coalition of organizations with chapters in cities around the US that support the independence of Puerto Rico, issued the following statement with regards to the elections taking place in Puerto Rico: Elections in Puerto Rico are held in a context of political subordination and colonialism and within the framework of a dictatorial Fiscal Board that makes arbitrary decisions outside of any democratic process. The Puerto Rican electoral process is uneven and is aimed at protecting both the colonial framework and the colonial interests. This reality is widely recognized by all sectors of the independence movement, whether or not they participate in the election process. As independentistas, we have fought in the past and we will fight that system in the future from all flanks, resisting from outside and from within its structures. Among the points of unity adopted by El Frente made public in the summer o

June 13, 2020 By Manuel Melendez Lavandero As part of the Boricua National Affirmation Day, the Frente Independentista Boricua (El Frente), projected monumental images under the Brooklyn Bridge on Friday night, June 12, in New York. The projected images contained quotes from leaders of the Puerto Rican national liberation struggle such as Pedro Albizu Campos, Juan Antonio Corretjer, as well as modern day poets/activists like Mariposa Fernández. One of the most impressive images contained the message: From Puerto Rico to New York, #BlackLivesMatter! An affirmation of Puerto Rican blackness and the fight against racism here and there. Likewise, one related to the topic: "Yo soy boricua, pa' que tu lo sepas" ( I am Puerto Rican, just so you know).  These were created as part of the celebration of Boricua National Affirmation Day next Sunday, June 14 in New York City. El Frente is a coalition of Puerto Rican independence organizations that operate in the United States and are

The organizations of the National Liberation Movement of Puerto Rico, signatories to this statement, express our strongest support to African-American communities that during the past few days have been protesting in the streets of the United States, demanding justice for George Floyd. We also join the demand for the immediate arrest and  prosecution of the policemen who murdered him. The murder of George Floyd, a young African-American worker, in broad daylight and in front of the cameras adds another affront, a direct attack on African-American communities and all oppressed communities in the U.S. The police and far-right forces have been emboldened by the sectarian policies of the racist president and the forces of America's corporate-financial elite in power, who want to rewrite history by ripping off conquered rights, even if it means taking the American people back into a civil war. Puerto Ricans, Latinos, Native Americans, and all oppressed communities, as an important compo

Puerto Ricans cannot go to foreigners to ask for anything, nor can they expect anything from their executioner, nor from the denatured of Puerto Rico. We must rise up as a single soul and a single body, and move like human beings, as a civilized nation of honor, valor and sacrifice. Pedro Albizu Campos, 1949 The crisis that Puerto Rico is living as a result of the pandemic caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus moves the Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico, Movimiento Libertador to issue this manifesto. Our organization has maintained, and maintains, that only with independence and sovereignty organized in a state whose Constitution guarantees the development of a society based upon full justice and dignity for its citizens, only then, will we, as Puerto Ricans, have the ability to govern the destiny of our Homeland. This pandemic once again illustrates the total collapse of values we experience today in Puerto Rico, the total disdain of Washington towards its colony and the powerless

April 16, 2020 In an unprecedented show of unity the major independence organizations in Puerto Rico and in the US issued a joint statement. The COVID-19 crisis in Puerto Rico has forced the various groups to come together, putting aside their differences to demand that the government protect and safeguard the health and safety of the Puerto Rican people.  Emerging from these efforts is a historic document which both analyzes and makes demands amidst the current COVID-19 situation both in Puerto Rico and in the diaspora. Among the concerns denounced in the document are ongoing corruption, continued neglect and blatant discrimination. The document also calls for the implementation of specific action items necessary for the well-being of our community during this pandemic. Some of their demands include the passing of laws to help the population cope with the crisis: • A moratorium on utility and debt payments • A moratorium on the mortgage payments with an extension on the term of the mo

By Ramón Serrano — Diógenes Ballester is one of Puerto Rico's hidden treasures. His paintings have graced the walls of the most prestigious art galleries in the world. From Paris to Japan, from Bulgaria to Brazil he has raised the Puerto Rican flag with accompanying accolades and awards. He is presently the Artist in Residence in Ponce's famed Museum of Art. I first met Diógenes in the early eighties when i was learning acupuncture. I was called by a friend who told me that one of our great artists was suffering from intense pain and could not get up out of bed. I had never heard of Diógenes but was convinced to go to his aid. When I arrived at his house/gallery in El Barrio I immediately informed him that I was not qualified to treat his condition. He insisted that I proceed. When I returned the following week he was walking around pain free. No one was more surprised than I. We would not see each other again for another 35 years. When we finally reunited he told me that the

Clinic #3 Peñuelas By Ramón Serrano February 1, 2020 - It's when the sun goes down that the terror begins. Another sleepless night for the 171 people still living under tarps in the makeshift community inside the towns' athletic stadium. The tremors continue every night and now can be calculated by the uncontrollable shiver, almost to the exact degree, by what is now a collective human Richter scale. Of course, many have their smart phones dialed directly into the seismic activity but take a reluctant pride in being able to identify the source of their nightmares in such a precise manner. "El de anoche midio 5.4" Sra. Ramirez is a 34 year old Social Worker, native of the town, who when the Earth convulsed on January 7th, took the lead in the relief effort. She begins her work every morning, seven days per week at 6 a.m. in the camp's ground zero. She herself admits that because of her own personal trauma, she is only able to sleep 2 hours per night. She s

By Ramón Serrano January 18, 2020 - Our second venture into the earthquake zone coincided with a health fair directed at those refuged outside of Yauco's baseball stadium. Once again, it was a displaced community of entire families housed under personal tents and tarps. It seemed that the inside of the stadium proper was reserved for a contingent of National Guard troops assigned to help with the logistics. The health fair itself, which had been well advertised, included all manner of medical expertise and professionals. It consisted of MDs specializing in everything from Gynecology to Internal Medicine. It also attempted to address the emotional scars caused by the stress and included Psychologists and Social Workers as well as other mental health professionals. The effort was augmented by the continuation of the support of the community at large who organize sessions of play therapy for the children, while also continuing to provide supplies of day-to-day necessities. Acupunc

Julio Pabón, a community businessman, activist, former operative and candidate for US Congress from the 15th Congressional District in the South Bronx, who recently returned from Puerto Rico will attend today’s pres conference planned for 12noon today at City Hall to give a first hand analysis of the earthquake, having experienced it on the ground while on a family reunion in Puerto Rico. Mr. Pabón stated, “I’ve experienced many frightening events growing up in the South Bronx. I have personally experience running from gunshots myself and with my children. I have experienced running from burning buildings and running from police in many demonstration and riots, but none of that can compare to be awakened in the middle of the night because your bed and the entire house is shaking in an uncontrollable fashion with a loud roar emanating from the earth.” He continued, “if that was not enough, but to then have no electricity and to continue to experience smaller quakes and tremors, while

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Updated July 16, 2020 By Ramón Serrano On my way to Guayanilla at 8 a.m. another tremor measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook the already traumatized inhabitants of La Isla del Encanto . Fortunately I did not feel it on the road. Since Dec. 28th when the first major one struck there have been at least 900 detectable episodes. Because the epicenter of the seismic shifts lies directly to the south of the Island, it is the southern towns where most of the structural damage has taken place and as a result where the physical, mental and emotional dislocation is most evident. Puerto Ricans are still recovering from the P.T.S.D. associated with Hurricane Maria two years ago, so that the fear and panic being experienced by an already fragile psyche is quite understandable. Part of the underlying insecurity lies in the distrust of a local government that failed them miserably during the last disaster and a Federal Government led by a narcissist who withholds badly needed aid while insu