TEMPORAL

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 th...

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...