Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Political Status of Puerto Rico: Economic Aspects: analysis, scenarios, models: Will Puerto Rico be better off or worse off economically if it becomes a state? - Links Review - Last Update on 7.23.13

Political Status of Puerto Rico: Economic Aspects: analysis, scenarios, models

Will Puerto Rico be better off or worse off economically when and if it becomes a state?

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 Links Review

  Economy of Puerto Rico - Wikipedia

Puerto Rico Economy News Review
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 » Report: PR lost 42,100 salaried #jobs http://ow.ly/neTZf #caribbeanbusiness
23/07/13 13:01 from CARIBBEAN BUSINESSs Facebook Wall
Report: PR lost 42,100 salaried #jobs http://ow.ly/neTZf #caribbeanbusiness

 » Puerto Rico continues to post deep job losses as the island economy remains on a...
23/07/13 08:44 from Caribnewss Facebook Wall
Puerto Rico continues to post deep job losses as the island economy remains on an eight-month skid http://bit.ly/18AhREQReport: PR lost 42,100 salaried jobs - Caribbean Businesswww.caribbeanbusinesspr.compuerto rico continues to post deep j...

» IN DEPTH: How the economic crisis has reshaped Puerto Rico’s job scene http://b...
18/07/13 11:25 from Caribnewss Facebook Wall
IN DEPTH: How the economic crisis has reshaped Puerto Rico’s job scene http://bit.ly/15Kki1rHow the economic crisis has reshaped Puerto Ricos job scene - Caribbean Businesswww.caribbeanbusinesspr.comThe long-term recession, brain drain of ...

Saturday, June 29, 2013


Puerto Rico legislators rush to approve budget amid economic crisis - AP


 » Improvisación
26/06/13 21:32 from CNE - Centro Para Una Nueva Economía - Center for a New Economy
Por Miguel Soto-Class El mes de junio trae siempre la misma fuente de ansiedad. Y no me refiero a qué hacer con las nenas durante las vacaciones de verano. A lo que me refiero es a la tragicomedia anual de cómo allegar recursos a las defal..
» CNE: Puerto Rico 'failing to face new reality' : CNE Centro Para ...
07/06/13 13:34 from puerto rico economy - Google Blog Search
Yet, policymakers in Puerto Rico remain either oblivious to, or willfully ignorant of, this new reality, said Sergio Marxuach, director for policy development at the Center for a New Economy , a local think-tank that on Wednesday  ... 

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Analysis: Puerto Rico - a vacation oasis overrun with high debt: Thomson Reuters Business News - MSN Money


"We are a ghetto under the ELA" - Jaime Benson editorial Posted in the Puerto Rico Forum | Somos un gueto ahora bajo el ELA 26 de junio de 2013 - Columnas, Opinión - Jaime Benson, Catedrático de Economía UPR


» Puerto Rico remains the worst-performing state or territory in the muni market t...
27/06/13 20:03 from Caribnewss Facebook Wall
Puerto Rico remains the worst-performing state or territory in the muni market this month Puerto Rico, High Yield Among Worst June Muni Bond Performers - Income Investing - Barrons.com feedly.com S&P Dow Jones Indices is out with a note on ..


» #NYFedchief: PR #economy ‘still not showing any signs of bottoming out’. Read: h...
27/06/13 19:01 from CARIBBEAN BUSINESSs Facebook Wall
#NYFedchief: PR #economy ‘still not showing any signs of bottoming out’. Read: http://ow.ly/mrS9t #caribbeanbusiness 


Who Will Remake Puerto Rico for the 21st-Century Social Economy? - Forbes - 5.27.13



@giorodriguez Computer hardware startups -- again -- are poised for major investment.  Why Puerto Rican companies might have an edge 
"The Third Plaza": How Puerto Rico Will Create a New Place for Itself in the Global Creative Economy
Thursday, June 13th, 2013 2:34pm
· Giovanni Rodriguez, Contributor

 @giorodriguez : The Puerto Rican Senate has filed a bill to support the “creative industries.” What can this mean for the future of the island?
How Puerto Rico Will Hack its Way to the Global Future
Sunday, June 9th, 2013 12:53pm
· Giovanni Rodriguez, Contributor
@giorodriguez: Yes, hacking is about technology. But it's more about attitude
puerto rico economy - Google Blog Search


  1. blogs.reuters.com/muniland/.../will-puerto-rico-ever-see-economic-growt...‎

    by Cate Long
    May 17, 2013 – Puerto Rico now faces a $495 million revenue shortfall for the year.

  1. A report on the creative industries in Puerto Rico

    inversioncultural.com/?p=1142‎

    by admin
    5 days ago – The creative economy is an issue of great interest in Puerto Rico. At a time when we discuss ... As part of that effort, will present the first report on “The profile of the creative economy in Puerto Rico”. This will be done by a talk ...


    1. PRCEI.org » Puerto Rico: Fertile Ground for a Creative Economy

      prcei.org/2013/03/.../puerto-rico-fertile-ground-for-a-creative-economy/‎

      by Dyanis De Jesus
      Mar 12, 2013 – Over the last decade, the interrelated nature of creativity and the creative process has come to be valued globally as a viable means of economic development.Economies based on creativity have grown faster than national ...


      1. Macroeconomic Forecast Puerto Rico - Latin America Monitor

        www.latinamericamonitor.com/.../macroeconomic-forecast-puerto-rico.h...‎

        Jun 3, 2013 – Puerto rico Economy. ... We expect demand-side inflationary pressures to increase modestly through 2013, as the Puerto Rican economy continues to recover from a five-year recession that ended in 2012. As such, we forecast inflation to ...



        1. Hearing Notes How Companies Used Territory to Avoid Billions in ...

          www.puertoricoreport.org/hearing-notes-how-companies-used-territory-t...‎

          by Contributing Editor
          Jun 12, 2013 – The current use of Puerto Rico to avoid billions of dollars in Federal taxes by big businesses based in the States was raised in a recent U.S. Senate hearing on technology giant Apple counting sales and profits generated in the ... As it passed into law that year, the credit equal to all tax due on earnings attributed to Puerto Ricowas reduced from 100% to 40% and a Federally-preferred alternative credit for realeconomic activity and benefits in Puerto Rico was created.


          1. NewsDaily: Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic sign economic deal

            www.newsdaily.com/.../puerto-rico-dominican-republic-sign-economic-...‎

            May 9, 2013 – Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic sign deal to boost economy SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic have signed aneconomic agreement to help boost sectors including agriculture, ...

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             Published on 6.30.13     Last Update: 7.23.13

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Puerto Rico: Dengue Levels Continue Above Epidemic Level

» Puerto Rico: Dengue Levels Continue Above Epidemic Level
23/07/13 09:27 from puerto rico - Google Blog Search
It's been a few months since we last looked at Dengue fever activity in Puerto Rico - and while nowhere near the intensity of the 2010 epidemic (see red line in chart below) - the summer of 2013 is running well above the ...
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News Review: More Latinos Consuming News In English: Study

» More Latinos Consuming News In English: Study
23/07/13 13:27 from Latino Voices on HuffingtonPost.com
More Latino adults are turning to English-language news, according to a new Pew study released on Tuesday. Compared to studies of years past, Pew researchers... More Latino adults are turning to English-language news, according to ...

 » Latinos in US Increasingly Rely on English-Language News, Report Finds - New York Times (blog)
23/07/13 12:00 from latino - Google News
ABC NewsLatinos in US Increasingly Rely on English-Language News, Report FindsNew York Times (blog)An increasing number of Hispanics in the United States are getting their news in English, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew H...

 » Pew Research study finds more Latinos get their news in English - Los Angeles Times
23/07/13 12:58 from latino - Google News
Pew Research study finds more Latinos get their news in EnglishLos Angeles TimesThe Pew Hispanic Center's 2012 National Survey of Latinos found that 82% of Latino adults said they obtained at least some of their news in English — up fro..

 » Report: PR lost 42,100 salaried #jobs http://ow.ly/neTZf #caribbeanbusiness
23/07/13 13:01 from CARIBBEAN BUSINESSs Facebook Wall
Report: PR lost 42,100 salaried #jobs http://ow.ly/neTZf #caribbeanbusiness

 » Puerto Rico continues to post deep job losses as the island economy remains on a...
23/07/13 08:44 from Caribnewss Facebook Wall
Puerto Rico continues to post deep job losses as the island economy remains on an eight-month skid http://bit.ly/18AhREQReport: PR lost 42,100 salaried jobs - Caribbean Businesswww.caribbeanbusinesspr.compuerto rico continues to post deep j...

 » Radio Vieques: A Key Outlet for a Struggling Community
23/07/13 12:22 from Global Voices » Puerto Rico (U.S.)
The island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, suffered over 60 years of use as a United States Navy military base and an area for bombing exercises. The island-municipality of Vieques, Puerto Rico now has its first community radio station, Radio Vieq...

 » Latino Homebuyers Face Hostility, Higher Fees, And Fewer Options - ThinkProgress
23/07/13 11:55 from latino - Google News
ThinkProgressLatino Homebuyers Face Hostility, Higher Fees, And Fewer OptionsThinkProgressThough formal “redlining” based on race was banned decades ago, a new report finds that Latinos still face rampant discrimination in the housing marke...

 » Puerto Rico: Wind farm fiasco | Fausta's Blog
23/07/13 09:26 from puerto rico - Google Blog Search
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013 at 8:26 am and is filed under business, energy, environment, Fausta's blog, Puerto Rico. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response,&nb...

 » Caribbean 'Tropical Zion' Offered Refuge for Jews Fleeing Nazis - Jewish Daily Forward
23/07/13 08:40 from caribbean - Google News
Jewish Daily ForwardCaribbean 'Tropical Zion' Offered Refuge for Jews Fleeing NazisJewish Daily ForwardIt is a typically Caribbean town, with an atypical history that includes a chapter as a haven for Jewish refugees. Hot and humid ...

 » A Jewish refuge on Caribbean shores - Haaretz
23/07/13 05:49 from caribbean - Google News
HaaretzA Jewish refuge on Caribbean shoresHaaretzOn the northern shore of the Dominican Republic lies the beachfront town of Sosúa, known for over 70 years as "Tropical Zion.” It is a typically Caribbean town, with an atypical history ...
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Puerto Rico police department hit with new civil rights lawsuit - Reuters | Gobierno federal demanda a la Policía por discrimen racial | Fortuno: Get more non Whites or the GOP is done for

Gobierno federal demanda a la Policía por discrimen racial - Primera Hora

Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia Federal sometió ayer otra demanda contra la Policía de Puerto Rico, esta vez por no tomar acción en el caso de una agente que supuestamente fue víctima de acoso laboral por racismo y por su credo religioso.
A pocos días de que se llegó a un acuerdo entre el gobierno federal y el estatal para crear una reforma de la Uniformada para atajar el problema de violación a los derechos civiles de los ciudadanos, la demanda pretende atender la situación particular de una agente que lleva desde 2007 querellándose por el problema de hostigamiento laboral, que se alega no fue atendido correctamente.
La demanda sometida ayer indica que la agente Yolanda Carrasquillo, adscrita al cuartel de Cupey, es una mujer negra de Loíza y es evangélica. Trabaja en la Policía desde 1993 como oficial de patrullaje y realiza trabajo administrativo en dicho precinto. Nunca recibió una acción disciplinaria en su contra, antes de agosto de 2007.
Según la demanda, fue entonces que comenzó a trabajar allí Sandra Alvino, quien es secretaria y empleada civil. Desde entonces hasta el 2010, "Carrasquillo fue acosada en el trabajo por su color de piel y su religión", dado a que le hacía "comentarios inapropiados y denigrantes" hasta al frente de sus supervisores, que no tomaron las medidas correspondientes.
Durante ese término de tiempo, tuvo varios supervisores, como el capitán Héctor Figueroa, el teniente Juan Cortez, el capitán Rafael Mercado, el capitán Israel Vázquez y la capitana Jazmín Pérez.
Se alega que Carrasquillo fue objeto de un ambiente hostil en el trabajo por su color de piel, dado a que Alvino supuestamente le decía comentarios como: "ustedes, maldita gente negra", "maldita mujer negra", "monos negros sucios" y que los negros de República Dominicana eran "bestias salvajes".
También fue víctima de comentarios en contra de su religión, como: "ustedes los cristianos son todos iguales", "maldita sea la madre de Dios", entre otros. Se detalla que Carrasquillo regresó en agosto de 2008 de un viaje de misión cristiana de cuatro semanas, y Alvino le dijo: "tú eres cristiana y todos son iguales".
En medio de una discusión entre ambas en el estacionamiento del cuartel en octubre de 2009, supuestamente Carrasquillo le dijo a Alvino que era una racista, y ésta le contestó, "todo el tiempo", y le manifestó que "se creía santa por ser cristiana y (por) siempre esconderse detrás de la Biblia".
Luego de dicha situación, su supervisor -que en ese momento era Vázquez- le dijo a Alvino que tomara dos días por vacaciones y castigó a Carrasquillo al cambiarla al turno nocturno.
En noviembre de 2009, Carrasquillo envió una carta al respecto al Cuartel General y la misma fue recibida por la Comisión de Derechos Civiles y la de Asuntos Legales, pero no hubo respuesta ni investigaron el asunto.
"La política en contra del acoso laboral de la Policía de Puerto Rico provee cero tolerancia a cualquier hostigamiento. La política también especifica que los supervisores son responsables de tomar acción para corregir cualquier acto de discrimen u hostigamiento que sea traído a su atención, ya sea por observación propia o que reciban queja", lee la demanda, sometida por los abogados Sonya Sacks y Raheemah Abdulaleem, de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia en Washington D.C.
La acción legal solicita que se realice un juicio por jurado en este caso y se le ofrezca un remedio a la presunta víctima, que se le devuelvan los costos y desembolsos del pleito, estimados en $300 mil, y ordenar un remedio por el incumplimiento por parte de la Policía de Puerto Rico al no tomar las acciones necesarias.
Carrasquillo aún es agente, pero se informó que está de vacaciones.
La demanda fue asignada ante la consideración del juez federal Francisco A. Besosa.


Friday, July 19, 2013

Puerto Rico Police Reform - News Review

» Justice Department sues Puerto Rico police, alleging racial bias - CNN
22/07/13 21:25 from Puerto Rico police reform - Google News
Justice Department sues Puerto Rico police, alleging racial biasCNNThe allegations are the latest in a series of claims against the commonwealth's troubled police force, and they follow an agreement last week between the Justice Departm...
» Stoning whistle-blowers - Inquirer.net
22/07/13 20:26 from Puerto Rico police reform - Google News
Stoning whistle-blowersInquirer.netAfter Land Bank's Acsa Ramirez blew the whistle on tax scams, National Bureau of Investigation agents shoved her into a police line-up which president Gloria Arroyo used her as photo op. Shanghaied by ...
» Puerto Rico police department hit with new civil rights lawsuit
22/07/13 20:11 from puerto rico police department - Google Blog Search
SAN JUAN (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Puerto Rico Police Department claiming that it discriminated against a policewoman by failing to stop colleagues from continuously ...
» Puerto Rico police department hit with new civil rights lawsuit - Reuters
22/07/13 19:45 from puerto rico police department - Google News
Latin American Herald TribunePuerto Rico police department hit with new civil rights lawsuitReutersSAN JUAN (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Puerto Rico Police Department claiming that it discrim...
» Puerto Rico police department hit with new civil rights lawsuit | Yes ...
22/07/13 19:43 from puerto rico police department - Google Blog Search
SAN JUAN (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Puerto Rico Police Department claiming that it discriminated against a policewoman by failing to stop colleagues from continuously ...
» US Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Puerto Rico Police for ...
22/07/13 19:32 from puerto rico police department - Google Blog Search
SAN JUAN – The Department of Justice announced on Monday the filing of a lawsuit against the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) alleging that the PRPD discriminated against Yolanda Carrasquillo on the basis of race, color and ...
» Twitter users hate on Zimmerman for pulling family from wreck - Daily Caller
22/07/13 17:58 from Puerto Rico police reform - Google News
Twitter users hate on Zimmerman for pulling family from wreckDaily CallerAfter Trayvon Martin speech, Obama challenged to reform mandatory minimums · George Zimmerman grabs fire extinguisher, pulls family from overturned SUV ·...
» USDOJ: Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against the Puerto Rico Police ... - 7thSpace Interactive (press release)
22/07/13 17:14 from puerto rico police department - Google News
USDOJ: Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against the Puerto Rico Police ...7thSpace Interactive (press release)The Department of Justice announced today the filing of a lawsuit against the Puerto Rico Police Department PRPD) alleging that th...

 » Puerto Rico police department hit with new civil rights lawsuit
23/07/13 09:59 from Puerto Rico
Thomson Reuters SAN JUAN (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Puerto Rico Police Department claiming that it discriminated against a policewom...

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» Fortuno: Get more non Whites or the GOP is done for
23/07/13 17:16 from 
6 Comments, last updated on Tuesday Jul 23 by LongIslander1987
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Sunday, July 21, 2013

What goes around, comes around; lo que va, vuelve.


Puerto Rico tiene una salida: el aeropuerto - Benjamín Torres Gotay

Mike Nova comments: 
However, in this case the "output" is just one side and one direction of the two way street: nature, social systems and even islands ("no man is an island, no island is an island") do not tolerate vacuums and the empty spaces are filled inevitably with "input": human immigration (and not just by very rich, seeking to escape taxes, which is not a very farsighted strategy anyway, but a broad middle class spectrum, from young [hi-tech] professionals to retirees), integration into mainland and global economies and cultural integration (see vía internacional para la cultura in the same issue). Besides that most of the "outputters" got their return tickets, mental and physical, and will come back, when the conditions permit. And as for me personally, I will most definitely come back and very soon (those who do not like it, leave all your hopes), not only because I love the Island and its people (no matter what), but because I feel that I am becoming a part of it (which, I am sure, is the case with many other people). So, do not despair, Benji-chico: what goes around, comes around; lo que va, vuelve. 

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Puerto Rico, a place for hackers and makers?

» Why Hackers and Makers Latest Toy is Puerto Rican - The Next Web
21/07/13 04:01 from puerto rico - Google News
Why Hackers and Makers Latest Toy is Puerto RicanThe Next WebThis is even more impressive when you take into account that this was the first hardware crowdfunding campaign to ever come out of Puerto Rico. It is the brainchild of Caguas-base...
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Saturday, July 20, 2013

Political Persecution in Puerto Rico: Uncovering Secret Files - Materials for the topic of Puerto Rico Police Reform

Political Persecution in Puerto Rico: Uncovering Secret Files

— César Ayala

Las carpetas: persecución política y derechos civiles en Puerto Rico by Ramón Bosque-Pérez and José Javier Colón-Morera, (Río Piedras: Centro para la Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Civiles, 1997), 359 pages.

IN THE SUMMER of 1987 Puerto Rico was shaken by revelations that the island's police was collecting information on so called “political subversives,” and that it was in possession of thousands of extensive carpetas(files) concerning individuals of all social groups and ages.
In the midst of considerable local scandal and under pressure from an inquisitive press, the local legislature approved a petition of information to the police, while both the governor of the island and the secretary of justice characterized the practice of keeping secret files as “unconstitutional.”
Several individuals filed court petitions against the police and against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The courts ruled in favor of the petitioners, instructing the police to return the files to the individuals and to reveal the names of the informants.
Approximately 75,000 persons were listed as under political police surveillance. There were 151,541 entries encompassing individuals (74,412) and organizations, vehicles, boats, and geographic areas (60,776). These 135,188 entries in the central archives of the police were complemented by another 11,353 entries in regional police archives, and approximately 5,000 in the Bureau of Special Investigations of the Justice Department of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
The massive surveillance apparatus uncovered was aimed primarily against Puerto Rico's independence movement [and not "primarily" - against whom else? - M.N.]. Because the regional and central archives contain duplicates, and the same individuals are listed under personal files and files of organizations, the actual number under surveillance is smaller than the number of files.
Approximately 15,589 different persons had extensive police files for political reasons. This is a significant number in an island with a population of 3.8 million people. An equivalent level of political surveillance in the United States would signify the existence of 10,847,145 entries for organizations, individuals, and property, and 1,115,844 extensive files on “political subversives.”
Las carpetas: persecución política y derechos civiles en Puerto Rico (The Files: Political Persecution and Civil Rights in Puerto Rico) edited by Ramón Bosque-Pérez and José Javier Colón-Morera, is a collection of articles and documents concerning political surveillance and repression in the island, based on evidence gathered after the 1987 scandal. Ramón Bosque-Pérez is a researcher at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies in Hunter College and José Javier Colón-Morera is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras.

Occupation and Repression


Colonial political surveillance is of course not new. Shortly after the U.S. military occupation of Puerto Rico in 1898, the first political dissidents to be imprisoned were journalists critical of the colonial regime. Military Governor Guy V. Henry, a notorious “Indian fighter” who arrived in Puerto Rico from the U.S. frontier,1 imprisoned journalists and closed down their newspapers. Evaristo Izcoa Díaz, publisher of El Combate, and Luis Cabalier, publisher of La Estrella Solitaria, were among many journalists imprisoned under the U.S. military regime for publishing material critical of the occupation forces.
Under the “civilian government” that replaced the military government in 1900 Puerto Rican journalists continued to be imprisoned. Julio Medina González, an elected representative in Puerto Rico's Chamber of Delegates for the district of Mayagüez, who founded the magazine La Independencia, was sentenced in 1905 to seven years for publishing a caricature of Governor Beekman Winthrop. He was released after a year and a half by the governor himself.2
Imprisonment for political repression became somewhat more systematic during World War I. By the Jones Act of the U.S. Congress, Puerto Ricans were made U.S. citizens subject to the draft in 1917, the year the U.S. entered the conflict. During that war over 200 Puerto Ricans were imprisoned for refusing to serve in the U.S. armed forces.
Florencio Romero was among those imprisoned. Romero, a tobacco worker from Caguas, was accused of delivering speeches calling on workers to refuse the draft and to oppose the imposition of U.S. citizenship. Romero later contributed to the founding of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.
During the second decade of U.S. rule in Puerto Rico there were also local struggles against the imposition of the English language as the universal language of instruction. Many high school students forged their initial pro-independence credentials in these early struggles and became prominent leaders of the Nationalist Party in the 1930s.
Because of the limited number of immigrants, the Palmer raids following World War I had practically no effect on Puerto Rico, but the imposition of U.S. citizenship in 1917 created a dilemma for proponents of independence, who could henceforth be classed as “unloyal” citizens.
The present apparatus of repression originated in the surveillance of the Puerto Rican Nationalists in the 1930s. Puerto Rico was still ruled by North American governors appointed by the president of the United States. State repression of Nationalists and other pro-independence individuals increased during the 1930s, particularly during the term of General Blanton Winship (governor, 1934-1939).
Winship arrived in Puerto Rico in the midst of a general strike in the sugar industry that paralyzed the island in 1934. A few months earlier, a revolutionary general strike in Cuba, with massive participation of the sugar mill workers, had overthrown the regime of Gerardo Machado. In Puerto Rico the general strike of 1934 signaled a momentary but explosive alliance between wildcat striking workers in the sugar industry and the Nationalist Party, which supported the strike and bore much of the repression of the colonial authorities in its aftermath.
The present carpetas are descendants of the “lists of nationalists” developed under Governor Winship during the crisis years of the 1930s, when the pro-independence ideals of the Nationalist Party gained many adherents and repression by the colonial authorities increased.
Throughout “the American century,” the insular police and its methods of functioning were imported directly from U.S. federal authorities. Since its origins, the inspector of the police came from the army and its weapons were supplied by the U.S. armed forces. During its first decade, the police used U.S. military uniforms and imported the rank system of the navy, while emblems for the ranks were taken from the U.S. army.
Until 1956, the police of Puerto Rico was headed by officers of the U.S. armed forces with rank of colonel. In his analysis of the personnel who occupied the leadership of the police, Ramón Bosque-Pérez found out that the post was frequently occupied by a specialist on military intelligence.3
In the aftermath of a failed Nationalist uprising in 1950, there were massive arrests of Nationalists and pro-independence supporters. In 1956, the FBI initiated a series of secret operations against the communist movement in the United States known as Counter-Intelligence Programs (COINTELPRO). Chronologically, the Puerto Rican independence movement was the second target of COINTELPRO operations, which involved more than simple surveillance. Aggressive operations aimed at disarticulating movements were organized.
Las carpetas reprints several FBI memorandums that reveal the methods of the FBI and its influence on the local initiatives of the Puerto Rico police.4 COINTELPRO operations began in 1960 against the Movimiento Pro Independencia (MPI), the University Pro-Independence Federation (FUPI), and many other Puerto Rican organizations both on the island and in the communities of the Puerto Rican diaspora in the United States.
As early as 1958 the Division of Internal Security of the Puerto Rico Police revealed that thirteen percent of a list of 4,257 “subversives” had emigrated to the United States, thus creating one further category of subversive to be tracked by the FBI in conjunction with local authorities: the “subversive diaspora,” as Bosque-Pérez calls it.
The Puerto Rico police held files of political activities of Puerto Rican Nationalists and Communists in New York and Chicago, among them, for example, extensive files on the activities of Julio Pinto Gandía, president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Junta in New York, Conrad Lynn, a prominent African-American civil rights lawyer,5 and Ruth Reynolds.6 These it could only have obtained from the FBI.

The Dynamics of Surveillance


Despite the prominent place of Puerto Rican independentistas in the work of the FBI, what is known about COINTELPRO operations in Puerto Rico is relatively scanty, the information being zealously guarded. For example, as of 1992, only 1,190 pages had been declassified concerning Puerto Rican independentistas, as compared to 1,427 about Albert Einstein, 1,472 about Nelson Rockefeller, and 13,262 about Abbie Hoffman.
The document section of Las carpetas contains instructions from a manual of the Intelligence Division of the Puerto Rico Police, documents concerning the persecution of feminists, and a bibliography on political persecution and civil rights.
The political assassinations of the 1970s and the infamous Cerro Maravilla case, in which independentistas were assassinated by police agents provocateurs, are placed in the context of the broader culture of surveillance. This culture of surveillance on the part of the authorities, and the culture of fear on the part of those surveyed, forms the central theme and guiding thread of this collection of articles and documents.
Already in the 1920s, U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer argued that surveillance not only served the purpose of accumulating knowledge for future possible use, but it also served to instill among those observed the notion that the government is watching them. This culture of fear is common to all the phases of surveillance and repression throughout the century. It may be said to be the central theme to this collection of essays and documents.
What is missing from this otherwise excellent book, which is unfortunately only available in Spanish, is a discussion of the conditions which render surveillance and repression more effective or less effective, i.e. a discussion of the role of mass struggles and their effect on police repression. The emphasis on the actions of the police, the FBI, and other state agencies, occurs at the expense of a needed discussion on the nature of the movements and organizations repressed.
Are some types of movements and organizations more susceptible to police repression than others? What is the role of mobilization from below, and what forms of organization can contribute to neutralizing the repressive actions of the state? In the case of Puerto Rico, answering these questions will also imply a broader discussion on the state of opposition movements in the United States, on the role of solidarity, on the strength of the labor movement and democratic movements in the continent.
Whichever way the discussion proceeds, as it must proceed, it will have to take account of this seminal work. @NOTEHEAD = Notes @8NOTES = <~>1.<|>Henry bragged about his exploits in Indian Territory in Guy V. Henry, “Wounded in an Indian Fight,” Harpers Weekly, July 6, 1895, and “A Sioux Indian Episode,” Harpers Weekly, December 26, 1896. @8NOTES = <~>2.<|>These and many other examples are from the essay “Encarcelamiento de luchadores anticoloniales: 1898-1958,” by José Paralitici, in the volume under review here. @8NOTES = <~>3.<|>Ramón Bosque-Pérez, “Carpetas y persecución política: la dimensión federal,” inLas carpetas, 37-101. @8NOTES = <~>4.<|>Carmen Gautier Mayoral and Teresa Blanco Stahl, “COINTELPRO en Puerto Rico: documentos secretos del FBI (1960-1971),” in Las carpetas, 255-297. @8NOTES = <~>5.<|>See Conrad J. Lynn, There is a Fountain: the Autobiography of a Civil Rights Lawyer (Westport., Conn.: L. Hill, 1979). @8NOTES = <~>6.<|>See Ruth M. Reynolds, Campus in Bondage : a 1948 Microcosm of Puerto Rico in Bondage, (New York : Centro de Estudios Puertorriquenos/Hunter College, City University of New York, 1989).
ATC 85, March-April 2000
Source URL: http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/1685

Mike Nova comments: Did we not ourselves create and feed the monster which now bares its teeth at us? And by "us" I mean everyone, since it threatens everyone's liberty, because it threatens the very notion and principles of our Liberty? And in the light of some (even if incomplete and elementary) knowledge of human nature in general and some local traits of duplicity and hypocrisy in particular, I wonder in how many cases of "political" surveillance its aims and purposes were subverted and replaced by different and maybe just opposite aims and purposes? I would not be surprised if some future study finds out that nationalist and anti-American sentiments were skillfully used to subvert the culture, spirit and intents of various investigative agencies and governmental structures themselves and to subordinate them to these sentiments. 

Emphasis in bold in the text is mostly mine. 

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