The Puerto Rican National Liberation Struggle Puerto Rico's Colonial Case.htm "jackieharold" Sat, 29 Sep 2007 11:55:35 -0400 Information to strenghthen our struggle, a capsule of combative vitamins The colonial reality of Puerto Rico has created a National Liberation struggle that has produced many independence Freedom Fighters and many pro-independence organizations; that have been actively educating, organizing, and mobilizing the Puerto Rican community against U.S. colonialism. The nature of anti-colonial struggles often gives birth to clandestine revolutionary organizations, which engage in armed struggle against the colonial powers. The Puerto Rican Political Prisoners were apart of two of these clandestine organizations;Las Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN) and Los Macheteros. Their arrests and subsequent imprisonment correspond to a planned effort by the FBI to destroy their organizations and repress their activities. In 1978, the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) --a clandestine pro-independence group operating in the US-- was designated by the FBI as one of the most significant threats to the security of the United States. Between 1980 and 1983, 14 alleged members of the FALN were arrested, accused of seditious conspiracy, and sentenced to prison terms between 50 and 90 years. In August, 1985, the FBI arrested 13 people accused of being members of the clandestine group Los Macheteros (machete wielders) in Puerto Rico. On September 1983, Los Macheteros claimed responsibility for the expropriation of $7 millions from a Wells Fargo depot in Connecticut. During the arrests of August 1985, around 300 agents were used to search the houses and offices of dozens of pro-independence supporters and sympathizers. The agents made a massive display of weapons; dozens of houses were submitted to electronic surveillance for months in violation of the US Constitution and Puerto Rico's laws; tens of thousands of calls were taped; those arrested were taken out of Puerto Rico and brought to trials in the mainland. The accused were kept in preventive detention for more than a year, and their most elemental rights were violated. It is important to note that under United Nations Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 of December 1960, it states that colonialism is an international crime and that a colonized people have every right to use whatever means necessary to end their colonial plight (which includes armed struggle). This international resolution makes Puerto Rico's colonial reality and the imprisonment of the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners an international crime and human rights violation. Home Page | What is ProLibertad? | Puerto Rican Political Prisoners | ProLibertad Bodega | Puerto Rico's Colonial Case | El Coqui Libre: ProLibertad Newsletter | Calendar of Events | Solidarity Links