Oscar Part 2: "The Perfect Storm"

The Winston Churchill words "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it" often touted by President Obama on the dais, to steer Americans on the path to righteousness, ring very hollow today.  The PROMESA passage on June 29, 2016 will go down in history as a day of infamy for the United States of America. And the buzz word from every corner of the island is "indignation."

COUNTDOWN TO COLONIAL TAKEOVER: BACK TO THE FUTURE

May 27, 2016
Juan González, co-host of Democracy Now, Daily News column, "A Colonial Takeover Proposed Puerto Rican Debt Bill to Give 'Dictatorial' Powers to Unelected Board.” “The bill has provoked a furor among many island residents because it imposes a seven-member oversight board with dictatorial powers that hearken back to colonial days, and because it is geared to protecting bondholders and paving the way for massive cuts in the island’s public services.” read more

May 31, 2016
Matt Peppe, Global Research, "Obama Continues to Ignore Pleas to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera.” The mega star Lin Manuel Miranda uses his coveted invitation to the White House to put in a good word for the release of political prisoner Oscar, to which President Obama made the reply, “he had the case on his desk.” read more  

The Puerto Rican tragedy couldn’t get any worse, you might think. But it does for me. The catharsis that followed this email was the 16-year build-up of outrage, frustration and anguish. I froze before my closet mirror sliding doors, my eyes on the floor, afraid to see the woman in the mirror.  Tears were staining my face like the forlorn stepchild, unloved and mistreated.  I prayed, God, in our darkest hour don’t let President Obama turn his back on the people of Puerto Rico he made a promise to back in June 2011.  When the eyes of the world were on us for a whole 3 ½ hours!  And Obama won the hearts and minds of islanders enjoying the Puerto Rican hospitality, “El Sandwiche Media Noche” surrounded by jubilant locals for lunch.

Obama's 'Visita Flash'

To the outside world, beyond our island’s shores, Obama’s historic presidential visit all boiled down to just another pit-stop along the campaign trail, and his courtship of the State of Florida Puerto Rican voters.  But from my view (a loyal and I mean loyal Obama supporter) Air Force One was packed with hope.  The Fortuño years of unbridled austerity had ruined confidence in local government. Obama represented the "Great Black Hope for Brown Folks" coming to the rescue of his adoring fans.

Obama’s top advisers to the 2010 White House Task Force on the Status of Puerto Rico were also aboard, to follow-up on the President’s mandate to island political leaders: To set a date for the 2012 referendum on the resolution of the island’s political status that he promised to honor, endorse and take before the US Congress.  This Task Force Report revealed President Obama is a friend and ally of the Puerto Rican people and our cause for self-determination, economic and sustainable recovery and prosperity (unlike his predecessors who are most remembered for their policy of lip-service):

"The Task Force recommends (consulting) all relevant parties - the president, Congress, and the leadership and people of Puerto Rico - statehood, independence, free association, and commonwealth- and have that will acted upon by the end of 2012 or soon thereafter.” (NILP: “The White House Task Force on Puerto Rico,” March 16, 2011) 

Five years later...Nada que ver.   

What we've got here is a failure to communicate. 

You see, I'm a binge watcher of "The West Wing,” “Scandal” and "House of Cards" on Satellite TV, so I know perfectly well how the Oval Office and the sit-room work.  One of President Obama’s top Puerto Rican Cabinet advisers, that would be the diplomat Mari Carmen Aponte, his newly appointed Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs oversees Latin America and the Caribbean, and could readily stand over the shoulder of POTUS and point to the briefings on his desk.

“Mr. President, may I have a word?  I strongly urge you to sign this presidential pardon for the political prisoner Oscar López Rivera.  Sir, what we have is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.  That only you can defuse by taking swift executive action.  Mr. President, activists are screaming “Puerto Rico Is Not For Sale to the Billionaires." The world spectacle will be a disgrace on the face of America.  I suggest you put aside the present danger of an Election year political fallout."

(You know how “the brother” talks.) “Mari Carmen, them folks are unreal. They made a mess of the 2012 plebiscite process. Your people better get their act together and stop wasting my time."

"Don’t blame them Mr. President.  Your Task Force got off on the wrong foot:

“It is of critical concern (wrote the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights) that this Task Force, lacking any Puerto Rican representation, had the audacity to sell the strained reasoning that Puerto Ricans living in the United States choose to leave and, therefore, have no right to participate in any decision concerning the Island. (Whose bright idea was that?) Where is the analysis of how many Puerto Ricans in the US own, lease or share property on the Island, and whether those interests are worthy of respect or enfranchisement?  (NILP: “The Report of President Obama's White House Task Force on Puerto Rico: It Speaks Yet Says Nothing,” (May 3, 2011)

"Mr. President, these recommendations continue to be so out of touch with Puerto Rico's reality today:"

“If a plebiscite is chosen, only residents of Puerto Rico should be eligible to vote. This issue is a difficult one. But on balance, those who have committed to the Island by residing there have strong arguments that only they should vote on its future. (Let me guess who 'those' people are. Nope, calladita me veo más bonita.) In addition, the complexities of determining who is eligible to vote among those of Puerto Rican descent and managing a vote among a population dispersed throughout the United States and elsewhere would be daunting. (Where there's a will, there's a way!) (NILP: “President’s Task Force on PR, March 16, 2011)

"Pardon my saying so, Mr. President.  The PROMESA package calls for another status referendum, and must take into account the position of prominent Puerto Rican leaders, who have every right to be displeased with the White House":

 

"For the first time in history, the question of the future status of Puerto Rico is being discussed when a majority of the Puerto Ricans do not reside in the territory,” said Dr. Edwin Meléndez, Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College (my alma mater).  “It is in the best interest of Puerto Rico's residents to strengthen the ties that bind us to our homeland…Given recent trends in migration, the economic impact of stateside Puerto Ricans on the island's economy is likely to grow over the next decades. All things considered, stateside Puerto Ricans should play an important part in the determination of their (islanders’) destiny,” asserts Dr. Meléndez.  “Stateside Puerto Ricans should be encouraged to become involved in the decision-making process of the status of Puerto Rico question.  Consequently, all U.S. citizens of Puerto Rican descent should also participate in any referendum to strengthen the ties that bind us to our homeland.  !Somos un Solo Pueblo!" (Amen to that.)

"Five years later and we're back to square one. Mr. President, my people are counting on you to sign Oscar Rivera's presidential pardon before you leave the Oval Office.  All due respect, you hired me to keep the peace among the volatile and economically depressed Latin American and Caribbean nations, so please help me do my job." 

Caso Cerrado.

June 5, 2016

DiaspoRicans l DiaspoRiqueños network calls for an emergency rally "United Against PROMESA/Unidos Contra PROMESA” that was held in front of the Presidential campaign office of Hillary Clinton, and the district offices of Congress Members Nydia Velázquez and José Serrano, to demand that they oppose the PROMESA (Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act) bill Congress was scheduled to act on.  An example of the 'first responders' that began to mobilize at supersonic speed to come to the rescue of La Patria in distress (PROMESA protest groups listed below). “Charging the People of Puerto Rico $370 million in order to suspend their locally elected government is beyond the pale! Blasted fellow DiaspoRican activist Gloria Quiñones. read more

June 7, 2016
Ed Morales, The Nation, "Who Is Responsible for Puerto Rico’s Debt?  "What progressives in the United States and Puerto Rico agree on is that pressure must be put on Washington to own up to its responsibility in the debt crisis. Washington’s colonial control over the country’s economy helped create this situation; UCLA professor César Ayala says that Puerto Rico would rank next to last on a list of world countries in GNP-to-GDP ratio.  Only $67 billion out of the island’s $100 billion in earnings stays in Puerto Rico. Ayala estimates that between 2004 and 2013, US multinationals repatriated $313 billion from Puerto Rico, which is enough to repay the debt fourfold."  read more

June 9, 2016
El Nuevo Dia Front Page. In a two-prong frontal assault, the US Supreme Court and the US Congress dealt the mortal blow to the “Free-Associated-State or El ELA.” House Speaker Paul Ryan celebrates making “the deal” and the PROMESA bipartisan bill moves on to the Senate.

The headline reads “In less than 24 hours the US Supreme Court reaffirms the US Congress’s plenary powers over the Island territory and the House of Representatives moves in for the kill (más claro no lo canta un gallo) approving La Junta-Fiscal Control Board in a hostile colonial takeover.

Note: This is a crime scene.  The dagger thrust into the heart of Puerto Rico, implies the death to the illusion of a ‘sovereign’ free associated state. There is no body politic, only the remains, the scraps and torn limbs of our crippled institutions, the carnage of hedge fund vultures, greedy and ruthless predators of helpless Puerto Rican American citizens, are pillaging the schools of children and the universities where young adults are going hungry and will not be able to survive on the PROMESA bill's proposed $4.25 an hour wages for young people. Hedge Clippers YouTube. to view

June 16, 2016
“PROMESA Must Fulfill Its Promise.”  “No deal!” Senator Bob Menéndez, New Jersey Democrat of Puerto Rican descent, fights on the Senate floor for further debate, to make amendments to the anti-democratic legislation, and cites the bill’s blatant neocolonial language "the Oversight Board would have broad sovereign powers to effectively overrule decisions by Puerto Rico's legislature, governor and other public authorities.” YouTube to view

June 17, 2016
NBC News Opinion piece, “Beyond PROMESA: Prospects for Puerto Rican Self-Determination” Angelo Falcon, President of the National Institute for Latino Policy, accepts the foregone conclusion of Senate PROMESA approval and presents a hopeful strategic plan for the future, should there be the political will between islander and diaspora leadership. read more

Lord knows, moving forward, we could use a National Hero right about now, and Oscar Rivera, the Chicago community activist and native son of San Sebastian Puerto Rico is our best unifying force for bridging the political divide that stalls island progress.

June 20, 2016
Puerto Rico comes out of the colonial closet!  The proceedings of the annual “United Nations’ Hearing on Puerto Rico Decolonization” in New York City are televised in its entirety, compliments of the tireless efforts of Compañeros Unidos Para La Descolonización de Puerto Rico, the United Front of Islanders and the Diaspora for a Decolonized Puerto Rico. A must-see YouTube. to view

June 25, 2016
El Vocero, "Pueblo Contra La Junta" Concertación Puertorriqueña launches an island wide Civil Disobedience campaign and Junta protestors converge on the sports and concert arena Coliseo Roberto Clemente (capacity 10,000). To hear Congressman Luis Gutierrez's call for action who voted against the PROMESA act in Congress.   read more

June 29, 2016
The PROMESA bill is passed. Huffington Post, "Senate is About to Anger Vulture Funds and Help Puerto Rico." read more

Now that’s a picture that's worth a thousand words. Kudos to el Nuevo Día graphics team.  The long arm of Washington’s colonial laws are set to squeeze the juice (and the life) out of La Colonia.

Translation: US Senate approves imposition of La Junta-Fiscal Control Board by 63-30 votes.  The law gives island government a temporary reprieve from the potential lawsuits by creditors for Puerto Rico's failure to make good on the July 1st debt repayment. Island leaders begin to work on secret contingency plans to continue government operations. 

Students of the resistance occupy the entrance to the United States Courthouse in Puerto Rico.  Leaders of the "Campamento Contra La Junta" vow to stage a repeat performance of the Free Vieques sit-ins until their demands are met for a Freed Oscar and a decolonized Puerto Rico. read more

And, on July 4, 2016, the USA celebrates its 1776 independence from the British colonial Empire, while simultaneously, restricting the "individual liberties" of its Puerto Rico American citizens.  And making a mockery of "justice for all." 

And I wonder, will I ever (in my lifetime) see an Independence Day for my people?: Free of unfriendly colonialist intervention, Free of the mass exploitation of our national resources and human capital.  Free of the terms of modern enslavement soon to befall the 3.5 million remaining island inhabitants, now at the mercy of the “Masters of the Universe” fiscal control board, who would bleed islanders for greed.

In spite of these crushing events that boil my indignation, I am deeply inspired by Oscar the "Braveheart" for whom in every sense of the word, ‘la libertad se lleva en el corazón.’

Next:  Oscar Part 3: “The Last Prisoner” 
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