- by Juan Ocasio Rivera

Honoring the Past
Antonio Cruz Colon, revered patriot and Nationalist combatant of the 1950 Puerto Rican insurrection, was honored last Friday night during a vibrant ceremony in the Bronx, New York.

Cruz Colon was but one of the approximately 150 combatants of the Liberation Army of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party (PNPR) who rose up in arms in late 1950, declaring the independence of Puerto Rico and rejecting the then-developing process towards the “commonwealth” system.

What began with a series of arrests and raids on October 26, 1950, led to a massive response by the Nationalist Party, which had long planned a national revolution in support of independence but saw itself forced to spontaneously unleash their undertaking in the face of looming mass arrests. Pedro Albizu Campos, the PNPR President, then ordered the attacks to being at midday on October 30th. The towns and cities of Ponce, Penuelas, Mayaguez, Naranjito, Jayuya, Utuado, Arecibo, San Juan, and even Washington, D.C. met the coordinated response of the Nationalists in their attempt to draw international attention to the cause of Puerto Rico’s independence. In the town of Jayuya, the Cadets of the Republic destroyed government buildings, raised the Puerto Rican flag (which was illegal to even own, much less fly), publicly presented a proclamation which declared the island free, and even installed a Mayor for the new township. Jayuya was bombarded by the National Guard, who – after warning local residents to stay indoors with their doors open lest they risk being shot - used mortar rounds, machine gun fire, and airplanes to senselessly and indiscrimately light up the countryside, destroying much of the town themselves. Antonio Cruz Colon was among those young men and women whose passion for freedom motivated them to take action in Jayuya and who sacrificed 22 years of his life in prison as a result.

On November 1st, Griselio Torresola Roura and Oscar Collazo left the Bronx, New York and traveled to Washington, D.C. There, they attacked Blair House, the temporary quarters of President Truman at that time. Torresola was killed in the battle and Collazo was wounded, later serving 29 years in prison until pardoned by President Carter in 1979.

The fighting in Puerto Rico lasted until November 6th, 1950 when the combatants in Naranjito who had been waging guerilla warfare, were captured. The Nationalists were shockingly lacking in arms for this action, but their valor and determination cannot be refuted.

There are not many men left like Antonio Cruz Colon in this world. His strength of conviction, his ideals, his training even, are intact today, 54 years after the Insurrection of 1950. He proudly wears the uniform of the Cadets to this day, as do many young Puerto Ricans inspired by the example of Albizu Campos and the Nationalists in defending Puerto Rican culture, history, and sovereignty.

Looking Ahead
In the face of an gubernatorial election year in Puerto Rico where candidates swagger and dance "reggaeton" publicly to seem like “men-of-the-people”, men like Antonio Cruz Colon stand out during a time when honor, conviction, and principles are needed to move Puerto Rico forward politically and economically.

Additionally, in the face of a probable win by the pro-statehood and former Governor Pedro Rosello, national organizations based in Puerto Rico have begun to reach out to the Puerto Rican communities in the United States in order to solidify joint efforts at addressing issues vital to both communities. Among these issues is the final resolution of the status issue and planned educational efforts to promote the ideal and feasibility of the independence option. The Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH), is an organization recently born out of the fusion of two prior national grassroots organizations - Congreso Nacional Hostosiano and the Nuevo Movimiento Independentista. The organization, which visited with local activists this weekend in NYC, hopes to conduct joint efforts both in Puerto Rico and in Puerto Rican communities in the US, to address both local issues and to conduct educational campaigns with respect to Puerto Rican independence.

The community that supports independence, which also held a commemoration this weekend of the 1974 gathering of 18,000 people in Madison Square Garden, is shifting towards unity of work and respect of ideology.

This community is transforming the vehicles through which the Nationalists of 1950 desperately declared their resistance to continued colonization. We are honoring our heroes, like Antonio Cruz Colon and Rafael Cancel Miranda. We are uniting our grassroots efforts and creating larger and more efficient organizations. We are planning massive campaigns geared to undo the damage done to the psyche of the Puerto Rican Nation. We are organizing to bring the case of Puerto Rico to the UN General Assembly. We are respecting the methods each sector of the movement undertakes, whether its armed struggle or the ballot box or grassroots action.

And, in the end, today's movement is undertaking the self-determination that the Father of our Country, Ramon Emeterio Betances, dictated: It is time. A people who want freedom will take that freedom; and it will not wait for such freedom from anyone's grace or mercy.

Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre!

Don Pedro Albizu Campos

Lolita Lebron and Rafael Cancel Miranda