Puerto Rico is a nation that has been ruthlessly colonized, exploited and oppressed by U.S. imperialism. The struggle for Puerto Rican independence has gained the respect and support of millions of working   class and oppressed peoples all over the world. Despite superior arms, fierce repression and relentless social and cultural pressures, the U.S. government has been unsuccessful in its efforts to crush this movement. Today, the jails and prisons of the U.S. hold scores of   prisoners whose only "crime" was to fight for the independence and sovereignty of Puerto Rico. Among these prisoners are grand jury resisters, whose "offense" is that they have refused to collaborate with the U.S. government in its terror campaign against the independence movement.

Puerto Rican women have been at the forefront of the independence movement and have demonstrated their tremendous courage and dedication to the cause of their nation's liberation. They are an inspiration to working women everywhere and their lives reflect the power of women who have been transformed by their participation in revolutionary struggle.

Dylcia Pagan Morales and Carmen Valentin are both fighters for Puerto Rican independence who are currently being held in U.S. prisons. 'Though they could not attend, they each sent statements for our International Women's Day celebration in 1986:

Good evening, dear friends. My name is Dylcia Pagan. I am one of the   Puerto Rican prisoners of war that was captured in Evanston, Illinois,   near Chicago, April 4, 1980. I, with my eleven other comrades, took the   position of Puerto Rican prisoners of war.

You are probably asking yourselves, "Why P.O.W.'s?" Well, the situation   of Puerto Rico requires us to have made that decision. According to   international law, any country that is subjugated by colonialism has   the right to take up arms to defend themselves. And any person captured or accused of such an act has the right to declare themselves, also according to the Geneva Convention, a prisoner of war.

Most people do not understand that there is a war between the United States and Puerto Rico, because it is not to the advantage of this country that the overall American population understand the true situation and the plight of the Puerto Rican nation. Puerto Rico is a country that was invaded militarily 86 years ago by the United States militia. What most of you witnessed in the Grenada invasion never came near to what our homeland went through 86 years ago.

From that time to the present the U.S. government has had total control over our livelihood, our economy, our education, all of the aspects that make one a person, and, for us, to be Puerto Rican.Many people ask us, "What about the question of violence? Why violence?" It is a very important issue. The question of violence is a necessity, simply because this government only respects violent acts. As Puerto Rican people we are probably the most peace-loving humans in the world. I can say for myself and my comrades, we are totally  non-violent people. But it is the conditions that the United States government has created that has made us resort to revolutionary, armed struggle. And that is our ideology. We believe in protracted peoples war and we realize and fully understand that the only alternative for the Puerto Rican nation to be free is with the use of arms. There isn't a nation in the world that has gained its independence without the use of violence. This is true particularly when we are facing the most powerful country in the world and the most treacherous country in the world, who today sits and chooses to accelerate its budgetary allocation for military operations as opposed to maintaining and being concerned about the domestic plight of Americans in this country.

I am a Puerto Rican woman. I am 39 years old. I am a mother and a wife.  My comrade is William Morales who was captured in 1978, who gloriously escaped in 1979 and unfortunately was re-captured in Mexico City in 1982. We have a beautiful son, Guillermo Sebastian Morales, who neither of us have seen since he was 13 months old. But yet, I do not despair, simply because I believe so much in our struggle and I know that we are correct and that history will exonerate us.

I am facing right now 55 years. Some of my comrades are facing 90 years. We do not see any difference in that amount of time because, as we all say, we came in together, we will be in freedom together. And we clearly know that history will exonerate us because our cause is a just cause.

Looking at the Puerto Rican nation, when we look at women in Puerto Rico, we realize that 48% of our women have been sterilized against their will. 38% of our men have had legal vasectomies, 12% of our land has been used for military operations and the U.S. government continues its plot, its genocidal plot against our people. By the year 2020 they wish to convert our island into a larger military bastion than it already is, by creating 18 military industrial parks. For what benefit? Their own. They have discovered natural, elementary ores that will provide more elementary ores for the continuation of military warheads.

Again, internationally, the U.S. has violated the treaty of Tlatelolco by placing a nuclear base in Puerto Rico. Recently 50,000 people demonstrated against nuclear arms on the island. That in itself gives us the strength to continue forward, to be able to survive the conditions that this government has put us in prison.

For the past year and a half, the government has been moving me throughout the U.S. The government, I am sure, hoped and wished that my spirit would be broken. But it is very difficult to kill a revolutionary, when we solely believe in our principles, and in the liberation for our country.


Carmen Valentin is one of 10 Puerto Rican Prisoners of War who received a 95 year sentence for seditious conspiracy against the U.S. government. Carmen received the longest sentence because the judge said that she showed no remorse. Carmen's statement after being convicted of seditious conspiracy clearly shows her revolutionary commitment to her people:

"Your press, your justice system, your repressive forces, your 
government, has branded us as terrorists. But the word ‘terrorist’ no  longer means to the Puerto Rican nation what it used to. Instead of  arousing fear or censure, ‘terrorism’ is a call to action. To be called  a terrorist by our enemy is an honor to any citizen; for this means he  or she is fighting with a gun in their hand against the monstrosity of the present government and the suffering it causes."

On March 8, 1986, she sent the following message of greetings for International Working Women's Day: Demonstration for Puerto Rican independence, New York City, 1970

My dear friends and comrades. My name is Carmen Valentin, one of the fifteen Puerto Rican prisoners of war in this country. I was captured, along with nine other comrades on April 4, 1980. Prior to that I was involved with all aspects of the development of the Puerto Rican  community in the West Town of Chicago, Ill. I was primarily involved in  the educational process where I am a high school teacher and worked as  such for many years. During the illegal proceedings held in this country's courts, we were charged with possession of arms at the state level. Later we were tried for seditious conspiracy. I am presently serving a 98 year sentence.

From the inception, we proclaimed ourselves prisoners of war according  to the protocols of the Geneva Convention. We have done this because  history dictates it, as our country was militarily invaded in 1898 and since then has been occupied illegally by this country. Puerto Rico is not part of the United States, nor has it ever been. Therefore, to be accused of seditious conspiracy is the impossible crime.

We are fully recognized by a broad sector of our people, as well as by many progressive elements of the international arena, as prisoners of  war, carrying on a war in an attempt to decolonialize our country. The use of arms was undertaken by us as a group and continues to be used  today because all channels of peaceful protest have been ignored and are therefore null and void.

We truly believe that the only solution to our nation's plight is that 
of armed insurrection. We, as a nation, have been victimized by the 
violence of this country and as a consequence have turned violent means into avenues that will bring a peaceful future. We wish to urge all peace-loving, progressive people to study the struggle of the Puerto Rican people for only then can we hope to add your necessary support to the sacred cause of arms for the liberation for our Puerto Rico.