War Against
All Puerto Ricans by Nelson Denis, 2015, Excerpts
In 1930, Albizu became
president of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico. The Nationalists were
dedicated to one overwhelming cause: achieving independence for Puerto Rico as
quickly and unconditionally as possible. This included the reclamation of all
Puerto Rican lands, the nationalization of all banks, the reinstatement of
Spanish as the primary language of public school instruction, and the
elimination of tariff payments to the United States.
This platform of unconditional
independence became more compelling as the Great Depression swept through
Puerto Rico, and hunger gripped the island. As the great Depression deepened,
the US banks that controlled Puerto Rico’s sugar plantations cut wages all over
the island. Starvation was rampant, and during the last six months of 1933,
eighty-five strikes and protests erupted in the tobacco, needlework, and
transportation industries. The bitterest conflict, however, was in the cane
fields.
On January 11, 1934, Albizu,
as head of the Nationalists Party, addressed a crowd of 6,000 people. Albizu
spoke to the people for two hours about their work, their land, and their
island. He recited “Puerto Rico, Puerto Pobre,” a poem by Pablo Neruda. El Emparcial ran his entire speech on
its front page. When he finished, the crowd of 6,000 applauded for over five
minutes and asked him to lead the workers through the bitter sugar cane strike.
In a twentieth-century version of David versus Goliath, Albizu Campos and the Nationalists
were waging a revolution against the most powerful nation in history.
Note: Google his speech, not
easy to find, but worth reading once found.
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