 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Rubén Berríos Martínez has been president of the Puerto Rican Independence party five times in a row and is currently honorary president of one of the biggest associations of socialist, social democratic and labor parties, Socialist International. A graduate of Georgetown University and Yale Law School, Berríos has written two books and published various articles in Foreign Affairs. He was one of the main actors in the non-violent protests which prompted the withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from the Puerto Rican island of Vieques in 2001 and has been championed as the hero of the Puerto Rican independence movement.
Why are you in favor of Puerto Rican independence?
A colony is illegitimate in today’s democratic world. We feel that this colonization is not only anti-democratic but also absolutely anti-American. Simply stated, we believe that each nation should have the right to rule itself and should not have to rely on foreign powers. I have a picture of George Washington and Simon Bolivar on my desk – I am fighting for independence for the same reasons these two men fought for independence. The problem is that for many reasons, we were left behind by the train of history. There are almost no colonies left, neither in Africa nor in Asia. And so now we are fighting to catch up with that train that left us behind.
To what extent are the differences in culture and language an important reason for your desire to attain a republic of Puerto Rico?
If we, as Puerto Ricans, participated in the same cultural traditions as the U.S., we would not need to be independent because we would not be separate peoples. But we have a very different way of life that cannot be compared or assimilated into the way of life of the U.S. It is also important not to forget that we were a nation 400 years before the U.S. colonized us, and we had therefore already formed our own cultural identity, separate from that of the U.S.
The U.S. has given substantial economic aid to Puerto Rico in the past years. Do you think the U.S. would have a political or moral obligation to continue giving Puerto Rico financial assistance if Puerto Rico became an independent state?
First and foremost, Puerto Rico will have to try to achieve economic stability and welfare on its own. One of the biggest problems of colonialism is the excessive dependency that it fosters. This has caused 60% of Puerto Ricans to go to the U.S. to look for employment, therefore creating a tropical ghetto here.
Do you think the independence of Puerto Rico would be beneficial or detrimental to Puerto Rico’s economy?
Of course it would be beneficial. Look, no country lays claim to another country for the other country’s benefit, but only for its own benefit. For 25 years Puerto Rico has been stuck in an economic tangle and what we need is a new model of economic development. We want to be politically independent from the United States, but economically interdependent with the rest of the world. We cannot continue with a system in which we do not bring in any foreign capital and are incapable of trading with any other countries around the world.
Today 2 million Puerto Ricans live in New York City and thousands of others are scattered all across the United States. How do you think relations between Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans in the U.S. will change if Puerto Rico becomes an independent republic?
I think both Puerto Ricans in our country and in the U.S. would benefit. As a republic we could use all the mechanisms used by independent states in order to advocate the interests of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. And Puerto Ricans would of course always be able to come back home if they wanted to.
How has globalization affected the movement for independence in Puerto Rico and in other separatist regions?
Before the advent of globalization, small countries had an inherent disadvantage. But to quote The Size of Nations, a new book by an MIT professor, “As globalization progresses, economic integration should go hand in hand with political separation.” It is now economically viable to be independent and that has certainly been a huge incentive to increase our efforts to make Puerto Rico an independent republic. While it used to be economically advantageous to be a colony, that is no longer the case now because with globalization, it is possible to have access to the international market. But in addition, globalization has made people around the world more patriotic and nationalistic as they feel the need to identify with their regions. This has certainly contributed to the increase in the number of secessionist movements all over the world. Globalization has helped to spread democratic ideals to all corners of the world and like Puerto Rico, many of these regions no longer want to be oppressed. Elihu Root once wrote that “there can be no tyranny as galling as the intimate control of local affairs of life by foreign rulers who are entirely indifferent to local conceptions of how life ought to be conducted.”
Do you really believe the U.S. is “entirely indifferent to local conceptions of how life ought to be conducted” in Puerto Rico? Has the U.S. become too preoccupied with its own foreign and domestic concerns, such as the presidential elections and the war on terrorism, and paid too little attention to the concerns of Puerto Rico?
Yes, they have to take care of their own business and we have to take care of ours. America has a population of 280 million and it is clear that it has to take care of Americans first. That is perfectly understandable and I do not believe that there are any bad intentions involved. If we were Americans this would be a different matter. But we are not Americans; we are Latin Americans.
An article in Foreign Affairs Magazine recently reported that only 5% of Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico wanted Puerto Rico to become independent. How do you account for this lack of interest in the independence movement?
For a country that lives in a state of dependence, attaining independence is an uphill battle. People say to themselves that independence sounds nice in theory, but that it is not economically viable. Also remember that independence has been suppressed by means of not only attempted Americanization and also by means of detention and persecution of individual citizens. I myself just spent 4 months in jail and was only released recently.
What is the future of the independence movement?
We will definitely attain independence; it is merely a question of time and circumstance. The reason the United States had to subdue the independence movement was military, but this reason is not applicable to the current situation. Puerto Rico couldn’t be independent because of the Cold War and because of limited access to international markets. But in this post-Cold War era of globalization, the U.S. doesn’t need to continue having the same type of relationship with Puerto Rico as it did in the past. The problem is that we’re not on the radar screen of the United States yet, and so we have to bring this problem to their attention. When will this occur? I do not know. We thought it would take decades before the United States Navy would leave its military base in Vieques, but they left in three years. Little by little, people with good intentions who believe in democratic principles are starting to realize that Puerto Rico needs to be independent. General Wesley Clark recently stated that he thinks it is important to solve the Puerto Rican status problem and Al Sharpton has shown his support for our movement and was even in jail with me for one month.
You were educated in the U.S. and were a student at Yale. How did this experience affect your decision to become involved in the independence movement?
That’s right: I was an undergraduate at Georgetown University and then went to Law School at Yale. Many of the events concerning Martin Luther King were taking place while I was at Yale and he was indeed a great inspiration for many of my actions in Puerto Rico. At Yale I learned about the spirit of civil disobedience which went as far back as Gandhi. So, when I came back to Puerto Rico I began putting that knowledge into use.
You have spent a substantial amount of time in prison. How did that come about?
In 1999 I went to Vieques, a small Puerto Rican island that the U.S. navy had been using as a military base, and campaigned and protested in the prohibited area for 362 days alongside many others. Most Puerto Ricans were in favor of our cause, which was entirely non-violent, and many Americans such as Sharpton of Rev. Jackson also began to support us. Thus, this brought attention to the the on-going injustice and it became impossible for the Navy to stay in Vieques. But in 2000, I was arrested and detained for a few days and then a couple of weeks later I was arrested again and remained in prison for four months. I think it was a privilege to have been in jail because I was fulfilling my responsibility and also because I got so much respect from the people in jail. I feel very honored to have given up my liberty for those four months, because it furthered Puerto Rican national pride by such a great degree.