This past Monday, October 30, the Puerto Rican independence movement commemorated, like every year on this date, the Jayuya Insurrection of 1950 led by the Nationalist Party.
Although the Grito de Lares of 1868 is better known outside of Puerto Rico, the importance of the Jayuya Uprising is that it was the first armed uprising against the Yankee invaders. Nationalist men and women fought in several towns on the island, but it was in Jayuya where the Republic of Puerto Rico was proclaimed free from gringo domination. There, the pro-independence forces fought and maintained combat, even with rudimentary weapons, for three days before the US military forces, together with the local police, repressed them.
The commemoration events this year were very special because they took place in a very painful global context. The genocide by Israel and the United States of the Palestinian people. And for us in Puerto Rico, the Palestinian struggle has always been a sister struggle. We are both colonies, and our people have been displaced from our lands in Puerto Rico with a less bloody character but with the same purpose of taking over our homeland.
That is why this year, the commemoration of the Jayuya insurrection was not only the expression of a people that continue to fight in various ways for our liberation but also an act of solidarity with those sisters and brothers who are being massacred by the same criminal hand that tries to rob us of our future. Showing solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and resistance. This was demonstrated by the speeches and even a song written by our singer, Tony Mapeyé, in honor of the Palestinian people.
Long live Puerto Rico! Long live Free Palestine!
From Puerto Rico for Radio Clarín of Colombia, Berta Joubert-Ceci spoke to you.
Translated by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
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