This new year promises to be one of relentless struggle in this colony. More than ever, we must sharpen our strategies so that independence ceases to be a dream or an aspiration and becomes the central axis of all our battles — from the environmental struggle to the fight against privatization and militarization.
Above all, against militarization. Since last August, the Yankee military has been reorganizing, upgrading and expanding its old bases to put them at the service of new military adventures launched from our own backyard. It has even leased civilian airports, such as Aguadilla in the northwest and parts of the Mercedita civilian airport in the city of Ponce, in the south of the island. The military also restricts airspace at its convenience, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded at airports.
On Jan. 3, while our people were enjoying the holiday festivities, U.S. terrorism used our land and waters as a platform to invade our sister nation Venezuela and kidnap President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. They bombed military and civilian installations, killing Venezuelan men and women and 32 Cuban heroes who were defending the president.
Not content with this crime, the U.S. empire threatens all Caribbean countries that pose a challenge to its capitalist interests — Cuba, Colombia, even Mexico — and uses us as a key piece in its military incursions.
A few days ago, the U.S. Army announced that the entire territory of our archipelago will be the stage for its military exercises and presence. These maneuvers, called “Caribbean Army Week,” will use public spaces — from streets and avenues to public plazas — as well as, of course, its bases. Lt. Col. Heath Dickinson, director of operations for the U.S. Army Reserve Command of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, told news outlets that thousands of soldiers will be involved in the exercise. Quoting him, he added: “The public is going to see that we’re going to have a lot of military trucks and our machinery across the island, and we’re going to be on the highways.”
Both Kilómetro Cero and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), organizations that defend the rights of the people, have expressed their opposition. The ACLU says, “There is no justification whatsoever for a military presence in civilian spaces, from main roadways to plazas and any other public space.”
Grassroots organizations have called for a mass demonstration in front of the U.S. Muñiz Base on Jan. 17. Meanwhile, each has issued statements in support of Bolivarian Venezuela, condemning the crime of the Trump administration.
From Puerto Rico, for Radio Clarín of Colombia,
Berta Joubert-Ceci
