Event pays homage to Puerto Rican heroes
By John Ramirez
and Teresa Gutierrez
New York
On Feb. 29 in the Bronx, the New York Junta of
the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party paid tribute to Lolita
Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Rodríguez
and Andrés Figueroa, who had carried out an attack on
the U.S. Congress 50 years ago, on March 1, 1954, in an act of
resistance to U.S. colonial rule over the island. The event
also honored other Nationalist fighters, especially Oscar
Collazo and Griselio Torresola, who had earlier attacked Blair
House in an attempt to assassinate President Harry S.
Truman.
The event was a show of unity among various Puerto Rican
organizations in the city and brought out over 100 people.
Speakers at the historic commemoration paid respect to the
ongoing struggle for the independence of Puerto Rico, with
special remembrance for the Nationalist heroes who have
dedicated their lives to this cause. Among those representing
other organizations was Berta Ceci Joubert from Workers World
Party. Joubert was part of the medical team that examined
Lolita Lebrón when she arrived in Puerto Rico in
September 1979 after being released from prison in the U.S.
The event included a mass led by revolutionary liberation
theologist Rev. Luis Barrios. Barrios, who is Puerto Rican,
declared Don Pedro Albizu Campos a saint. Albizu Campos was the
legendary leader of the Nationalist Party and its struggle for
independence. His portrait hung on the wall surrounded by
Puerto Rican flags.
Jorge Peña, a representative of the Cuban Mission to
the United Nations, compared Puerto Rico and Cuba to two wings
of a single bird, a poetic image for the parallels in their
struggle. Other speakers included representatives from the
Vieques Support Campaign, the Socialist Workers Party,
Revolutionary Communist Party, Frente Socialista and the
Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle of Venezuela.
Messages of solidarity also referred to Cuba and
Venezuela.
The main speaker was Julio Rosado, a former political
prisoner who had been a member of the National Liberation
Movement of Puerto Rico and of the Socialist League, led by
Juan Antonio Corretjer. He went over the history of the
liberation movement in Puerto Rico and provided a perspective
on the continuing struggle for independence.
Reprinted from the March 11, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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