The former political prisoner thanked progressive movements for supporting his decades-long struggle for a free Puerto Rico. Plus articles related to Lopez Rivera's release.
My brother, who is coming home almost 36 years after being incarcerated, will come out becoming the emblematic figure of Puerto Rican unity in a country that has historically experienced deep political divisions that have totally torn families apart. My brother is coming out where every political party and every political tendency [supports him].
The Day After Trump Admin Brags About Blocking Funds "They wanted a bailout. We wouldn't give it to them."
The plan by the oversight board for Puerto Rico will depress the economy further and fuel a debt spiral, in which Puerto Ricans, US taxpayers, and in the long run, even the creditors will lose
Moderators Note: This article, which is not friendly to the workers of Puerto Rico, does list in detail the latest austerity measures enacted by the Government of Puerto Rico as dictated by Obama's Federal Control Board.
Reader Comments: Analyzing a Very Close Election; What Now, What Next?; Revenge of the Forgotten Class - What Impacted How White Workers Voted?; A Message from the Past for us Today - from A.J. Muste;
Announcements: 2016 Election Debrief; Announcing the AltoTrump.com Website; The Spanish Civil War & the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: 80 Years Later; Puerto Rico: Facts and Realities of Living Under PROMESA; Clemency for Leonard Peltier - week of actions; and more...
Reader Comments: Anita Hill-What We Can Still Learn From Sexual Harassment; Readers on The Left Deserves Better Than Jill Stein; Racism and Fight Against Public Lands; Secret Struggle Against Apartheid; Spain's Turmoil and Europe's Crisis; CCR Takes John Ashcroft to Supreme Court;
Announcements: Ethel Rosenberg's sons on 60 Minutes - Sunday; Chicago forum-Contemporary Capitalism and Why We Need Marxism; New York - three different book talks; exhibit - U.S. Radical Left
PROMESA has already brought changes to Puerto Rico, including slashing the minimum wage to just US$4.25 for people under 25 amid high levels of poverty and unemployment. Funding for pensions, education, and healthcare is also facing cuts, while basic services are at risk of privatization.
“In my view it is a very, very, very bad piece of legislation,” Sanders said at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in Washington last week. “[W]e are taking away virtually all of the political and democratic rights of the people of Puerto Rico. We are treating them as an absolute colony.”
As living conditions in Puerto Rico continue to deteriorate students and young workers from the island will continue to flood those places where family connections and job opportunities pull them. Not all will be targets of violence because of their multiple identities, as the Orlando victims were. Their fate, however, will continue to be a reminder of how invisible forces pattern seemingly random events in the lives of individuals and communities.
Spread the word