May Day Repression in Puerto Rico

May 16, 2023 –
From Marxism-Leninism Today

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By Berta Joubert-Ceci

May 6, 2023

This week the priorities of this government have been very clearly exposed. On the one hand, the there was unjustified arrest of three well-known leaders of the union and people’s struggle during the May 1st demonstrations. And on the other hand, came the false charges against Mariana Nogales, a legislative representative who is well known for her fight for the environment, for LGBTPlus rights, and against government corruption.

There are many details in both cases, but what is really important is to know what these cases represent, which involve a police force that is under indictment for its unjustified attacks against demonstrators, and a “justice” system that opens a so-called judicial process through the questionable Office of the “Special Independent Prosecutor” at the request of two complainants from the Legislature who, in themselves, are the ones who should be in the public eye accused of misogyny and corruption.

This pro-statehood NPP government, in collaboration with the pro-statehood Popular Party, has begun a campaign of demonization against protesters and their leaders and any leader like legislator Nogales, who represents a threat against their corrupt governments. In this case, Nogales belongs to the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana, which together with the Puerto Rican Independence Party, is advancing a joint effort to defeat in the 2024 elections the bipartisanship that has done so much damage to our country.

But, contrary to the government’s goal, what is happening is that despite the media submissive to the government’s corporate interests, there are many sectors of the people who are becoming aware of the mafia-like and corrupt affairs of the government and its cronies, and as they say, “the tables will turn” on the government.

All our solidarity to these people who represent us: Mariana Nogales, Eva Ayala of EDUCAMOS [We Educate] , Jocelyn Velázquez of Jornada se Acabaron Las Promesas, and Josué Mitjá, president of UTIER [Unión de Trabajadores de la Industria Eléctrica y Riego —Electrical Industry and Irrigation Workers Union]

-Source: Resumen Latinoamericano English

Source: Mltoday.com