Puerto Ricans fight U.S. war and colonialism

[IndianaGreen]

Puerto Ricans fight U.S. war and colonialism

Author: W. T. Whitney Jr.

People's Weekly World Newspaper, 08/16/07 13:26

Puerto Rican resistance to the U.S. war in Iraq, unfolding in the context of struggles for independence and economic justice, has special characteristics. Recent opposition to military recruitment and FBI harassment of youth activists suggests that young people in Puerto Rico are at the center of these conflicts.

During the month of August for the past five years, activists have campaigned in Puerto Rico to persuade high school students to request that school authorities deny U.S. military recruiters access to their names, home telephone numbers and addresses.

Under terms of the 2003 No Child Left Behind Act, U.S. financial assistance to schools depends both upon school authorities allowing recruiters access to students and providing them with students’ contact information. Under the law, it takes a specific request from students or families to keep schools from handing over the data.

The social-democratic Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) has assumed a leadership role in the anti-recruitment campaign. In an Aug. 13 press conference in San Juan, gubernatorial candidate Edwin Irizarry Mora, joined by Sen. María de Lourdes Santiago, launched a three-day anti-recruitment campaign.

PIP activists placed themselves at school entrances throughout the island to talk about military enlistment with students and to give them a form for requesting that school authorities not divulge their personal information. Spokespersons hinted at possible legal actions aimed at forcing schools to allow the anti-recruitment activists to enter school buildings.

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/11556/1/386/