Today, as we commemorate the independence of the US – the “leader of the free world” – we should also remember the words of Pedro Albizu Campos.

DON PEDRO TOLD US THAT…“La Fortaleza has passed to the rank of hotel, and Muñoz Marín has become the head waiter of that hotel…Our politicians have become parasites, living off the blood of the people, deceiving them every four years to steal from them.”

Don Pedro did not exaggerate.

In a few weeks, a Financial Control Board will rule over Puerto Rico. The PPD and PNP politicians had a great deal to do with this…and will all profit from it.

Pedro Pierluisi’s family net worth has increased 2700% since he became Resident Commissioner in 2008. This comes mostly through his wife, María Elena Carrión. Within two weeks of Pierluisi taking office, his wife Maria quickly set up a “financial advisory firm” named Multicultural Capital. The principal clients of this “advisory firm” are the hedge funds and P3s (public-private partnerships) that will be doing business with the Financial Control Board. The fees they’ve paid to this firm, are already in the millions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/us/politics/puerto-ricos-prosperous-dc-power-couple.html?_r=0

During his brief governorship, Luis Fortuño borrowed a record $16 billion in just four years: more than any governor in Puerto Rican history. He then issued $9 billion in “private contracts,” much of it to family and friends – and today, in 2016, the money is still unaccounted for. Fortuño now makes millions in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, where he advises U.S. hedge funds and corporations on how to make money in Puerto Rico.

https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/05/04/the-secret-governor-of-puerto-rico-scarface-luis-fortuno/

Gov. Garcia-Padilla set up his own brother, Antonio Garcia-Padilla, in a “non-profit” which does business with U.S. billionaire Nicholas Prouty, Salomon Brothers, USB Bank, and other US corporations. Just like Pierluisi and Fortuño, Garcia-Padilla advises them on how to set up tax-free corporations, to make money off Puerto Rico.

https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/07/03/the-governor-of-puerto-rico-is-ready-to-make-big-moneywith-the-financial-control-board/

The Governor’s political party recently tried to “privatize” the beaches of Puerto Rico…and both the PPD and PNP politicians supported it, with an overwhelming vote of 44-1.

https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/06/26/beaches-of-puerto-rico-are-sold-to-us-billionairesby-puerto-rican-government-traitors/

For nearly seventy years, these politicians have continued to bleed the island, steal from their own people, deceive them every four years…and now they present the people of Puerto Rico with the bill…a $72 billion public “debt.” 

DON PEDRO PREDICTED THAT…“Washington will reduce our people into impotence, until we become pariahs in our own country.”

Don Pedro predicted accurately.

Through the Insular Cases, the Foraker Act, the Hollander Act, the Jones Act, a 40% currency devaluation, the theft of farmland, the Ponce Massacre, Public Law 53 (the Gag Law), secret FBI files on 100,000 Puerto Ricans, the arrest of 3,000 Puerto Ricans in November 1950, the bombing of two towns (Jayuya and Utuado) in broad daylight, the Rio Piedras Massacre, the Utuado Massacre, the torture and “disappearance” of political prisoners, and a Police Chief who declared “War Against All Puerto Ricans,” the U.S. did a thorough job of bending the island to its imperial will.

This tradition will now continue, with a Financial Control Board that will rule the island’s economy and government. 

DON PEDRO REMINDED US THAT…“Man is essentially free, because the spirit which gives him life is essentially free…For this reason neither the United States nor any other empire on earth can deprive us of the right to govern the land on which we were born.” 

These words are self-explanatory.

They are also consistent with the founding principles of the US: that government exists with the consent of the governed, and all men (and women) are created equal. Don Pedro believed in these principles, and spent 25 years in prison for his belief.

And so…as we celebrate “Independence Day” on the U.S. mainland, we might take a few moments to reflect on the wisdom of Don Pedro.

All of his prophecies came true.