Tag: puerto-rico

DON JULIO PINTO GANDIA & the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico

By Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

Below is my most recent piece of artwork, a 20” X 24”, acrylic canvas portrait of the Puerto Rican Nationalist figure, Don Julio Pinto Gandia. He was someone whom I remember during my childhood visiting our family home on the Lower East Side, New York City. I knew him as Don Pinto. My parents and aunt were affiliated with a secret committee of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico that operated in New York City, which Don Pinto was leader.

Born in Manati, Puerto Rico on July 9, 1908, Gandia was one of the most outspoken advocates for the independence of Puerto Rico from U.S. colonialism throughout most of his life. He became a close and trusted confidant of the iconic Nationalist leader Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos and became known as his “right-hand man.”

Pedro Albizu Campos, Gilberto Concepción de Gracia and lawyer Julio Pinto Gandía, in the San Juan courthouse, Puerto Rico (1936)

When Campos was incarcerated in the 1930s for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government in Puerto Rico, Gandia was asked to fill in as Interim President of the Nationalist Party.

And because Don Pinto Gandia was a legal attorney himself he worked closely with the Socialist Congressman Vito Marcantonio who represented New York’s East Harlem community. They both collaborated for several years to fight for Campos’ release from prison while using his legal case to expose the criminality of U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico.

My portrait of Don Julio Pinto Gandia. 20″ X 24″, acrylic paint on canvas.

But Gandia was himself under the watchful eye of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), especially during the repressive McCarthy Era (1947-1957) of which in Puerto Rico it was more fascistic. He was constantly arrested by the FBI and other colonial authorities. And to interfere with his livelihood and cause further personal harm, in 1937 Gandia was disbarred from the practice of law in Puerto Rico.

Gandia was also accused of being the “mastermind” of the March 1, 1954, Nationalist armed attack on the U.S. House of Representatives. Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores Rodriguez, and Andres Figueroa Cordero staged that daring act to bring attention to the plight of the Puerto Rican people. From that point on Gandia was frequently arrested for questioning.

His refusal to answer questions by FBI and court judges about the attack on the U.S. Congress usually landed Gandia jail time for contempt of court. His stubbornness and complete loyalty to the Puerto Rican cause was recognized by his comrades and enemies of the independence movement alike.

In many of his conversations with Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, Don Pinto Gandia raised the importance of aggressively bringing the case of Puerto Rico before the United Nations. Pinto Gandia was then assigned the task of meeting with delegates of countries belonging to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization to discuss Puerto Rico’s status.

Gandia’s skillful diplomatic work paid off when in 1978 the U.N. Special Committee officially declared Puerto Rico an occupied colony, despite infuriating outbursts made by U.S. delegates and the mainstream mass media. Washington officials reacted by launching a campaign that falsely showcased Puerto Rico as a success story of U.S. imperialism in Latin America.

However, two years prior to the political embarrassment the U.S. Government faced at the United Nations, in September 1976, after leaving his apartment in Puerto Rico, Julio Pinto Gandia vanished forever without a trace.

Don Julio Pinto Gandia in FBI custody.

Considering that Operation COINTELPRO was taking place with the Puerto Rican independence movement as one of its main targets, it is believed by many that the U.S. government was directly responsible for Gandia’s disappearance. The work this revolutionary was perceived as a threat to U.S. interest in its highly valued colonial possession.

Although we will never know what tragedy occurred to Julio Pinto Gandia his legacy has secured a special place in the archives of that historic liberation struggle. His resilience, sacrifice, and courageousness, under the most difficult circumstances reflect the moral strengths of the Puerto Rican people.

¡QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!

Remember the October 25,1977 Puerto Rican takeover of the STATUE OF LIBERTY

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“We seized the Statue of Liberty in 1977 to expose to the world the hypocrisy of the United States that projects itself as a beacon of freedom. When in fact, it is the colonizer of Puerto Ricans and unjustly imprisons us when we challenge their rule. The takeover was also an act of solidarity with the struggles of our Black, Native American, Chicano-Mexican, Asian, and Arab brothers and sisters, whom we share a common oppressor.”

Fernando Ponce Laspina, Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico -NY Committee

One of the participants and arrestees of the 1977, Statue of Liberty takeover.

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By Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

On October 25, 1977, a group of 30 Puerto Ricans and allies unexpectedly caused shock to the ruling class when they courageously seized physical control of the Statue of Liberty, located in New York Harbor. This daring act of civil disobedience became monumental in the history of resistance in the United States. The group called itself the New York Committee to Free the Five Puerto Rican Nationalists, an entity of various groups and individuals from the Puerto Rican diaspora during the 1970s.

With military–style planning and discipline, prior to boarding and during their ride on a ferry boat from Manhattan to Liberty Island, the group divided itself into several teams of fours. They pretended to be tourists and strangers to one another to avoid suspicion of their intentions.

As soon as the vessel reached its destination and docked, the activists went into action demonstrating a powerful energy of resistance to oppression. They ran to storm with fury the entrances of the facility where the giant human-like figure stands tall.

Boricuas with energy of resistance. El Maestro’s Fernando Ponce Laspina holding up the flag on the right.

Within 15 minutes the protestors secured their position in this national monument by locking doors and shutting windows to forestall an aggressive response they expected by law enforcement. Once inside, and after they expelled visiting tourists and Federal employees, the activists hurried up the staircase to reach the top level where the head of the Statue is located.

With a strong sense of both political and cultural conviction for the beloved homeland, they unfurled and hoisted a very huge Puerto Rican Flag from the statue’s crown, where it was proudly displayed for the world to witness.

An arial photo of Boricua dignity at Statue of liberty.

Among the non-Boricua participants of this action who merits recognition for risking her own personal safety in the interest of a Puerto Rican cause was the legendary Japanese American internationalist, Yuri Kochiyama.

Yuri Kochiyama

While the mainstream media depicted this act of resistance as “terroristic”, the inspiration for it was to bring about world attention to the criminal U.S. colonial domination of Puerto Rico and to demand the release of political prisoners Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores Rodriguez, Andres Figueroa Cordero and Oscar Collazo.

These freedom fighters were passionate about upholding the dignity of the liberation struggle. They were members of the Nationalist Party who responded to a directive given by Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos. All five patriots were sentenced to life imprisonment for carrying out justified armed actions against the U.S. colonizers in two separate historic events.

On November 1, 1950, Nationalist Party members Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola went to the Blair House in Washington, D.C. to assassinate President Harry Truman. Their intended purpose was to counter Washington’s lies about the Jayuya-Nationalist revolt of October 30, 1950, and the severe repression that followed. U.S. government officials falsely depicted the conflict as Puerto Ricans vs. Puerto Ricans.

Torresola was killed and Collazo critically wounded in a shootout with Capital Police and Secret Service. However, their brave act did bring about political exposure to what was occurring in Puerto Rico.

From L to R: Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola.

And then, on the morning of March 1, 1954, as members of the House of Representatives met in the Chamber of the Capitol, Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores Rodriguez and Andres Figueroa Cordero, calmly walked up a staircase to the balcony. Lolita pulled out a Puerto Rican flag and a handgun from her shoulder bag. She then shouted the solemn words of the liberation struggle: “QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!” Within seconds of brandishing their weapons, the four Nationalists opened fire on the colonizers in the U.S. Congress.

From L to R: Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andres Figueroa Cordero, Lolita Lebron, Irvin Flores Rodriguez.

Considering the fury of the 1960s-70s in poor, working-class communities of the diaspora and Puerto Rico, the boldness of the Statue of Liberty takeover added to the broadly supported call for their release. No one can ever dispute how this militant action contributed to the release of the five Puerto Rican Nationalists two years later, when President Jimmy Carter was pressured to grant amnesty.

Among other factors that led to a victorious outcome was the solidarity received from the Government of Cuba. Despite many threats and a brutal economic blockade, the Cuban Revolution has always maintained its principles of solidarity by upholding the centuries-long revolutionary tradition known as the “Two Wings of the Same Bird“, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

After a nine-hour siege the police forced their way through and arrested the demonstrators. In discipline fashion they lined up waiting for the inevitable by chanting slogans and singing the revolutionary Puerto Rican National Anthem, “La Borinqueña.”

Among the names of individuals arrested were Yuri Kochiyama, Fernando Ponce Laspina, Charlie “Indio” Alejandro, Madelyn Gonzalez, Chino Lopez, Julio Wells, David (DJ) Tirado, Emma Torres, Richie Perez, Mickey Meléndez and others. Serving as media-spokesperson for the action, outside the perimeter of the Statue of Liberty was Vicente Alba-Panama.

Despite everything U.S. rulers have done to Boricuas through racist violence, discrimination, economic deprivation, and attempts to eliminate our identity as a people, the innate instinct to resist oppression can never be destroyed.

There is reason to feel proud knowing that it was the power of the Puerto Rican struggle which made possible the release of all five political prisoners. This profound example of resilience and determination has added to the unbreakable traditions of the Puerto Rican people.

¡QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!