Puerto Rican independence growinq
By Antonio M. Stevens A rroyo
trovo
Gerald H. Caldwell has been promoted to Personnel Officer at First
State Bank of Oregon according to Hal Buttolph, Vice President and
Personnel Director.
Mr. Caldwell brings to his new position more than 14 years of banking
experience, most recently as a loan officer with another major Oregon
bank. As Personnel Officer, Mr. Caldwell's primary responsibility is to
direct the employee loan program. He will also be assisting with the A f­
firmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunities programs.
Caldwell is a graduate of Portland Community College where he ear­
ned an
Caldwell is a graduate of Portland Community College where he
earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Banking and Finance.
He has also attended Portland State University and is a U.S. Army
veteran. Civic activities include membership in the Portland Lions Club
as well as board positions with the St. Vincent DePaul Child Develop
ment Center and the Junior Achievement program.
Metal work training available
T h e M u ltn o m a h - W a s h in g to n
C E T A C onsortium in conjunction
with their Private Industrial Council
is sponsoring a 12 week M etal
W orkers tra in in g p ro gram . The
training will be a comprehensive sur­
vey o f the many facets o f the metal
trades and w ill include: blu ep rin t
reading, physical fitness, safety,
CPR, First aid, tungsten arc-welding,
sheet metal layout, oxy-acetylene cut­
ting, shop practice w ith hand tools
and shielded m etal a rc-w elding.
Graduates o f the program w ill have
gained appropriate work experience
and e ducational q u a lific a tio n s to
compete for apprenticeships w ithin
the metal trades.
Women and minorities are strongly
encouraged to apply as this is an ex-
cellent opp ortu nity fo r people who
are interested in changing to non-
tra d itio n a l w ork. A pplications are
c u rre n tly being accepted in both
counties th ro u g h A p r il 16, 1980.
Eligibility is being determined by the
fo llo w in g : unem ployed and 18 or
older, in good physical condition and
able to lilt at least 50 lbs. and residen­
cy in M u ltn o m a h o r W ashington
County outside Portland city limits.
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty residents can
subm it a p p lica tio n s at 4110 N .E .
122nd Ave., Suite 270 or call Julie
Westwood with any questions at 256-
4750. Washington C ounty residents
can submit their applications at 111
S.E. Washington St. in Hillsboro, or
call Diane Elia with any questions at
640-1781. A n E qual O p p o rtu n ity
Employer.
Statehood or continued common­
wealth status? In the standard inter­
pretation o f the Democratic Primary
held this March in Puerto Rico, that
seemed to be the critical question.
But there is another alternative —
outright independence -- and many
observers feel that the primary results
demonstrate its growing appeal.
A large number o f voters simply
stayed home on M arch 16. They
represent Puerto R ico’ s crum bling
political center, which once supported
the status quo in relations w ith
Washington, but now favors com ­
plete separation from the U.S.
The independence movement today
is not limited to wild-eyed radicals: it
includes well-educated, relatively a f­
fluent Puerto Ricans, in addition to
many o f the island's impoverished
m a jo rity . A n d it commands the
respect o f foreign governments and
political analysts nearly everywhere in
the world except the United States.
Puerto Rico is Hispanic, but all
over the island U.S. power and in­
fluence predom inates, and A n g lo
zones stand out — big corporate
downtowns, English spoken where
the sm art set congregates, the
A m erican fla g, stateside ways o f
doing things. The proponents o f
statehood argue that more o f this will
save Puerto Rico. The independen-
tistas argue that Puerto Rico is oc­
cupied territory.
T aking cues fro m the Palestine
L ib e ra tio n O rg a n iz a tio n , the in-
dependentistas are now adopting a
trip le strategy o f cu ltiva ting inter­
n a tio n a l su pp ort, asserting th e ir
presence through selective acts o f
violence, and boycotting the political
process the U.S. has exported to the
island.
Two weeks before the primary, for
instance, 21 delegates commissioned
by an in te rn a tio n a l Puerto Rican
S olidarity Conference last year sat
down in New York C ity to plan a
world-wide strategy for the Island’s
independence.
The New York meeting spelled out
a fram ework o f p o litica l action to
promote Puerto Rican rights to self-
determination, including creation o f a
permanent international Committee
o f Solidarity, and an information o f­
fice at the United Nations.
The independence movement
claimed an added boost from the
large number o f Puerto Rican voters
who stayed at home during the March
prim ary. President C arter’ s victory
over Senator Edward Kennedy was
also so close that it virtually assured
the "status question” w ill be debated
during the November campaign. The
small but well organized mdependen-
tistas may now hold the balance o f
power between the tw o entrenched
parties on the island.
The manner o f President Carter’s
victory also gave credibility to the in­
dependence movement. On March 18,
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Senator Kennedy
complained
to the
Justice Department about numerous
irregularities in the election - and
finally focused W ashington’s atten­
tion on control o f the island’s Elec­
toral Board by the pro-statehood par­
ty.
The complaints provoked serious
outbreaks o f violence on the island,
and attacks on campaign headquar­
ters in Chicago and New York. The
terrorism - from both left and right -
shattered the image o f a peaceful,
grateful Puerto Rico that has been the
cornerstone o f G o verno r C arlos
Romero Barcelo’s strategy to convert
the island into the 51 st state.
"T h e prim aries in P uerto Rico
were suppose to draw the island closer
to statehood,” says long-time political
observer Samuel Rene Quinones. " I n
fact, they have had just the opposite
effect.”
What the elections underscored —
and the terrorism reinforced - was the
weakening o f the center position in
Puerto Rican politics, a trend long
predicted by the independentistas.
Important as the elections were, the
New York City meeting marked the
real com ing o f age o f the Puerto
Rican independence m ovem ent.
Coming on the heels o f a New Mexico
Solidarity Conference supported by
the parliaments o f Mexico, Boliva,
Ecuador, Costa Rica, C o lu m b ia ,
Panama, Cuba and Nicaragua, the
meeting
launched
the
in ­
dependentistas in to T h ird W o rld
politics.
.
.
.
_
Indeed, on December 13, 1979,
scarcely two weeks after the Inter­
national Conference in Mexico, the
G neral Assem bly o f the U nited
N ations approved a resolution
requiring the United States to initiate
its withdrawl from Puerto Rico. The
vote (105-7) demonstrated that not
only does Puerto Rico have solid sup­
port from Latin America, the non-
aligned movement and the socialist
bloc, but a g row ing num ber o f
traditional U.S. allies in Europe are
becoming aware o f the Puerto Rican
struggle and are parting company
with the U.S. perennial contention
that “ Puerto Rico is an internal mat­
ter o f the United States.”
“ The international office is a great
advance for us,” says Lally Lopez,
Executive D irector o f the national
Puerto Rican Solidarity Committee in
the United States. "T h e problem has
always been getting inform ation to
people. Once they realize what is
really going on in Puerto Rico, they
usually agree w ith us and back in­
dependence."
"T his new maturity o f the Puerto
Rican independence movement has
earned it the respect o f most o f the
T h ird W o rld . One delegate fro m
Panama expressed the need for the
island’s independentistas to establish
a provisional government, much in
the style o f the P .L .O ., which has
successfully undergone a metamor­
phosis from a radical, clandestine sect
into a credible political arm o f an op­
pressed people. "T h e Puerto Rican
independence movement," he stated,
“ is Latin America’s P .L.O .”
Copyright PNS A p ril 1980
(Antonio M . Stevens Arroyo, is a
Catholic priest who teaches Puerto
Rico studies at Queen College in New
York C ity. He is vice president o f
PAD RES (The N ational Hispanic
Priests A ssociation) and vice
president o f the New York State Ad­
visory Committee to the U.S. Com­
mission on C ivil Rights).
DID YOU KNOW?
In 1843, only one
vote determined
that the Oregon
Territories would
be governed under
the American flag
instead of the
British.
YOUR VOTE
□ □ □ J S
DOES M AKE A
DIFFERENCE.
Pnms, T M * >*, 30
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