Independence Protesters March in Puerto Rico
By Kevin Miguel Rivera-Medina
More than twenty Puerto Rican organizations called for a march through the streets of Old San Juan to one of the United States District Court buildings in Puerto Rico to demand national independence. Diaspora groups from different cities across the United States joined this massive demonstration on August 31.
To the sounds of bomba, combative plena, urban hip hop, trova, and jibaro music, this march was marked by an atmosphere of resistance and struggle, with increased youth participation. A group of trumpet players greeted the event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the FBI’s murder of clandestine machete-wielding commander Filiberto Ojeda Ríos; and the 40th anniversary of the arrests of a group of members of that organization. Women dressed as the national heroine, Lolita Lebrón, marched with determination, while hundreds and hundreds of flags from Puerto Rico, other Latin American countries, and various causes, such as the Palestinian one, waved enthusiastically.
The broad and diverse conglomeration of organizations that joined the event, along with the echo it generated in cities such as Orlando, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Ohio, attracted attention. The march’s joint declaration, in addition to denouncing the barbarity of colonialism and its various manifestations benefiting the interests of the metropolis, stated that this movement fights for independence as a tool to establish an economic development strategy centered on the working class and the needs of those of us who live in Puerto Rico, with justice, equity, and solidarity.
Trump Fires Six (of seven) Members of the Fiscal Oversight Board
by Estelí Capote-Maldonado
It’s not enough that Puerto Rico is a colony administered de facto by a Fiscal Oversight Board (FOB) created in the United States by former President Barack Obama under the PROMESA Act. Now, Trump has decided to take control of the instrument created to guarantee the payment of an illegal and illegitimate debt to vulture fund bondholders. On August 5, Trump removed five of the seven members, including the organization’s chairman, Arthur J. González. A sixth member, Andrew Biggs, was also removed on August 13, 2025, meaning John Nixon could be the only remaining member.
Although Trump calls it inefficient and ineffective, the ousted board’s leadership is responsible for imposing a 300% increase in the colonial administration’s budget. This money is used to replenish the general fund that Puerto Ricans are required to identify annually.
Attorney Steven Lausell, a specialist in international human rights law and clinical professor at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law, explains that “the greatest risk posed by the dismissal of the JCF members is that this body, which is colonial, antidemocratic, and very powerful, will shift to the far right.” The professor adds that the new members of the JCF “will see the austerity measures that have been taken here in recent years […] such as the dismantling of the public education system, the privatization and deterioration of the electrical system, and the displacement of populations, and decide that this is not enough austerity and that a higher level of austerity is necessary in Puerto Rico. This new move by Trump could provoke a return to the colonialism of the early 20th century under the United States.”
At the time of writing, Trump has not appointed the new members of the JCF, and Judge Swain’s brief contains a request from the bondholders to recover a larger percentage of the “debt.”
Puerto Rico: A Strategic Bastion of Imperialism
by Carlos Rivera Lugo
The conversion of Puerto Rico once again into a strategic military stronghold of US imperialism is currently emerging as the annexationist option to block our sovereignty and independence, given the current deepening crisis of the colonial regime. The proposal, which includes the reopening of the Roosevelt Roads base, is being promoted by General Arthur Garffer, Secretary of Public Security. It also appears to have the support of the Heritage Foundation.
It is now clear that we are being forced to serve as an instrument of the economic and political war waged by the Trump administration against the rest of the world, including a possible imminent military aggression against Venezuela.
However, we cannot forget that the struggles of the Puerto Rican people succeeded in closing the bases in Ceiba, Vieques, Culebra, and Ramey in Aguadilla. Compulsory Military Service was ended. In response, the Pentagon even declared, during the 1989-91 Consultation and Negotiation Process in the Federal Congress, that it would not oppose Puerto Rico’s independence.
Our country seemed to have lost its former strategic military importance. Of course, this did not mean that our national territory would no longer, as a colony, be subject to US military power and its repressive agencies, such as the FBI, among others. This includes the use of the US National Guard in Puerto Rico in support of its interventionist policies in our region and other parts of the world.
Currently, the Trump administration has seized military control of our country based on its interventionist threats against Venezuela. And the colonial regime, led by the annexationists, has submissively submitted to imperial dictates. Another clear example of the absence of democracy under the colonial regime! Meanwhile, pro-independence and sovereignty forces have militantly returned to the streets in total opposition.
In Puerto Rico, we protest the genocide in Gaza
by Olga I. Sanabria Dávila
For almost two years in Puerto Rico, the Palestine Solidarity Network and the Promises Are Over Day—its coordinator, Jocelyn Velázquez, has been a petitioner before the UN Decolonization Committee—have forged, built, and promoted actions in support of Palestine and against the atrocious genocide suffered by this sister nation with whom, in different circumstances, we share a reality of colonialism, occupation, and aggression.
Mothers Against War, a Puerto Rican anti-military and pro-peace organization, holds a combative picket every Tuesday in front of the Israeli Consulate in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. To date, it has held more than 90 pickets. Puerto Rican activists, including those from political and civil society organizations, are mobilizing weekly for solidarity activities with Palestine in San Juan and the towns of Mayagüez, Ponce, and Aibonito, while the Puerto Rican Journalists Association (ASSPRO) condemned the recent killing of journalists in Gaza.
The organization Mothers Against War also organizes against militarism and the recruitment of young Puerto Ricans into the United States armed forces. In this regard, its president, Dr. Sonia Santiago, has appeared before the United Nations Decolonization Committee. Along with other organizations, Mothers Against War also organized a massive demonstration against the Genocide in Gaza in front of the Puerto Rican headquarters of the arms and military equipment manufacturer Lockeed-Martin, located in the town of Aguadilla. Several organizations also protested the attack in front of the Plaza las Américas shopping center, the second largest in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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