Vida Newspaper, Volume 3, Issue 5 - May 1976

PUERTO RICO LIBRE! iorces in wona war 1. Alter World War II, when the indep¬ endence movement was strong on the island, the US Congress allowed the Puerto Rican gover¬ nor to be elected for the first time. He was Luis Munos Marin, whose Popular Democratic Par¬ ty came to power by appealing to the people’s longing for in¬ dependence. Once elected, Mu¬ noz Marin turned on the people and proposed a Commonwealth (Continued osn Page 3) MAY 1976 VOL. Ill — NO. 5 by CELIA SOJOURN Edited and reprinted from Osawaiomie Puerto Rico is a direct colony of the US. It is a nation con¬ quered by the US, whose state machinery and economy are under the direct control of the US imperialists. Puerto Rico was born as the island of Borinquen, inhabited by Taino Indians. The Spanish came to settle and mine gold at the end of the 15th century. The UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT M.E,Ch. A. OF CHICflNO STUDIES Tainos resisted and were wip¬ ed out, their labor replaced by the importation of Black slaves from Africa. In the middle of the 19th century Ramon Emeterio Betances led an independence and anti-slavery movement which culminated in the Grito de Lares uprising on September 23, 1868. A provisional Puerto Rican republic was formed and at the same time an uprising shook another Spanish posses¬ sion, Cuba. Both were crushed with brute force by the Span¬ ish. In 1897, Puerto Rico won autonomy from Spain. In July, 1898 US troops led by General Miles, fresh from the massacre at Wounded Knee, in¬ vaded and occupied the island. Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the US as booty to settle their war. PueviO Rico lost its sovereignty and became US property. In 1917 Jones Act gave Puerto Ric¬ ans US citizenship in time for them to serve n the US armed Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Los Angeles, Calif. Permit No. 27415 URBAN RENEWAL Por Ricardo Cordova “Venice of America” was built between 1900 and 1904. by Abbot Kinney and Co. to resemble its namesake in Italy. It was ori¬ ginally and indepnt communi¬ ty until it was annexed by the City of Los Ageles in 1925. Between 1925 and the great crash of 1929, the City of Los Angeles had plenty of time to break its pre^'imnexation pro- mises. It wasted no time in fil¬ ling in a major portion of the canals. This was but a begin¬ ning in the series of broken pro¬ mises to the residents of Venice. Besides breaking promises, Los Angeles has long tried to rid the community of Venice, as well as other areas, of so-called undesirables so that speculators could redevelop the area in just about any way they pleased. The city could only pofit from such ventures. Venice residents have long since charged that city planners wanted to replace this unique community with what they have termed a “Mia¬ mi Beach West.” In the early 1960’s in the North Beach area the city tried to get rid of the “beatniks” who in¬ habited the area. With a strict to the letter building inspection program, city planners were able to force the condemnation of about 25% of the residences for minor infractions in the building and safety codes, The owners were given the ultimat¬ um of either fixing the homes according to the codes or face condemnation of their residenc¬ es. Since many of the residents had neither the money nor res¬ ources to complete their repairs, they were forced to move out. Still today one can see that the beachfront area of Venice is dotted with vacant lots caused by this program. Between 1956 and 1963 the now famous canal area was pri¬ marily a Chicano area. The rea¬ son that the Chicanes were for¬ ced to move out in 1963 was that in that year the City of Los Angeles presented its 20 year plan for urban renewal in the area. The absentee landlords speculated on the increased val- (Continued on Page 2) Map of Venice Redevlopmeni, Many Chicanos Live in Oak wood area