Sharks Are Circling For Their Share Of Puerto Rico's Assets

Orlando Sentinel

Nelson A. Denis 

On Sept. 8, the governor of Puerto Rico unveiled a new economic plan
and demanded that creditors "share the burdens of the sacrifices." Un-
fortunately, the actual document — the Fiscal and Economic Growth
Plan — is low on shared sacrifice and high on creditor profit, and it is
geared toward a sell-off of the island's entire infrastructure.

In addition to a slew of austerity measures, the FEGP will establish a
five-person Financial Control Board whose members are nominated by
"interested parties," including Puerto Rico's hedge-fund creditors and
the U.S. federal government. This board will have "extensive subpoena
powers" and oversight authority over the entire government of Puerto
Rico.

The core FEGP proposal is the sale of Commonwealth real-estate assets,
and the establishment of "P3s" throughout the island: public-private part-
nerships that turn public infrastructure into private, revenue-generating
concessions...[CONTINUE READING]

'War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America’s Colony'

New York Daily News

Ray Monell

The revolution in Puerto Rico during the mid-20th century has been
largely ignored — until now.

Four decades in the making, “War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution
and Terror in America’s Colony,” by author Nelson A. Denis, is a meti-
culous and riveting account of the decades-long clash between the Puerto
Rican independence movement, led by Pedro Albizu Campos, and the
commonwealth’s U.S.-appointed stewards, national police force, the FBI
and, ultimately, the U.S. Army.

The book covers 50-plus years of Puerto Rico’s history, beginning with
the U.S. takeover of the island from Spain in the late-1890s to a bloody
revolution that engulfed eight towns in October 1950, during which Natio-
nalist operatives also attempted to assassinate President Harry Truman at
the Blair House in Washington, D.C...[CONTINUE READING]

King of the Towels: The Torture and Murder of Pedro Albizu Campos

by Nelson A. Denis

Latino Rebels

There is a most unusual TV interview of Gov. Luis Muñoz Marín on
YouTube. The interview occurred in March 1954, just after the
Nationalist attack on U.S. Congress that was led by Lolita Lebrón.
(NOTE: This video was shared on Facebook by the Fundación Luis
Muñoz Marín in 2013.)

During that time, Muñoz Marín had rushed up to Washington, D.C.
to assure the world that he (and the rest of Puerto Rico) did  not
condone the actions of these “lunatics, fanatics, fascists and
Communists.” This is how Muñoz Marín described the Nationa-
lists to The New York Times...[CONTINUE READING]