THE fact that the Puerto Rican people are rejecting (as Eisenhower’s tour once again brought home) the status of “a community voluntarily associated” to the United States, and that the patriotic forces are awakening and rallying in the struggle for national inde- pendence, is giving the U.S. imperialists a very big headache.
And so, to strike fear into the hearts of the Puerto Rican patriots and to nip in the bud the rising popular movement, the notorious U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee sent its representatives to the island. Eighteen prominent political figures and trade unionists, including the chairman of the Communist Party, members of the National Peace Council, workers, journalists, writers and art workers were ordered to appear before the committee.
The Communist Party immediately released and widely circulated a statement in which it explained to the people its attitude to the inquisitorial inquiry. A group of the subpoenaed men protested through their lawyer to the chairman of this Committee in Washington, saying that under the statute of the island it has no jurisdiction over Puerto Rico. In response a committee member cynically remarked that the protest would get just about as much at- tention as a leaf falling from the tree. The arbitrary actions of the colonialists aroused the wrath of the Puerto Rican public.
Members of the Legislative Assembly and of all political parties, prominent manufacturers, intellectuals and people of various beliefs challenged the moral and legal authority of the Committee to conduct investigations in Puerto Rico, and established a united front. The Bar Association appointed a council consisting of well-known lawyers representing the three main political trends in the country, including the ruling Popular Democratic Party, to give legal advice and defend the “invited”.
The building in which the Committee held its hearings was surrounded by pickets. Several hundred people, chiefly young workers and students, carried posters bearing the words: “Don’t poke your nose into other people’s business. Get out!”, “Why not Probe the Ku Klux Klan?”, “These ‘Un-American’ Congressmen are Our Enemies!”, “What about Investigating the Activities of the Cuban War Criminals in the U.S. ?”, “Puerto Rican Workers Condemn Persecution of their Leaders by the Congress!”
The Un-American Committee arrived in Puerto Rico in search of an alleged international communist conspiracy against the “free” world. But it was clear from the outset that the committee had not a shred of evidence to support its charge. All it could produce was a pile of books and other printed matter legally published in all but fascist countries. The inquisitors made themselves ridiculous by referring to trips some of the leaders had made abroad (not infrequently twenty-five years ago), and which by the way were quite legal.
All the witnesses refused to answer on the grounds that the U.S. Congress Resolution on setting up the Committee authorises it to conduct investigations in the United States only, and since Puerto Rico has no members in Congress, the latter has no constitutional
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