Puerto Rico

**Puerto Rico**, officially the **Republic of Puerto Rico** is an island nation located in North America and the Carribean.

## Before the Civil War

US isolationism and austerity hand-off economic policy dominates the post-WW1 period of the US. The effects of the British Market Collapse and consequences of the war in Europe improvish the island as much if not worse than the mainland. In this context, even the many pro-Assimilation and pro-Annexation parties became deterred with an undesirable non-promise from Washington regarding the situation of Puerto Rico.

It was in this context of impossible statehood that the Liberal Party, itself split from the Union Party to take a hard stance on independence regarding the Puerto Rican Question. With people in the rank like Luis Muñoz Marín, a self-proclaimed "Radical Nationalist", a contrast to his father's opportunist and pragmatist approach.

Meanwhile in their opposition camp, the Socialist Party suffers a strong division that marks its downfall, its strong tie to the US labor movement once its major power source, became its own poison as the SPA rose in power in the mainland, along with its umbrella labour network united under the label of the Combined Syndicates of America, the mainland ideological change in the main stream labor movement quickly got imported back to the Socialist Party and cause a major split in the party, with the majority left to form the Socialist Party of Puerto Rico to adhere to the national charter of the SPA, while the remaining socialists merged with their long time conservative ally in the Republican party.

The election of 1937 became a contested point for all parties in Puerto Rico, due to the massive change in police promised by Huey Long, the liberal party split with Muñoz proclaiming the Puerto Rican Social Party in opposition to setting aside independence goals to collaborate with the Longist administration, citing the instability of the Longist coalition and their major opposition from the Democratic and Republicans, providing that doubling down to an unstable government would undermine their leverage power toward Washington, which was little to begin with.

And it was accurately so, the Longist administration and its coalition with the Democratic and Republican party broke down as soon as his first reforms were sent to the floor. Huey Long refused to back down and eventually enters a consitutional deadlock where his executive orders are battled every week and overturned by other branches of government.

However signs of the economic reforms still found its way down, albeit briefly and soon it was faced with major protest from the Nationalist Party, which resulted in repression ordered by Washington in an attempt to liqudiate the Nationalists, whose labour and youth movement connection worries them. Albizu himself was charged with sedition and arrested, but was overturned by pressure from both the Dem-Rep to undermine Huey Long and the SPA, who after 1937 have aligned itself with the Third International and accepted its resolution on the liberation of the oppressed nations of Asia, Europe, Africa and America. Thus Albizu came into contact with SPA personalities, although not officially aligned, this would begin the long partnership between the SPA and the Nationalist Party.

## Civil War

The violent election of 1941 was not visible in Puerto Rico, but its effect was. Immediately after the ousting of the Reed by MacArthur, martial laws is proclaimed in the island and the Puerto Rican National Guards mobilised. Suspencions and all local political activites were abolished, as the US military in the island directly took over, even after the Junta merged with the Union Government. Nationalists activites and even the reformists parties took to protest, with the military chiefly directed to suppress the Nationalist Party due to its tie with the contemporary Constitutionalist Front in Chicago. Several massacres occured as police and military fired on striking unemployed suger plantation workers and students sometimes not related to the Nationalist Party. The political mood in Puerto Rico increasingly became violatite despite these brutual suppression and only made it more appealing for the cause of independence. By 1945 however, only a small police forces remain in the island, the Puerto Rican National Guards and US Navy in the island were moved to Florida to help the 12th Army hold the line. The Puerto Rican National Guards failed to be evacuated after the failure of Operation Tacoma to link up the southern and western forces in 1946. By April 1947, all Puerto Rican regiments is assumed surrendered or annihilated. With major concerns about defending the new regained Missisippi frontline a priority, no attempts were planned to reinforce Puerto Rico as US troops assemby in Texas to prepare for the counter-offensive 1947 GOU. Due to a lacks of naval assets and long distance, the Workers Army did not plan for any invasion of Puerto Rico, however agreements were made in Cuba for certain gunrunning operations to Puerto Rico to supply the nationalists and the SPA's Puerto Rico branch - SPPR to disrupt the Western control of this island that threaten the East Coast via the Panama Canal, although as Panamarian troops retook the Canal and proclaimed neutrality, the island lost its value to the Western government.

### The flag of Lares fies again.

After nearly 4 years planning and enduring suppression, the Nationalist Party and SPPR underground began their uprising across the Commonwealth, with only an underarmed police force to confront rioters, protesters and rebels, the Insular Police quickly succumbed, as the Police Headquarter in San Juan and as Police Colonel Francis E. Riggs is executed in the street by a nationalist firing squad, its clear that US authority has collapsed. The suspended Puerto Rican chamber of Deputies, shared by the Republican, Liberal and Social Party quickly proclaimed formation of the Provisional Government of Puerto Rico, but this body was refused by the Nationalist-led Puerto Rico Revolutionary Commitee, with no way to protect itself or restore laws and order, the Provisional Government was disbanded. Abizu flew back to Puerto Rico from exiles in the SRA (he had been there since martial laws proclaimed and death sentences in absentia is indicted by the island military court) and proclaimed the independence Republic of Puerto Rico in July 12.

## July Events

However, the proclaimation of the independence was a Nationalist proclaimation without any consent from the parties that join in the insurrection, most notably the SPPR and the Munoz's Social Party as the wind of political mood changes. The SPPR, who wishes to remain incoporated into the new socialist North American Union attempted to conspirate a coup against the Provisional Revolutionary Government led by Abizu, which was foiled and their leaders shot, a move deeply soured the cooperation between the SRA and the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. In a state of still unrest, banditry and looting, Abizu proclaimed the political tutalage period, in which all forces of Puerto Rican society must unite together to contruct their new independence and Nationalist ideology, and to erradicate the colonial poisons in the mind of the people and the puppet of the old regimes that would block Puerto Rican from true national and political emancipation. Thus all parties were abolished and the only legal party left is the Nationalist Party.