A description of Puerto Rico exploitation by the Americans told by Juan Carlos and why he wishes for Puerto Rico to become an independent nation.
All around me, Puerto Ricans are suffering from a terrible economy. The Great Depression has his us, and it has hit us hard. All around me, I see unemployed people. Poverty is everywhere. I am lucky to have my job, but in the past three years my income has dropped from a meager fifteen cents an hour to an even smaller ten. Some of my fellow laborers are striking for better wages, but some of us do not want to risk our jobs, so we keep quiet. After all, the many unemployed would rather work for half my wage than for nothing at all.
But even through our great economic struggles, the Americans are exploiting our economy as I write. Yes, they are helping to increase our sugar production, but the they are prospering from this, not us. I am currently employed on a sugar plantation. It is one of the 41 in existence at this time, and one of the four companies owned by the United States. These four sugar companies own about one quarter of the total cropland, and process one half of the raw sugar in Puerto Rico. I am forced to raise my family in poverty, all because the 120,000 laborers on the fields of these sugar farms have to split the little money given to us by the greedy plantation owners. I must make do with the ten cents an hour I earn. My family barely makes a living during the tiempo muerto, the idle season of the sugar industry. And during the zafra, or growing season, our lifestyle is slightly better, but far from perfect. I slave for hours to earn my pay. The rich Americans and a select few Puerto Ricans share the real wealth of the sugar industry.
How am I supposed to give my children a good life? My son and my daughter are terribly underfed, as are the friends I sometimes see them playing with. I give them everything I have, but sometimes it seems it is not enough. Sometimes I stop and wonder just how the United States government could let such atrocities take place. Can they not see us suffering? Do they really turn such a blind eye to our pain?
I know that many of my fellow workers are rallying around Albizu Campos, leader of the nationalist party. He wants independence for the Puerto Rico, and I can see the benefits. Right now, we face restrictions from the United States government. “[Our] governor, his cabinet, and the judges of the supreme court [are] all to be appointed by the U.S. president”. We have almost no say in our own politics, aside from a small, 35 member large House of Delegates. I believe we deserve more representation than just that. If the United States is treating us this way, then maybe independence is an option to consider. If we will continue to suffer this horribly, then maybe it is best for us to break away from America and live on our own. We’ll never know until we try, but can things really get worse than this? I don’t think so, especially with Americans limiting our economic growth. The way I see things, independence seems like a very reasonable option.
I don’t know how much longer we will be suffering like this, but I can only hope it ends soon. My pay is at its worst point in years, my family is hungry, and I am surrounded by political and economic unrest. I do not want to strike, for fear of losing my job, but I am very far from satisfied with what is going on. America, if you hear our cries for help, come save us, and if you do not care, then let us go so we can learn to prosper on our own.
No comments:
Post a Comment