By Political Commission PCPR
The working class in Puerto Rico and internationally is the motive force of society. We are a majority of wage laborers that is oppressed, abused and exploited by a minority, the capitalist class. As we become conscious of this reality and the necessity of recognizing who oppresses us as well organizing, we will take the first steps to change society in favor of the aspirations of the majority.
In reality we are not alone. The recent power outage demonstrated the potential of the workers of UTIER to pressure the Wall Street Junta and provide leadership to the people during a national emergency. The UTIER workers unveiled the lies of the PREPA administrators when they continued with the dishonest discourse claiming that the emergency would be resolved in 24 hours, that PREPA was valued less than what is owed to bondholders and that the production of energy would be better in private hands.
The value of the electric energy workers as the center in this conjuncture of a service breakdown calls to the attention of all workers the need to actively support the UTIER and all sectors of society in favor of the defense of the energy industry in our country.
We are receiving the lashes of the Wall Street Junta and its forbearer, the Krueger Report. The consequences of both will have a domino effect on all of society. Government agencies will be among the first sectors affected but there will be pernicious consequences for both public and private sectors.
We must bring together the anguish and rage felt among all sectors of the working class due to the violence of the colonial State. The only way to combat the new dictatorial regime of capitalism, the violent and oppressive character of the Wall Street Junta, is the organization of the working class. Without organization, there can be no long-term process of struggle. In fact, the bourgeoisie feeds off of the disorganization of the working class. The working class must be conscious that the Wall Street Junta will intensify unemployment, the closing of schools, the privatization of natural resources and the production of energy among other things.
The Communist Party of Puerto Rico proposes the strengthening of the consciousness of the working class through the following mechanisms:
- An active electoral boycott of colonial elections! The Wall Street Junta will reach beyond the powers of the moribund Commonwealth government. The elections as well as the votes of the workers will only strengthen the Wall Street dictatorship, its oppression and ‘play on democracy’, which has served to deceive us during years of colonialism.
- Let us transform abstention into an active boycott! During the past years electoral abstention has increased. It is no wonder why all the candidates have united in a ‘holy alliance’ to safeguard the moribund electoral system in the colony. We must repudiate the system that oppresses us by transforming abstention into an active boycott as the forerunner to the organization of the working masses.
- We must call for workers councils at our workplaces and within our communities in order to create the organizational mechanisms for our struggle. What we will face in the upcoming months negatively impact all sectors of the working class. This is why we must organize in all of our spaces, combat injustices and advance a process to change society for the benefit of the working class!