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“PUERTO RICO'S ABUSIVE GOVERNMENT PRACTICES” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H7261 on Nov. 3, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PUERTO RICO'S ABUSIVE GOVERNMENT PRACTICES
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I've come to the floor on several occasions this year to denounce the abuses of the current government in Puerto Rico and discuss where the government has taken actions to suppress dissent and conduct business in secret, cutting the people out of the process of governance.
I've discussed the current regime's push for a dangerous, environmentally risky 92-mile natural gas pipeline known locally as the
``gasoducto''; the violations of civil rights and human rights of workers who protested the firing of up to 30,000 government employees; closing the legislature to the press and the public and conducting their business in secret; the violent treatment of students who opposed a steep fee increase, whose protest was broken up with billy clubs and pepper spray; the civil rights abuses revealed in the devastating report by our own U.S. Department of Justice about the systematic abuses by the Puerto Rican Police Department; and the attempt to destroy the Puerto Rican Bar Association, one of the most important independent organizations of civil society.
And the reaction in official Puerto Rico to my denunciations here in the House is telling as well. The legislature in Puerto Rico, both Houses, controlled by the ruling party, approved a joint resolution condemning me--not condemning the abusive tactics and oppressive practices I denounced, and that the Department of Justice confirmed exists--but condemning me for telling you about them.
Now the effort in Puerto Rico to silence any and all opposition has reached a new low. Incredible as it may sound, according to press reports published in Puerto Rico, the Vatican sent an official to conduct an investigation on allegations of political involvement by the archbishop of San Juan, conducted in secrecy until the press got wind of it this week.
While no names have surfaced on who filed an accusation against the archbishop, or who was in contact with the Vatican, it is telling that the elite of the ruling party has been quick to saturate the airwaves and pages of local newspapers with loud public accusations against the archbishop.
Attacking the archbishop is nothing new for the ruling party in Puerto Rico. They've done it many times in the past.
I'm a strong supporter of the democratic principle of separation of church and state, but as someone who has spent my life working to defend the rights of workers, minorities, working class people and immigrants, I have often been joined by people of faith and, particularly, leaders of the Catholic Church.
Just as here on the mainland, in Puerto Rico there is a broad religious leadership that has joined with the people as they strive to achieve a greater degree of social justice. Among those people is the Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves of San Juan.
Archbishop Gonzalez Nieves has courageously stepped forward on very important issues in Puerto Rico, such as the struggle to achieve peace on the island of Vieques, the need to protect civil rights and free speech, the freedom of political prisoners, and the just treatment of the poor.
But the one issue that has inflamed the passions of the ruling party against the archbishop has been his clear and firm stance on the need to reform Puerto Rican identity and the existence of a Puerto Rican nation. He has expressed a bold and comprehensive opinion in reference to Puerto Rican nationhood. That quote is, ``Motherland nation and identity are indivisible gifts of God's love.''
He's had the temerity to incorporate the Puerto Rican flag into the Catholic Church, a Puerto Rican church.
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Mr. Speaker, this is just another instance where the regime, through any means necessary, seeks to silence all voices of opposition and undermine all independent institutions on the island. Whether they initiated the effort to silence the archbishop or whether they're just cheering it loudly from the sidelines, the current regime in Puerto Rico is repeating its pattern of driving all opposing forces into the wilderness.
Mr. Speaker, I am one voice, and I suspect that the Archbishop Gonzalez Nieves is another that cannot be silenced or driven into the wilderness.
I will be going to Puerto Rico this Friday night and trekking to the mountains of Adjuntas to meet with the good people of Casa Pueblo this Sunday where we will discuss the next steps of the people's opposition to the gasoducto gas pipeline project. Interestingly, the archbishop also expressed serious concerns about the gasoducto and in June participated in a meeting with leaders of the community discussing possible actions they could take in case construction of the pipeline actually begins.
I am sure that the regime's attempts in Puerto Rico to suppress the will of the people and impose upon them politically driven policies, such as the gasoducto, or get the institution of civil society to shut up will not be happy to hear what I have to say next week when I arrive on the island.
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