'Puerto Rico had never seen anything like it:' the meaning of the general strike - includes related article on Puerto Rico's economy

Progressive, The, Sept, 1998 by Juan Gonzalez

At the same time, Congress no longer wants to foot the billions a year it costs the federal government to administer mandated social programs on the island. It is like the slaveholder who no longer wants to pay the upkeep of his slaves. The cheap labor and tariff-free trade that once were the hallmark of Puerto Rico's industrialization can now be found at far better rates in dozens of countries around the world.

Still, the island remains immensely important economically. That importance is rarely understood, even among progressive Americans. Because the U.S. maritime fleet has a legal monopoly on the shipment of all goods into and out of Puerto Rico, in 1991 the island represented 21.7 percent of the entire world trade carried on U.S.-flagships. And tiny Puerto Rico has long ranked as one of the biggest sources of profit for U.S. corporations in tile world. In 1995, for instance, the number one country in the world for net income from U.S. foreign direct investment was the United Kingdom, with $13.7 billion. The comparable figure for Puerto Rico that year was $13.3 billion. The island produces more profit for American corporations than Wall Street's two Latin American darlings, Mexico and Brazil, combined.

No binding referendum on independence or statehood has ever been held. And the U.S. government has made it clear that, no matter what, its military bases are there to stay.

Many Puerto Ricans see the commonwealth as merely a dressed-up form of colonialism. It is no longer acceptable.

Juan Gonzalez, a columnist for the Daily News of New York, is the author of "Roll Down Your Window: Stories From a Forgotten America" (Verso).