Rubén Berríos
Rubén Ángel Berríos Martínez | |
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President of the Puerto Rico Senate | |
In office 1993–1997 | |
In office 1985–1989 | |
In office 1973–1977 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Aibonito, Puerto Rico | June 21, 1939
Political party | PIP |
Alma mater |
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Occupation |
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Rubén Ángel Berríos Martínez (born June 21, 1939) is a
Biography
Berríos was born in
Berríos became president of the
In 1972, the thirty-three-year-old Berríos was elected to his first term as an at-large senator. He was also re-elected to at-large senatorial seats at the Puerto Rican Legislative Assembly on three additional occasions: 1984, 1992, and 1996.
Berríos founded the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (COPPPAL),[1] is a member of the Executive Council of the Latin American Human Rights Association (ALDHU),[2] and Honorary President of the Socialist International (SI).[3]
He has published the books The Independence of Puerto Rico: Cause and Struggle, Puerto Rico: Nationality and Plebiscite, and Towards Puerto Rican Socialism, and has collaborated with various publications enjoying wide international prestige such as Foreign Affairs.
In 2015, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega named Berrios as his political advisor.[4]
Berríos is widely admired by many in Puerto Rico, including those who do not follow his political ideology. In 1984, for example, he received 84% of the general vote in his candidacy for senator.[citation needed]
Political views
Berríos believes that there should be a change in the U.S. maritime laws that force Puerto Rico to import and export goods only via U.S. ships. Such laws increase the price of products entering or leaving the island. He also believes that the U.S.
Civil disobedience
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In 1971, Berríos led the
On May 8, 1999, Berríos began
On May 4, 2000, the
Five days later, Berríos reentered the Vieques target practice grounds. As a result, he was arrested and went to trial at the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, in San Juan, and sentenced to six hours of detention. Similar to what Berríos Martínez had done in Culebra thirty years before, Berríos did not recognize the jurisdiction of the American judicial forum in Puerto Rico during his trial for the Vieques trespassing, and did not present any legal defense. Speaking to Berríos Martínez, the sentencing judge said, "Odd as it may seem to you, we both are on the side of democracy on this one; you are complying with your conscience. I am also complying with mine."[9]
With the continuation of bombing practices by the U.S. Navy, Berríos announced his intention to enter the restricted grounds for a third time. He stayed for five days in the target practice area, before being arrested violently and forced to lie on a hot gravel road for an extended period of time after being handcuffed with his hands to his back with the other PIP members that accompanied him at the U.S. Navy bombing range. This time, convicted for the fourth time (one in Culebra and three additional civil disobedience arrests) by a United States District Court, Berríos was sentenced to four months in prison.[10]
The U.S. Navy abandoned its facilities in Vieques on May 1, 2003, by order of President George W. Bush.[11]
Positions held
- Currently a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, School of Law (2006)
- Candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico (1976, 1980, 1988, 2000, 2004)
- Lawyer
- President of Puerto Rican Independence Party (1970 to present)
- Professor of Law at the University of Puerto Rico (1967–1971)
- Senator of Puerto Rico (1972–1976, 1984–1988, 1993–1996)
Writings, books, speeches
Berríos has authored the following works and speeches:
- The Independence of Puerto Rico: Cause and Struggle. Speech before the United Nations about colonialism in Puerto Rico, August 1973
- Towards Puerto Rican Socialism. Puerto Rico
- La Independencia de Puerto Rico: Razón y Lucha, 1984
- Puerto Rico's Decolonization. Foreign Affairs, Council on Foreign Affairs, 1997
- Un Mapa Para la Ruta (A Road Map), 2004.
See also
- List of Puerto Ricans
- Latin American and Caribbean Congress in Solidarity with Puerto Rico's Independence
- Manuel Rodríguez Orellana, Esq. - PIP Secretary of Relations with North America
References
- ^ Conferencia Permanente para los Partidos Políticos de América Latina y el Caribe
- ^ Asociación Lationoamericana de Derechos Humanos
- ^ Socialist International
- ^ Presidente nicaragüense nombró a Rubén Berríos como su asesor político. Telemundo. NBCUniversal. 22 July 2015. Updated 7 March 2015. accessed 29 April 2018.
- ISBN 0-9620448-0-6. March 1998. Page 96.
- ^ Puerto Ricans expel United States Navy from Culebra Island, 1970-1974. Global Nonviolent Action Database. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Interview with Ruben Berríos Martínez, President of the Puerto Rican Independence Party. Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine Eleonora Sharef. 2004. The Yale Globalist. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Berríos Vieques Arrest
- ^ Vieques Trials: Puerto Rican Activist Sentenced To Six Hours In Jail. John Marino. Washington Post. 14 June 2000. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ SLAMMER FOR SHARPTON Gets 90 days in Vieques protest; 11 others sentenced. Michael R. Blood and Dave Goldiner. 24 May 2001. New York Daily News. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ New Battle on Vieques, Over Navy’s Cleanup of Munitions. Mireya Navarro. 6 August 2009. The New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- Puerto Rican Independence Party (1998). [Rubén Berríos: Cápsula Biográfica]. Puerto Rico.
- Puerto Rico Herald. Biography: Rubén Berríos. Puerto Rico.
External links
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