Juan Mari Brás

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Juan Mari Brás (born December 2, 1925) is an advocate for Puerto Rican independence from the United States who founded the Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP).

1 Early years
2 Student activist
3 Political career
4 Puerto Rican Citizenship
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early years

Brás was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, to a father active in the independence movement who often took his son to political meetings and rallies. In 1943, when Mari Brás was 18 years old, he founded a pro-independence movement in his high school, along with some of his friends, in Mayagüez. He was also the founder and director of the first pro-independence political radio program "Grito de la Patria".

[edit] Student activist

In 1944, he enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico (Universidad de Puerto Rico) and in 1946 became a founding member of Gilberto Concepción de Gracia's Puerto Rican Independence Party. Mari Brás became the president of the party's "Puerto Rican Independence Youth". In 1948, the university's pro-independence student body invited nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos to the Río Piedras campus as a guest speaker. The president of the university, Jaime Benítez, did not permit Albizu access to the campus. As a consequence, the students protested and went on strike. Mari Brás was one of the student leaders who chanted anti-American slogans and who marched with a Puerto Rican flag in his hand. Both of these acts were considered as acts against the Government of the United States, which at that time had a complete control of the government of the island. Mari Brás and those who protested, were expelled from the university.

Mari Brás went to Florida, where he received his Bachelor's Degree. He also studied at Georgetown University. In 1954, he went to study law at George Washington University Law School but was expelled. He finally obtained his law degree from American University.

[edit] Political career

In 1959, Mari Brás founded "Pro-Independence Movement", which grouped Puerto Rican independence followers who supported the Socialist philosophy. Along with César Andreu Iglesias he founded the political newspaper Claridad, which he directed for three decades. In 1971, the "Pro-Independence Movement" was renamed and became the Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP). In 1973, he spoke before the United Nations about Puerto Rico being a colony of the United States and demanded the decolonization of the island. He was the first Puerto Rican to raise this issue.

On March 1976, one of Mari Brás' sons, Santiago Mari Pesquera, was murdered while his father was campaigning for the PSP. Police investigations have hinted that Mari Pesquera was assassinated as a reprisal against his father's political activism, but have stopped short of obtaining definite proof to convict his assassins. Mari Pesquera's murder has never been formally solved.

On July 11, 1994, Mari Brás renounced his United States citizenship at the American Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. He did this to test a technicality in United States citizenship laws. Legally, a citizen of the United States who renounces to his citizenship will be deported to his country of origin. Since Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, the country's Department of State would have had no option but to deport Puerto Ricans who renounced to their citizenship to Puerto Rico. He was taken to court on the allegation that if he had renounced his American citizenship, then he also had renounced his right to vote in the local Puerto Rican elections. The courts ruled in his favor twice. This action continues to be a popular subject of debate.

Juan Mari Brás, retired from active politics and no longer the president of the defunct "Puerto Rican Socialist Party", does however, make appearances at pro-independence activities and continues to teach law at the Eugenio María de Hostos School of Law which he cofounded in his native Mayagüez over a decade ago.

[edit] Puerto Rican Citizenship

On October 25, 2006, he became the first person to receive a Puerto Rican citizen certificate from the Puerto Rico State Department, an action which has been since questioned by the United States Department of State. After attempting to renounce his American citizenship, renunciation which was revoked by the United States Department of State, and over 10 years of litigation claiming he was a citizen of Puerto Rico, the State Department of Puerto Rico granted him the certification, becoming the first one to hold it. Former Puerto Rico Supreme Court Associate Justice and former Secretary of State Baltasar Corrada questioned the legality of the certification, citing a law passed in 1997 and authored by current Senate president Kenneth McClintock which establishes United States citizenship and nationality as a prerequisite for Puerto Rican citizenship. Mari Bras' efforts have generated vigorous public debate regarding the citizenship issue.