| Rubén Ángel Berríos Martínez | |
|---|---|
| Puerto Rico Senator at large | |
| In office 1972–1976 |
|
| Puerto Rico Senator at large | |
| In office 1984–1988 |
|
| Puerto Rico Senator at large | |
| In office 1993–1996 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 21, 1939 Aibonito, Puerto Rico |
| Alma mater | Oxford University; Yale Law School; Georgetown University |
| Occupation | Law Professor, President of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, Politician, Senator |
| Religion | Catholic |
Rubén Ángel Berríos Martínez (born June 21, 1939) is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician, and the current president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). A former three-time Senator, Berríos is a recurring PIP candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico for three decades, although not consecutively for each elective term.
He led the Navy-Culebra protests, is a leader for the Cause of Vieques and was arrested and imprisoned for civil disobedience.
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Berrios was born in Aibonito, Puerto Rico. He attended high school at Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola (class of 1957). He received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Economy from Georgetown University in 1961, his Juris Doctor and Master's Degree in Law from Yale University (Yale Law School), and his doctoral degree in International Rights from Oxford University. He also did some post-doctoral research in Sweden. His first wife was Swedish and his son Rubén was born in Stockholm). He has been a tenured Professor of Law at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law since 1967.
Berríos became president of the Independence Party PIP when he was 31 years old and has been president of it five times. Under his leadership, the PIP adopted a democratic socialist program. Although he has had limited success at the voting booth regarding his candidacy for the colonial post of Governor of Puerto Rico in 1976, 1980, 1988, 2000 and 2004 - losing every time to either the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) or the New Progressive Party (PNP) candidate - he nevertheless has enjoyed great electoral success regarding his candidacy to the Senate, receiving more votes than any other candidates in the Puerto Rican senatorial elections of 1972, 1984, 1992 and 1996.
In 1972, the thirty-three year old Berríos was elected to his first term as Senator. He was also re-elected to 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 the Puerto Rican Socialism, and has collaborated with various publications enjoying wide international prestige such as Foreign Affairs.
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.
Berrios believes that there should be a change in the U.S. maritime laws that force Puerto Rico to import and export goods on U.S. ships. Such laws increase the price of products entering or leaving the island. He also believes that the U.S. Selective Service laws should not apply to Puerto Rico without the consent of the Puerto Rican legislature.[4]
| External audio | |
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| You may listen to one of the speeches made by Rubén Berríos before a Congressional Hearing here | |
In 1971, Berríos led the Navy-Culebra protests that criticized the United States Navy's use of the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico for military exercises. He squatted in Culebra's Flamenco Beach for three days. He was then arrested and imprisoned for three months. As a consequence of his imprisonment, he was expelled from his professorship at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.
In part because of his efforts, the U.S. Navy abandoned its facilities in Culebra.
On May 8, 1999 Berríos began camping inside the U.S. Navy bombing practice grounds in the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico (see Navy-Vieques protests). He stayed in the Gilberto Concepción de Gracia encampment — baptized in honor of the PIP founder — for 362 consecutive days, enduring both camp devastations due to storms and declining health dur to a new diagnosis of prostate cancer.
On December 1999, he resigned to his Senate seat due to the uncertainty and prolongation of his stay at the encampment.
On May 4, 2000 the encampments were evacuated by federal marshals and United States Marines, and Berrios was arrested.[5] Berríos' arrest was televised nationally in Puerto Rico. The United States marshal that conducted the arrest offered a handshake to Berríos when he presented himself. Berríos stayed in shock for a few seconds. Looking at the marshal's extended hand, he rapidly recovered himself and extended his own hand. Both men saluted themselves peacefully. His arrest was symbolic, as he was handcuffed loosely to not squeeze his wrists. The importance of the event was the portray of two gentlemen doing what they must do, respecting each other's different and contrasting ideologies, and responsibilities.
Five days later, Berríos reentered the target practice grounds, but this time he was not arrested without trial, as he was judged by the United States Court for the District of Puerto Rico (Federal District Court) and sentenced to four hours of detention. Similarly to what he did in Culebra 30 years before, Berríos did not recognize the jurisdiction of the American judicial forum in Puerto Rico, and did not present any legal defense whatsoever. A few days later, he publicly announced he was suffering from prostate cancer.
With the continuation of bombing practices by the U.S. Navy, Berríos announced his intention to enter to the restricted grounds for a third time. He stayed for five (5) days in the target practice area, before being arrested violently and forced to lay on an extremely 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 propelled arrests) by a United States District Court, Berríos was sentenced to four months in prison and set free on August 30, 2001; after the imposed sentence was extinguished in full as the PIP's President and Honorary President of the [Socialist International] (SI) lay behind bars for one-hundred and twenty (120) additional days of prison, apart from the other prison terms that he has served.
The U.S. Navy abandoned its facilities in Vieques on May 1, 2003.