The Guardian 20 April, 2005
Puerto Ricans fight death penalty
Jose A Cruz
A US federal court in Puerto Rico may sentence two men to death contrary to the wishes
of most Puerto Ricans and in violation of the island nation's Constitution. The situation
highlights the issue of colonialism in the relationship between the United States and
Puerto Rico.
Earlier this month Puerto Rico's governor, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, sent a letter to US Attorney
General Alberto Gonzáles, asking him to respect the Puerto Rican Constitution and not to seek
the death penalty in the case, which involved the murder of a security guard.
The lower house of Puerto Rico's legislature has passed a resolution against the use of the
federal death penalty in Puerto Rico. Acevedo Vilá urged the Senate to do the same.
Archbishop Roberto Nieves González of San Juan told the press that the US should "respect
the desire" of the Puerto Rican people and not seek to impose it there. "We don't believe in the
death penalty because it falls, almost always, upon the poorest", he said.
Leaders of other religious denominations have expressed similar views.
Last month the Puerto Rican Bar Association (PRBA) spoke out against the use of the federal
death penalty. Julio Fontanet, PRBA president, criticised the US attorney for Puerto Rico for
supporting the death penalty "against the will of our people."
José F Colón, an AIDS activist, called on Puerto Rican judges on the federal bench to refuse to
impose the death penalty, saying it was "the height of colonialism to impose a law contrary to
the spirit of our people."
The last execution in Puerto Rico took place in 1928. The death penalty was outlawed in 1929.
That ban was reinforced by the Puerto Rican Constitution in 1952. In 2000 the Puerto Rican
courts forbade the US prosecutors from seeking the death penalty because of the constitutional
ban. The 1st Circuit Court in Boston overruled that decision.
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