The Challenges and Complexities of Antifascist Politics in Puerto Rico

What did it mean to be anti-fascist in Puerto Rico, a U.S. colony, in the late 1930s and early 1940s? What did it mean to struggle against fascism when you live in a place that is militarily occupied by one of the nations leading the global war against fascism, whose government proclaims it is fighting for democracy and simultaneously denies you the right to elect your president, senators or congressmen? To answer those questions, this article examines how three distinct Puerto Rican political parties defined, expressed, and linked their anti-fascist politics and their relationship with the United States. The three parties are the Partido Demócrata Popular (Popular Democratic Party PPD), the Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rican Nationalist Party PNPR), and the Partido Comunista de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rican Communist Party, PCP). The PPD advocated a close relationship with the United States while both the PCP and the PNPR backed independence. The PCP was friendly with the PNPR and the PPD and the PPD and the PNPR were hostile to each other. In exploring these questions, this article/chapter will shed light on the challenges and complexities many Puerto Ricans, a colonized people, faced when developing and implementing anti-fascist politics in concert with or in opposition to the United States.