December 15, 2025 | WASHINGTON, D.C. - Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora (BUDPR), alongside more than half a dozen civil society organizations in Puerto Rico and the United States, have sent a letter to the Secretary of Defense and key Congressional leaders denouncing the U.S. military’s recent build-up in Puerto Rico and calling for an immediate halt to all operations that seek to use Puerto Rico for U.S. military aggression.

“We, Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora, along with the organizations below which collectively represent thousands of everyday Puerto Ricans and American allies, urgently call on the U.S. government to halt the ongoing militarization of Puerto Rico and to immediately end all plans to expand military operations on our archipelago. We unequivocally condemn these operations,” the letter reads.

The letter is signed by major Puerto Rican organizations like the Power 4 Puerto Rico coalition; Madres Contra la Guerra (Mothers Against War), the leading activists organizing protests against the U.S. military in Puerto Rico; VAMOS PR; and Plan B: Independencia. It is also signed by allies in the United States like the DSA International Committee, Demand Progress, Just Foreign Policy, and Popular Democracy.

“Puerto Ricans know all too well, from many decades of experience, what the presence of the U.S. military means for Puerto Rico: inequality, environmental destruction, disease, and death,” said BUDPR leader Luis Ponce Ruiz. “We will not stand idly by, in the archipelago or in the diaspora, while history repeats itself and our nation is once again used and abused to support American wars.”

The letter makes three concrete asks of the United States government:

●      Cease at once all military activity in Puerto Rico, including use of Puerto Rican sea, air, and land for military trainings and maneuvers in the Caribbean

●      Terminate all plans to increase the military presence in Puerto Rico

●      Order the relevant military and civilian agencies to fully clean and restore all former bombing ranges and military sites in Puerto Rico.

It ends by calling for bold action to “reduce dependence, avoid unnecessary political conflict, and move Puerto Rico and the United States toward a future built on mutual respect, regional cooperation, and lasting peace.”

“Ultimately, the U.S. military can do whatever it wants in Puerto Rico because our nation remains a U.S. colony,” said BUDPR president Alberto Medina. “The only definitive way to end the U.S. military’s harmful presence on our lands and seas is to end that colonial status, and the only way to do that is through independence from the empire that continues to abuse Puerto Ricans and our Latin American neighbors.”

Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora will continue to denounce the U.S. government’s abuses in Puerto Rico and to advocate for our nation’s decolonization and sovereignty.

Additional Statements from the Letter’s Signatories:

"Using Puerto Rico as a staging ground to bomb a fellow Caribbean and Latin American nation will be done at the cost of more health risks and contamination in our homeland. Ecuadorians went to the polls and rejected opening U.S. military bases there. The Dominican Republic chose to let Americans use their air bases. The U.S. colony of Puerto Rico does not have the sovereignty to decide. And that is at the heart of what we need to fix."

—Erica González, Director, Power 4 Puerto Rico.

“Even though Puerto Rico has NEVER declared war, over 200,000 of our military sons and daughters have fought U.S. wars; over 1,000 died. As mothers we try to heal those who returned with mental and physical injuries. Enough! We want a Puerto Rico free of militarism.”

—Sonia Santiago Hernández, Madres Contra la Guerra

“Puerto Rico cannot once again become a military training ground or a platform for other people’s wars. The history of Vieques and Roosevelt Roads shows that militarism leaves only contamination, illness, and impoverishment. Our people deserve peace, sovereignty, and a future grounded in life, not war.”

—Rolando Emmanuelli Jiménez, Spokesperson, Plan B Independencia

“Remilitarizing Puerto Rico prioritizes broader interventionist policies against Latin America and failed harmful military policy over the wellbeing of people who live there. Puerto Ricans are still dealing with the physical and health consequences of the previous military activity: unexploded ordnance, contamination, and lasting health impacts. Puerto Ricans deserve safety, dignity, and accountability from the government, not repetition of failed militarized strategies. Demand Progress stands with BUDPR against repeating policies that continue to put communities in harm’s way.”

—Maricelly Malavé, Demand Progress

“The intensification of military use against the Puerto Rican people implies an increase in colonial subordination. DSA completely repudiates the intervention of the United States government and defends Puerto Rico’s right to self-determination and independence. We are proud to invite our many Boricua DSA members and our 90,000 organized members into the fight against Trump’s attempt to start a war in the Caribbean.”

—Lorna Pérez, Co-Chair of the Puerto Rico Working Group, DSA International Committee

"Puerto Ricans fought to end the military presence in Vieques and Ceiba for two basic reasons: what it represented and the dangers it posed to the civilian population. Re-militarization reignites and augments both, placing Puerto Rico directly in the line of fire. Once more, Puerto Rican blood is to be used for geopolitical interests of the US, putting the travesty of the USA’s colonial control over Puerto Rico front and center, reaching the extreme of forcing the People of Puerto Rico to go to war with Venezuela without our consent."

—Raquel González, Vice President, VAMOS PR

Sobre PRTQ

Todos los textos que se agrupan bajo esta firma son publicados por la redacción de PRTQ en colaboración con organizaciones, amigos o amigas de los movimientos comunitarios.

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