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PPD HEGEMONY UNDERMINED: FROM MOBILIZATION TO RECESSION, I96O-I975 The 19603 are remembered around the world as a moment of insurgent social movements, sudden cultural shifts, and, in many cases, political fracture at the top. Puerto Ricans on the island and beyond were part of that general trend.By 1965, the life of most Puerto Ricans had been deeply altered by the economic reconfiguration of Puerto Rican society.Agriculturewent into rapid decline, and industry increased its share of employment. Jobs requiring a high school education or technical skills grew.Mass primary education became a reality. An expanding universityproduced a growing number of professionals and skilled workers, including thousands of women. Puerto Rico now had a new working class, an expanded student population, and a rising layer ofprofessionals. But Puerto Rico's party structures and leadership teams had been put in place in the 19403. They now came under strain to adapt to a changed social context. Currents calling for renewal emerged within the autonomist, statehood , and independentista movements, all of which went through splits and mutations during the 19603. In the elections of 1968, a new statehood party defeated a divided Partido Popular Democratico, ending a string ofvictories stretching back to 1940. Meanwhile, the late 19603 and early 19703 witnessed the rise of social movements that challenged diverse aspects of Puerto Rico's economic and/or political dynamics, from the environmental consequencesof industrialization to the U.S.military presence. Other initiatives sought redress from injustices, from sexism to the lack of adequate housing for the poor. Students mobilized against the draft into the U.S.armed forces. Between1969 and 1975, labor unions fought several major battles, and new coordinating efforts were attempted. No less visibly and with lasting implications for Puerto Ricans everywhere, the 19603 signaled the emergence of a new political activism in the Puerto Rican diaspora, from the rise of the YoungLords and the Puerto Rican Student 11 Union to community service groups such asASPIRA and the election of the first Puerto Rican to Congress.These upheavals had a profound cultural impact, as they redirected debates about Puerto Rican history and identity and created a new context for literary departures on the island and among Puerto Ricans in the United States. We explore these shifts in chapter 12. This chapter discusses the social and political aspects of thisprocess. The Division of the PPD and the Electionsof 1968 Two decades after the landmark election of 1940, the internal life of thePPD had become a sordid struggle for the control of municipal governments or state agencies. The crusading New Dealers that once followed Luis Muftoz Marin in the battle for labor and agrarian reform had by now become part of a top-heavy political machine—fairly honest, by later standards, but devoid of vision besides the continuation of existing policies. Yet the PPDcould claim credit for a still vigorous pace of economic expansion. The status issue remained a source of frustration, in spite of public pronouncements to the contrary. After the failure of the Fernos-Murray bill of 1959, which sought to expand the autonomous powers of the Estado Libre Asociado, Muftoz Marin shifted strategies. He now first sought an agreement with the Kennedy administration on new legislation, which would then be presented to Congress. This initiative was frustrated when the White House unceremoniouslywithdrew its support for the proposed legislation (H.R. 5945, known as the Aspinall Bill of 1963). Congress limited itself (through P.L.88-271 of 1964) to the creation of a commission to study the status options and issue recommendations. Eventually, the status commission proposed the celebration of aplebiscite, which was held on July 23,1967. The ELAreceived 60.4 percent of the vote to statehood's 39 percent. The independentistas boycotted the plebiscite, arguing that it did not constitute a true process of self-determination, since its results would not be binding on Congress, which thus retained the power to determine what to do with PuertoRico. Despite the 1967 plebiscite victory, growing frustration within the PPDdue to the lack of progress on the status question and the persistent control of the old guard aggravated internal tensions. Early indications of discontent had emerged as early as 1959, when some voices began to question what they felt was the loss of the social reform orientation that had originally inspired the PPD.1 By 1964, discontent was spreading to wider sectors. Economist Jenaro 224 * PPD HEGEMONY UNDERMINED [18.218.209.8] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 12:15...

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