Latest / D-constructing Topics / Las Carpetas: Puerto Rico's Secret Files and a Legacy of Surveillance

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Las Carpetas: Puerto Rico's Secret Files and a Legacy of Surveillance · D-constructing Topics

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What's going on, everybody, and what's going on, folks? My name is David,
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and I'm your legendary host of this legendary podcast, The Deconstructing Topic Podcast.
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But you know what we do? We grab a topic.
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We just grab this, whatever it is that is on your mind, my mind,
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and a little bit in between, whatever it is, we grab it and we just deconstruct it the D-Way. Let's go.
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We do all that good stuff. hey listen uh my podcast if you want to go and listen
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to a podcast that has all these,
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different audios of you know whatever music and all this good stuff hey listen i
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i just the musician here i am your host and i am the voice of this podcast we
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got a definitely a good one and it's very as i would say uh puerto rican eccentric
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in a sense but it's always good to know
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for those people who puerto rican or at least born in puerto rico
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born in united state or wherever you're born in this world and you consider yourself Puerto Rican,
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this is a good one because this is a story that you may,
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and most likely, I'm going to go on a limb, that you may not know.
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I mean, it's one of those controversial stories.
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And if you're not Puerto Rican or outside of whatever it is,
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still enjoy this podcast, grab your family, all that good stuff.
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Because sometimes I say, listen, I always tell people in regards to my views
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and certain political views that I'm very independent, very, very independent.
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And the fact that this story is one of those stories that actually going to
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help people kind of understand where my mindset is at, living in the United States,
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raised in the United States here, that, hey, listen, there's powers that be
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in this country historically, historically,
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have gone to other countries and, you know, done a little crazy stuff there
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with the people and the government that's also in place.
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So we got a good one, sit down, relax.
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And I'm pretty sure that once you listen to this one, you're going to hit that like button.
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Topic Podcast. And let's make it happen. Let's go.
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And this one, we're going to be talking about, and don't mind me,
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you know, I kind of woke up a little stuffy, but my throat a little,
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you know, kind of dry, so don't mind me.
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I'm not, as a matter of fact, I am having a little adult beverage,
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a little tad bit, just for the sake of, you know, with a little bit of lemon, you know, let's get it.
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But anyways, we got Puerto Rico's a week right now.
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Again, this is a Puerto Rican-centric episode, and we are talking about Las
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Calpetas, Puerto Rico's secret files. That's correct, Las Calpetas,
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or you could call them folders, if you will.
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And basically, what is like Calpeta? People will be like, okay, David, you got me there.
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And ain't that rugs? No, Calpetas could mean a lot.
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But Calpetas in this case, in this context, was basically folders or secret
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files that the Puerto Rican government with in cahoots,
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with the, if I'm not mistaken, the FBI, basically compiling, compiling, tracking.
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You know, it sounds familiar. People are going to be like, oh,
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wait a minute. This sounds familiar.
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Basically tracking, compiling, surveillance.
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People, whether it's musicians, artists, even the most common person,
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labor, who were leaning towards pro-independence.
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I want to have always said in my podcast is that I'm an advocate for the independence
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of Puerto Rico because I'm always an advocate of thinking on our own,
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even living in the United States,
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where we could unplug ourselves from the system, the political system here, and do things on our own.
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Hey, listen, if you want to be a politician or you want to run for office.
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By all means, if you're running independent, and I don't mean independent party,
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but just no label there, hey, by all means, I'm here to listen.
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Sometimes, I'm not even going to go there. That's a different podcast, but we are here.
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Again, it was just the secret civilians, basically.
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If I deconstruct your board, David, it's in Puerto Rico in the 40s,
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50s, 60s, 70s, you know, 80s.
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My understanding that the program stopped somewhere in the 80s,
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and I'm going to give the reason why and one of the reasons.
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But if your boy was saying, hey, independence, Puerto Rico, all that good stuff, guess what?
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Local government, even your neighbors, you know, we might have gotten a little
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bit of term change there. Even people will say, hey, listen,
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this person drives this. This person wakes up at four o'clock in the morning.
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This person jogs at six o'clock in the morning. They like their coffee black,
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no sugar, no nothing, just playing.
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And this person enjoys listening to some classical music. I'm just using an example in this.
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And basically that's what that folders compiled, the scalpitas.
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And everywhere you go, there was always people, surveillance,
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surveying you because you have to understand.
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In a little bit, it could be because of the Cold War. You know,
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that's one attribution for those people in regards to the Cold War,
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basically starting World War II.
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Once the defeat of the Nazis in Europe, you know, Russia and United States were
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the two superpowers, and they went at it at each other.
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You know, surveillance, I mean, crazy stories, submarines, possible,
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how can I say, atomic bomb drop, you know, wars, all that good stuff.
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You name it, you already know So now if I'm in And we're talking about being
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in the 50s, 60s, 70s You know, during the Cold War If I'm.
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You know, pro-independence advocate In the island of Puerto Rico Yeah,
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they're probably either gonna call me a communist They're gonna leave me that
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I've got Russian ties, Cuban ties So everywhere one goes,
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That if you support the independence And I'm just gonna also bring this interesting
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crazy story that at one time, and I believe it was in the late 40s,
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there was this La Ley de Moldaza gag law.
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Basically, if you show anything, because at that time you have Don Albizu Campos
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and others in the nationalist party, in a sense, or, you know,
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group that pro-independent,
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that if you display even the Puerto Rican flag at your home that you could actually,
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get arrested, or if you're not, you know, say, listen, how much people can you put in a jail, right?
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But because you keep and you silence that, even in your home, just waving,
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you know, that Puerto Rican flag there with the star and all that,
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red, blue, white, blue, whatever it is, you want to put the one of resistance,
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the black and white flag. Oh my God, you'll be done.
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You'll be done, they'll be scoping you like, you know, and keep in mind,
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of course, and obviously, this was way before the internet. Of course,
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you know, they were like, okay, come on.
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But what I'm saying is this, that even on the mind of those people, there was a paper trail.
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So even this gag law that, you know, sadly, again, this plain,
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some type of anything that has to do with your country and your homeland.
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That, yeah, somebody will be knocking on your door like, do,
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do, do, do, wait. So you got that flag because of what? You know,
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that's illegal. Imagine that.
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Being, doing something illegal that's very pro, how can I say,
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to the effect of your country and your homeland, because now it is different territory.
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It is Puerto Rico, it's no longer Borincan. Sadly, you know,
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now we are under, in that time, United States.
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You know, we're a United States colony You know, this is not the time of Tainos
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or anything So you want to display that modern time of Hey, viva Puerto Rico You know what?
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Yo, yo, what are you talking about? You, you, you, you coming with me,
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And all this time, and I've met, hey, listen, and I want to say,
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that when it comes to, you know, my views or anything to that effect,
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I want to say that one of the gifts that I've gotten living in this beautiful
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world is that I, you know, coming from Puerto Rico is that I'm an outsider looking in, right?
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And there's things that when I came to the United States, I seek You know,
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there are certain, how can I say, places, you know, in New York City,
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in the Bronx, in porridge Poor,
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you know, areas On purpose, absolutely I ain't gonna deny that So just keep
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that in mind that even on my homeland in Puerto Rico Everything,
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you know, they plant the seeds there So I've met people,
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Many people You know, some of my elders that were part of that. There were files.
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And this led, you know, to somewhat of a climate of fear type of sense.
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And again, just keep in mind that everywhere you went, I think you probably
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would go to the bathroom, there was somebody watching me. Woo, woo, woo, woo.
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Little Michael Jackson reference song. What's the other guy's name?
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I forgot what's the name of the singer, but you already know.
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But somebody's watching me. Woo.
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And the fact that anywhere you went. And there were Puerto Ricans at that time,
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those in that movement, who knew that there was something going on.
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Because remember, this is secret files.
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It's as secret as a secret, as more of a secret.
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But people kind of felt it like, like, who's this right here,
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you know, looking at me like that?
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Yo, papi, yo, yo, mommy, why are you looking at me like that, man?
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You know, with their newspaper up in their face, peeking and stuff like that.
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Like, what are you doing? So there were many Puerto Ricans that knew about Basali.
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There are those who, you know, if you had the 1954 Capitol Hill shooting in
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Puerto Rico. Well, in the United States, I take it back.
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I have a couple of Puerto Ricans out there that were wild enough,
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but, you know, for a cause.
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Because they knew that even in their homeland, they could have been gone down, you know.
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So basically, they knew, everybody knew So for those people out there that were
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pro-independent Sadly, you
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stop being that because of that fear The government is going to grab you,
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torture you Keep in mind, it's this, that we also, in the Cold War time So you know,
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the United States was ramping up its biological Am I saying that right?
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You know, their bioweapons You know, they're ramping them up Using them,
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you know, against Puerto Ricans Against blacks Here in the United States The
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natives And all that good stuff We really know that,
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Because again The connection to the Cold War Is that Is that Trust me I could go.
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If I You know This is why I'm doing this podcast Because we're gonna engage,
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And we're gonna educate people People Gonna listen to this podcast Whoever listens
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to this podcast You know Hey absolutely Listen to the whole thing,
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People love me You know There's people A lot of people have hit me up Like wow
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David I didn't know Go to that water cooler by the drop, right?
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And have that conversation like, yo, did you hear David's podcast about the las calpitas?
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Or las calpitas, the folders, the secret files.
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Because imagine that at that time, whether you're, you know,
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the fact that just you being or thinking independent, they align you.
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You know, you're a political descendant. They align you to communism, socialism.
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Oh, this guy's a radical. Hey, listen, I'm a radical.
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Sometimes I close my eyes and I imagine, okay, if I'm living in that time,
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would I be one of those radicals?
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Crazy out there. When I say crazy, it's more of educating the masses.
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I think I would be more of an educator and absolutely.
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If I had to throw my gloves and get a little fight on, because, you know,
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at one point, sadly, the powers that be in the United States of America,
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whether it's Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Laos, they cause havoc.
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And there are people that are going to wake up and say, hey,
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listen, an eye for an eye, right?
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So at that time, you know, the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, even in the 70s,
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there were kind of a couple of attacks here in American soil.
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Why saying groups of Puerto Rican, you know, what they call them macheteros, or they got other ones?
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Because we know that it's here and that, you know.
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It's kind of like in a sense of those people, Cointel Pro, you know,
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FBI just, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, they went overhand and tried
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to get all this information, you know.
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But again, Puerto Ricans just did not, couldn't pinpoint, like,
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listen, I know there's something going on.
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I feel it. You know, you have a sense that, you know, your gut is telling you
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something like, why is that person behind me? Why are they following me? They like my shoes.
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I think I would have probably said that. Yo, papi, you like my shoes?
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You like my wife? What's up, papi? What are you doing following me?
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And something happened. And in 1978, matter of fact, let me look it up.
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There's a, yes, in 1978, something happened.
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And I remember, I was not born in 1978, by the way, But growing up in the early
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80s, in Puerto Rico, in the 80s, there was just an event that happened,
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sad event, called Cerro Maravilla.
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That's C-E-R-R-O Maravilla. M-A-R-A-V-I-L-L-A.
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So what happens is this. There were a couple of two young independent activists,
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who decided to, you know what, we're going to go to a television tower.
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The accusations that they were going to I believe they were going to blow up
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the tower Or something to that effect,
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And they got intercepted You know, they took a cab And they got intercepted
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Hmm, interesting So two young independents They tell the cab driver Hey,
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listen, we're going this But the cab driver doesn't know My understanding, right?
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And they got intercepted by the police Puerto Rican police And out of nowhere
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these two Puerto Rican young men.
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Came out, were dragged, beat in, and executed.
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And that became a big thing because even Puerto Ricans, that even they were
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not in the pro-independence side of things,
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that they kind of, you know, because then you got in Puerto Rico,
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you got those who are pro-statehood supported, those who support the status
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quo at the moment, you know, commonwealth, whatever it is that we are now in
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this situation, and those in the independents.
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And the fact that these are one of those things that evaluate a lot of Puerto
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Ricans to say, you know, there's something doesn't seem right here.
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You're telling me that the police, the local police in that town,
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you're going to tell me that magically they intercepted a cab with two young
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independent Puerto Ricans going to a tower, that they were going to do some
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harm to the tower, whatever the case might be. You're going to tell me that by coincidence?
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So sadly, that led to the investigation when these individuals were executed,
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sadly, is that the police started coming out with a story.
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Oh, no, you know, eso fue, you know, self-defense, you know.
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Ellos tenían pistolas, ellos iban a matarla a nosotros. No, deja eso.
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People didn't buy it. And then it became a big case, actually.
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So that big case, it became something big. We're talking about a big case.
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I think it was 1985, 86, somewhere, where basically the governor of Puerto Rico,
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at that time knew something.
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And he was part of this whole thing of La Calpeta in cahoots with the United States.
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Even though the fact that the FBI had to investigate and came out that,
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hey, listen, something just, right? But hey, those two young gentlemen,
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they got killed by the local police. It's a Puerto Rican thing.
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But we're here to investigate. You know, we're here to find out what's going on.
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And that's when the things with the Calpetas became a thing and,
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you know, gathering information and all this operation, you know,
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that became something of an unconstitutional thing Where you're basically Hounding Compiling,
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These individuals that they just express In their opinion Or their beliefs In
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regards to Puerto Rico being independent.
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So La Calpeta is something that it brought people in the 80s,
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a lot of Puerto Ricans, to kind of, hey, neighbor, you know. No, no, no, I'm with you.
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I love America. Let's go, America, to turn people.
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And sadly, you know, it trickles down to your generations that now out of nowhere,
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from you standing your ground in regards to the independence,
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that because of this situation con La Calpeta, the foe, this, the secret files,
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Is that now You kind of change That perspective That's how I always say that,
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You thwart a revolution By using the means of fear You take away this You take
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away that And sadly people cave,
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And I always have said There's a lot of Puerto Ricans More than what The voter
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More than what the voice is There's those that support The independence But
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they're going to say We'll continue with You know Voting the status You know Quote.
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But it's definitely, and then, you know, just to give you a lesson in regards
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to that, I mean, it says, you know, I'm going to be putting the links and I'm
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hoping to do also a little video essay in regards to that.
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And it's just, you know, it was more like, you know, historical documents or
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stories or resistance, resilience.
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But just the fact that this happened in this little island,
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and just think about what happens in other places of the world,
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where United States have their hands on and imagine and just think about even,
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in this soil, this American land,
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the stuff that the government and the powers that be have done to their people.
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Fear is a thing, man. Fear is a thing.
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And sadly, we live in a time And always have been living Whether it's the media,
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music, whatever it is Out there, entertainment Whatever it is,
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the school system They numb you down.
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And they try their best to make sure that you don't know about little situations
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like this. I'll take it back. Not little.
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But to know historical things that happen even on the island of Puerto Rico.
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Because it could happen to your country. It don't matter where you at.
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I'm pretty sure. If you got a story, if you are from Dominican Republic,
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Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, South America, if you have a story to share,
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whether it's your government in cahoots with the United States or just your
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government in itself, oppressing the people, giving them those fears, following them,
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taking away their rights, their civil rights, let me know. Hit me up.
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I'm glad you enjoyed this. Let's make it happen. Once again,
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it's your boy, Deconstructing Topic Podcast.
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Feel free to share. No, no, I'm, please, do share. Do hit the like button.
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Do feel free to comment and reach out to me. All the information is in my description.
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Anyways, you already know.
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I'll have the boy. Peace. I'm out.