El Manifesto
Notes on El Puerto Rican Embassy

We are a Sovereign State of Mind, well aware of the fact
That it is almost 1898 once again and our Embassy is
Long overdue for the most interesting minds of our great
Multi-colorful generation to congregate as Heads of State
And keep our own aesthetic sancocho warm enough to escort
Our eternal tropical contemporary urban life style into
The 21st Century phase of the pursuit of liberty & justice
On the dance floor of the happiness promised our existence
By the multi-lingo Spanglish creator of man & womankind!

Because war has never been on our agenda of survival
Our only mission is to live and let live in peace & harmony
With all the citizens of the remarkable planet Earth.
We hold no animosity against anyone, even after 400 years
Of endeavoring to be fluent in Spanish against our will,
To then be instructed to learn English on short notice
For the next one hundred years by other total strangers
Who were so impressed with our island that they decided
To stay and told us to leave and find a better way of life.

El Puerto Rican Embassy is necessary if Puerto Ricans
Are to be excluded from the list of endangered species.
Without it our destiny is at the mercy of foreign minds
Who don’t understand that the imagination has always been
An independent country with a spontaneous sense of survival.
It is there that the beginning of time became relevant!

And why shouldn’t we be independent? We know how to sing
And dance And paint And write poetry And educate each other.

In the history of our memory of thousands of years ago
We all remember being Taino Indians before Columbus
Invaded our eternal beaches of everlasting, magnificent
Resources the Earth provided the indigenous population of our
Island. The power of memory eliminates the threat of extinction.
We have no intention of forgetting who we were and who we are
And will continue to be for now & forever & beyond!

Your body can’t be free if your mind is still in prison.
There is nothing original about you – you are practicing
What someone else preaches, which deprives your imagination
Of equal rights! And that is the biggest error committed
Against yourself and those who depend on you for knowledge.

Because the subconscious doesn’t believe in collectivity
Individual dreams is what keeps the world from becoming
Aesthetically insignificant. Every individual has a secret
Down to Earth harmless ulterior motive for staying alive
And as long as it doesn’t prevent others from allowing
Their dreams to come true, there is nothing wrong with you
And El Puerto Rican Embassy welcomes you with open arms
Regardless of your temporary political sentiments. Vaya!

Our surrealistic history has proven that we are immune
To mediocrity! Therefore, the future has resourceful plans
For us. Working together isn’t impossible, but inevitable!
We are a Nation of one and many millions of eternal Ricans
Who need to visit each other more often to keep up with
The latest bochinches in the artistic and political circles.

To be free means to be proud of yourself!
To be proud of yourself means to be creative!
To be creative means to defend your dreams!
To defend your dreams means to have the courage
To make your dreams come true in your lifetime!
And once your dreams come true you will never
Have to worry about dying as long as you live!

What do we want? What every human being wants!
The right to dance La Plena whenever we please,
Like dignified human beings of tropical brilliance
Who time after time their fine minds have proven
That you can be on two islands at the same time
Dancing to supernatural down to Earth rhythms from
Solitary jukeboxes from the past, present and future!

If we are to live forever it is imperative that we have
An Embassy where we can all get together to share secrets
Of eternal life and acknowledge that we will always be
Related to each other in every artistic discipline imagined!

We are not a government in exile! This is where we live!
As a collective of indigenous survivors who have always
Voted for self-preservation wherever we have been located
At the time of endeavoring to keep making ends meet. Vaya!
Ambassador Eduardo Figueroa said, “We are a Spirit Republic!
No one understands a rainbow better that Puerto Ricans
Who are a physical and spiritual combination of all Nations
Of the world. Everywhere you travel you will meet yourself.”

Everyone’s imagination is a Sovereign Nation!
Freedom of expression has no boundaries to impede
The individual from reaching the other side while alive
To communicate with the dead & escort them back to life
To reassure us that we need no man’s permission to be free
To reassure us that we are dignitaries, porque somos
Hermanos y hermanas on the same side of the mirror
That our Isla del Encanto admirably stares at us from!

El Puerto Rican Embassy is necessary to explain
How our rain forest functions! And why we came here
In the first place. Not to better our standard of living
But to expand our vision of how the world really began
And celebrate the fact that we are all related to each other!

That’s why our Proclamation of Independence
Is nothing to fear BUT something to enjoy together
With whoever is serious about living forever peacefully
In the house of everyone’s universal ancestors: Earth!
Which gives everyone this day their daily identity. Vaya!

El Puerto Rican Embassy MANIFESTO
Rev. Pedro Pietri, 1994