Puerto Rican citizenship
In 1994, Puerto Rican activist Juan Mari Brás flew to Venezuela and renounced his US citizenship before a consular agent in the US Embassy in Caracas. Mari Brás, through his renunciation of U.S. citizenship, sought to redefine Section VII as a source of law that recognized a Puerto Rican nationality separate from that of the United States. In December 1995, his denaturalization was confirmed by the US State Department. Among the arguments that ensued over his action was whether he would now be able to vote in elections in Puerto Rico. On November 18, 1997, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico through its ruling in "Miriam J. Ramirez de Ferrer v. Juan Mari Brás" reaffirmed the Puerto Rican citizenship by ruling that U.S. citizenship was not a requirement to vote in Puerto Rico. According to the court's majority opinion, the Puerto Rican citizenship is recognized several times in the Puerto Rican constitution including section 5 of article III, section 3 of article IV, and section 9 of article V. In a 2006 memorandum, the Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico concluded, based on the Mari Brás case, that the Puerto Rican citizenship is "separate and different" from the United States citizenship.
Anarchism in Puerto Rico
The legal imposition of the United States citizenship and later the military draft on Puerto Ricans marked 1917. Iglesias had used the FLT and PS to push for the first, while anarchists didn't take a posture on the issue. Consequently, they didn't publicly react to the Jones Act. Resident commissioner Luis Muñoz Rivera and other politicians lobbied in favor of extending selective service to Puerto Rico and Enoch Crowder granted it. Institutionally, the FLT supported it and as president of the PS, Iglesias Pantín did as well. Anarchists, nationalists and independentists opposed the draft and campaigned against it. José M. Alicea was arrested during a month for refusing to register. After local legislation limiting speech and federal sedition laws were passed during World War I, Dieppa publicly attacked the authorities and was arrested, tough the case would later be decided in his favor. Pedro Calleja was detained while returning to Puerto Rico due to possessing Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), membership. As strikes continued to wage during the war, colonial governor Arthur Yager declared martial law and prohibited public demonstrations and leftist propaganda. As a result of disobeying and participating in a strikers meeting, Capetillo was arrested. Her treatment was protested by fellow anarchist Ramón Barrios and sympathizer Epifanio Fiz Jiménez.