the name given to a series of projects aimed to transform the economy of Puerto Rico into an industrial one and reduce the population of the island. As part of the program, between 1930 and 1970, around one third of all women in Puerto Rico were sterilized. In 1920, the US government drew up plans to develop the island acquired after the Spanish-American War. In 1947, US Congress passed the Industrial Incentives Act, which became a part of “Operation Bootstrap,” the name given to a number of projects that aimed to industrialize Puerto Rico’s agrarian economy.[1] During these programs, the US federal government came up with a two-pronged approach to reduce overpopulation”. In the short term, they encouraged Puerto Ricans to migrate to the mainland United States and surrounding islands in the Caribbean. In the long term, they encouraged sterilization and birth control, which was supported by the strong eugenics movement in the US, the local appointed government and public health officials.[1]
In 1937, contraception and sterilization was made legal in Catholic Puerto Rico. When signing the bill, Acting Governor Rafael Menendez Ramos made a statement in support of the legalization of sterilization, citing the problem of “surplus population,” writing that “the inevitable consequence is increasing unemployment, growing poverty and mounting misery.”[1] By 1969, approximately 35% of all Puerto Rican women of child-bearing age had been sterilized.[3]
Source: Wikispooks
