[News] UN: Calls on US to Expedite Self-Determination for Puerto Rico

[Anti-Imperialist News]

UN: Special Committee on Decolonization Approves 
Text Calling on United States to Expedite 
Self-Determination Process for Puerto Rico

http://www.isria.com/pages/16_June_2009_24.htm

Members Hear Petitioners Speak up for Independence, Statehood, Free Association

The Special Committee on Decolonization this 
afternoon approved a draft resolution calling 
upon the Government of the United States to 
expedite a process that would allow the Puerto 
Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable 
right to self-determination and independence.

By the terms of that text, which the Special 
Committee approved by consensus, the 
decolonization body -– formally known as the 
Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to 
the Implementation of the Declaration on the 
Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries 
and Peoples -– requested that the President of 
the United States release all Puerto Rican 
political prisoners serving sentences for cases 
relating to the Non-Self-Governing Territory’s 
struggle for independence -– including two who 
had been imprisoned for more than 28 years. It 
expressed serious concern about actions carried 
out against Puerto Rican independence fighters 
and encouraged rigorous investigations of those 
actions, in cooperation with relevant authorities.

The Special Committee, also known as the 
“Committee of 24”, urged the United States 
Government to complete the return of occupied 
land and installations on Vieques island and in 
Ceiba to the Puerto Rican people; respect their 
inhabitants’ fundamental human rights to health 
and economic development; and expedite and cover 
the costs of decontaminating the areas previously used for military exercises.

Introducing the draft resolution, Cuba’s 
representative said Puerto Rico was a Latin 
American and Caribbean country with its own 
national identity, and its long struggle for 
independence was deeply rooted in a sense of 
identity. Notwithstanding 27 resolutions and 
decisions approved by the Special Committee and 
the General Assembly, the people of the 
Commonwealth were still unable to exercise their 
legitimate right to genuine self-determination 
and independence due to continuing economic, 
political and social domination by the United States, the colonial Power.

The Special Committee also heard 32 petitioners 
present the views of various Puerto Rican groups, 
parties and organizations. Many reiterated the 
Special Committee’s request that the General 
Assembly call on the United States Government to 
begin a just and equitable process to allow 
Puerto Ricans to exercise their right to 
self-determination, in accordance with Assembly 
resolution 1514 (XV) and the Special Committee’s 
numerous resolutions and decisions on the matter.

Petitioners also called on the United States 
Government immediately to suspend the death 
penalty in Puerto Rico, which was prohibited by 
the Commonwealth’s Constitution. They raised 
concerns about racial discrimination and economic 
exploitation, disproportionate prison sentences 
handed down to Puerto Rican independence fighters 
in United States jails, the supremacy of United 
States federal law over local legislation, and 
the environmental damage caused by the United 
States industries and nuclear testing on Puerto Rican islands.

Fernando Martin, Executive President of the 
Puerto Rican Independence Party, said it was 
particularly important that the General Assembly 
consider the question of Puerto Rico, since 2010 
would mark the end of the Second International 
Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, as 
well as more than 200 years of emancipation and 
independence in the rest of Latin America. The 
Assembly’s consideration of the issue would exert 
moral and legal pressure on the United States 
Government to stop using pretexts and excuses to 
avoid complying with its decolonization obligations under international law.

But while some petitioners advocated 
independence, others were in favour of statehood. 
Jose Adames of the Literacy Center Anacona, said 
more than 95 per cent of Puerto Rico’s population 
had consistently voted either for direct 
statehood, as the fifty-first state of the Union 
or in a free association arrangement with the 
United States. Anthony Mele, Chairman of the 
Sixty-fifth Infantry Regiment Honour Task Force, 
said Puerto Ricans enjoyed citizenship and equal 
protection under the United States Bill of 
Rights. However, the sovereign rights of those 4 
million people to vote in national elections were 
obstructed by arcane legislation that the United 
States Congress could amend easily. It was a 
national disgrace that Puerto Rican soldiers 
fought and died in wars under the United States 
flag, but were unable to vote for representatives 
in Congress. Statehood for Puerto Rico was a 
right, and the Special Committee must call on the 
United States Government to grant it.

Hector Ferrer of the Popular Democratic Party, 
however, favoured enhanced Commonwealth status, 
which would be non-territorial and non-colonial. 
Despite President Barack Obama’s commitment to 
resolving the case of Puerto Rico and 
guaranteeing a voice for the Commonwealth in 
discussions on its status, Congress had recently 
passed a bill which contravened that commitment. 
Two rounds of voting proposed in the bill was 
intended to manipulate the results in favour of 
statehood and did not provide for the 
commonwealth option. A constitutional assembly on 
status would be the best mechanism for determining Puerto Rico’s future.

Other petitioners addressing the Special 
Committee were representatives of the following 
organizations: Colegio de Abogados de Puerto 
Rico; People’s Law Office (on behalf of the 
National Lawyers Guild International Committee); 
American Association of Jurists; El Partido 
Nacionalista de Puerto Rico; Movimiento 
Liberador; PROELA; Puertorriquenos Unidos en 
Accion; Movimiento Independentista Nacional 
Hostosiano de Puerto Rico; Comite Puerto Rico en 
la ONU; Frente Autonomista; Coalicion 
Puertorriquena contra la Pena de Muerte; El 
Comite de Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico; 
Colectivo de Trabajo por la Independencia de 
Puerto Rico Area de Mayaguez; Soho Art Festival; 
Socialist Workers Party; National Advancement for 
Puerto Rican Culture; Alianza por Libre 
Asociacion Soberana; Frente Patriotico Arecibeno; 
Primavida Inc.; Accion Democratica 
Puertorriquena; DC-6; Colectivo Puertorriqueno 
Pro Independencia; Hostos Grand Jury Resistance 
Campaign; Ministerio Latino; Movimiento de 
Afirmacion Viequense; Committee for the Rescue 
and Development of Vieques; Frente Socialista de 
Puerto Rico; and Comite Familiares y Amigos Avelino Gonzalez Claudio.

Members of delegations speaking today were the 
representatives of Dominica (on behalf of the 
Non-Aligned Movement), Nicaragua, Panama, 
Ecuador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela, Bolivia, Syria and Iran.

The Special Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. 
tomorrow, Tuesday, 16 June, to consider the 
questions of New Caledonia and Western Sahara.

Background

The Special Committee on the Situation with 
Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration 
on the Granting of Independence to Colonial 
Countries and Peoples met this morning to hear petitioners from Puerto Rico.

Committee members had before them a report 
prepared by the Rapporteur (document 
A/AC.109/2009/L.13), which notes that, under the 
current arrangements, authority over Puerto 
Rico’s defence, international relations, external 
trade and monetary matters remains with the 
United States, while the Commonwealth has 
autonomy over taxes, social policies and most 
local affairs. While eligible for United States 
citizenship, people born in Puerto Rico do not 
have the right to vote in that country unless 
they reside on the mainland. In addition, the 
Commonwealth’s Supreme Court has recognized the 
existence of Puerto Rican citizenship in a court 
decision subsequently certified by the island’s Department of State.

According to the report, the United States has 
maintained that Puerto Rico had exercised its 
right to self-determination, attained a full 
measure of self-government, decided freely and 
democratically to enter into a free association 
with the United States and was, therefore, beyond 
the purview of United Nations consideration, as 
stated explicitly in resolution 748 (III) of 
1953. However, Puerto Rican forces in favour of 
decolonization and independence have contested this affirmation.

The document further highlights the continuing 
deadlock among Puerto Rico’s parties as to 
whether the island’s territorial status should 
change: the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) 
favours the status quo while the Partido Nuevo 
Progresista (PNP) favours full United States 
statehood and the smaller Partido Independentista 
Puertorriqueño (PIP) supports independence for 
the island. The United States Congress reopened 
the debate over the island’s political status in 
2007. Introduced in the House of Representatives 
that year, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act called 
for a plebiscite no later than 31 December 2009, 
and for the ballot to provide voters with two 
options: to continue the existing form of 
territorial status or pursue a path towards a 
constitutionally viable permanent non-territorial status.

According to the report, another bill, the Puerto 
Rico Self-Determination Act, would recognize the 
right of the island’s people to call a 
constitutional convention through which they 
would exercise their natural right to 
self-determination and establish a mechanism for 
congressional consideration of such a decision. 
By the terms of the amended Democracy Act, passed 
in subcommittee in October 2007, if, in the 2009 
referendum, Puerto Ricans would choose to 
continue their existing status, a new referendum 
would be held every eight years. If the other 
option were to win, a separate referendum no 
later than 2011 would give Puerto Ricans the 
option of statehood or becoming a sovereign 
nation, independent from or in free association with the United States.

The report also outlines the outcome of the 
November 2008 general election in which Luis 
Fortuño won the island’s governorship and his PNP 
consolidated its control of the legislature. 
PNP’s Pedro Pierluisi won the office of Resident 
Commissioner in Washington, D.C. It is estimated 
that a significant number of those who voted for 
PNP did so to punish PPD, in particular former 
Governor Anibal Acevedo Vilá, for poor 
administration and a number of unpopular 
measures. A link has been made between the former 
Governor’s defeat and criminal charges brought 
against him and his associates by the United 
States for violations of electoral funding 
regulations. Some political commentators have 
expressed the view that the charges were aimed at 
damaging Mr. Acevedo Vila’s electoral 
possibilities, since he and his party have 
supported Puerto Rican sovereignty and expansion 
of the powers of the Free Associated State to 
several areas now under the powers of the United 
States Congress. PPD and the former Governor have 
also called for the General Assembly to examine the issue of Puerto Rico.

The report points out that the press in Puerto 
Rico reported widely that, on 2 January 2009, 
then President-elect Barack Obama sent a message 
to the swearing-in ceremony for Governor Luis 
Fortuño in which he reportedly reiterated that he 
would try to resolve the colonial case of Puerto 
Rico during his first term. He explained that 
self-determination was a basic right of Puerto 
Ricans and that he would work with all relevant 
sectors to guarantee that the Commonwealth had a 
voice to discuss the topic in Washington, D.C.

Among other questions relating to the status of 
Puerto Rico and its relationship with the United 
States, the report also addresses the latter’s 
military presence, particularly on the island of 
Vieques; the imprisonment on the mainland of 
pro-independence Puerto Ricans accused of 
seditious conspiracy and weapons possession; and 
the imposition of the death penalty against 
Puerto Ricans convicted on federal charges.

The Special Committee also had before it a draft 
resolution on the Special Committee decision of 9 
June 2008 concerning Puerto Rico (document 
A/AC.109/2009/L.7), by which the Special 
Committee would call upon the United States 
Government to expedite a process that would allow 
the full exercise of the Puerto Rican people’s 
inalienable right to self-determination and 
independence. It would note the broad support of 
eminent persons, Governments and political forces 
in Latin America and the Caribbean for the Commonwealth’s independence.

By further terms of that draft, the Special 
Committee would express serious concern about 
actions carried out against Puerto Rican 
independence fighters, and encourage the 
investigation of those actions with “the 
necessary rigour” and the cooperation of relevant 
authorities. Also by the text, the Special 
Committee would urge the United States Government 
to complete the return of occupied land and 
installations on Vieques island and in Ceiba; 
respect fundamental human rights, such as the 
right to health and economic development; and 
expedite and cover the costs of decontaminating 
the areas previously used in military exercises.

The Special Committee would, by further terms of 
the text, request that the United States 
President release Oscar Lopez Rivera and Carlos 
Alberto Torres, who have been serving sentences 
in mainland prisons for more than 28 years, as 
has Avelino Gonzalez Claudio -- all of them 
Puerto Rican political prisoners serving 
sentences for cases relating to the struggle for 
independence -- as well as others serving 
sentences for cases relating to that struggle.

Introduction of Draft Resolution

ABELARDO MORENO (Cuba), introducing the draft on 
the Special Committee decision of 9 June 2008 
concerning Puerto Rico, said the massive presence 
of petitioners before the Special Committee today 
clearly illustrated the high level of interest in 
and attention to the colonial question of Puerto 
Rico. The Commonwealth’s people remained unable 
to exercise their legitimate right to genuine 
self-determination, while the United States, the 
colonial Power, maintained its economic, 
political and social domination over that 
brotherly Latin American and Caribbean nation, 
which had its own national and cultural identity. 
Despite the 27 resolutions and decisions of the 
Special Committee and the General Assembly, 
little progress had been made to reach a definitive solution.

He said the text before the Special Committee 
stressed the urgent need for the United States 
Government to foster a process allowing the 
Puerto Rican people to exercise their inalienable 
right to self-determination, as established by 
resolution 1514 (XV) and numerous resolutions 
adopted by the Special Committee. It also 
expressed concern that, despite several 
initiatives by political representatives from 
Puerto Rico, a decolonization process that would 
meet the Puerto Rican people’s aspirations had not been set in motion.

As in previous years, he continued, the draft 
stated that, because of its culture, history, 
traditions and particularly its people’s 
unswerving will, Puerto Rico was and would 
continue to be a Latin American and Caribbean 
nation with its own national identity. As in 
previous years, the draft called on the President 
of the United States to release three political 
prisoners serving sentences in mainland jails and 
reiterated its request that the General Assembly 
review the question of Puerto Rico in a 
comprehensive manner and in all its aspects.

Petitioners

Many petitioners urged the Special Committee to 
adopt the draft resolution, insisting that, 
despite assertions of autonomy, Puerto Rico was 
still one of the world’s few remaining colonies. 
Speakers described their people’s fight for 
self-determination and independence, requesting 
that the Special Committee urge the General 
Assembly to take up the matter by 2010 and call 
on the United States Government to begin a just 
and equitable process to allow Puerto Ricans to 
exercise their right to self-determination, as 
called for in resolution 1514 (XV). In his 27 
February statement during the Special Committee’s 
inaugural session, the Secretary-General had 
stated that the decolonization process had 
remained unresolved for far too long, and that concrete results were needed.

ARTURO HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ, President, Colegio de 
Abogados de Puerto Rico, echoed the sentiments of 
many speakers when he said that Puerto Rico’s 
decolonization process must be determined by 
Puerto Ricans, not the United States Congress.

FERNANDO MARTIN, Executive President, Puerto 
Rican Independence Party, said it was 
particularly important that the Assembly consider 
the question of Puerto Rico, since 2010 marked 
the end of the Second Decade for the Eradication 
of Colonialism as well as more than 200 years of 
emancipation and independence in Latin America. 
The Assembly’s consideration of the issue would 
put moral and legal pressure on the United States 
Government to stop using pretexts and excuses to 
avoid complying with its decolonization obligations under international law.

JAN SUSLER, People’s Law Office, speaking on 
behalf of the National Lawyers Guild 
International Committee, said that the April 2009 
Summit of the Americas had illustrated the 
consequences of United States colonial control 
over Puerto Rico, which continued to be deprived 
of a seat at the table among the nations of the world.

Like many other petitioners, she called for the 
release of Carlos Alberto Torres and Oscar Lopez 
Rivera, who for almost 30 years had been serving 
sentences harsher than imposed on people 
convicted of similar and more serious crimes. The 
United States Government should immediately stop 
criminalizing, harassing and attacking all Puerto 
Ricans fighting for independence, immediately 
release Avelino Gonzalez Claudio, an independence 
fighter arrested by the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation (FBI) in 2008, and dismiss all pending charges against him.

Further, she called on United States officials to 
identify and hold criminally liable all those 
responsible for the assassination of Filiberto 
Ojeda Rios, Santiago Mari Pesquera, Carlos Muniz 
Varela and other militants of the Puerto Rican 
independence movement; withdraw from and formally 
return Vieques to the Puerto Ricans living there; 
cease detonating unexploded ordinances there, 
completely clean up the pollution caused by the 
United States Navy’s 60-year occupation of the 
island and compensate the local people for 
related damage to their health; and end the death 
penalty in Puerto Rico, which contravened Puerto 
Rican legislation, among other things.

Several speakers stressed that Puerto Rico was a 
Caribbean and Latin American nation with its own 
distinct national identity, but its colonial 
status had made it difficult to preserve its 
cultural heritage and achieve sustainable 
development. Puerto Ricans were a minority in the 
United States suffering racial discrimination and exploitation.

CARLOS HERNANDEZ LOPEZ, member of the House of 
Representatives of Puerto Rico, said many people 
still supported the belief that Puerto Ricans 
should remain politically and economically 
dependent on the United States, and many in that 
country took advantage of the Commonwealth’s 
political divisions to avoid the issue of its 
political status. The Special Committee merely 
approved the same resolution year after year. 
Puerto Ricans deserved better from the United 
Nations, particularly Latin American Member 
States. There was a need for solidarity and 
action to force the United States to respond 
seriously to the issue. He said he stood ready to 
put the proposed Constitutional Assembly in place 
so that all ideological sectors could reclaim 
justice and dignity, and negotiate a better future for Puerto Ricans.

EDGARDO ROMAN ESPADA, Coalicion Puertorriquena 
contra la Penal de Muerte, proposed that the 
Special Committee incorporate the issue of the 
death penalty into the list of issues relating to 
Puerto Rico’s self-determination, noting that, 
beginning as early as 1900, the Puerto Rican 
people had expressed themselves against it on 
many occasions. With the approval of the 
Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
a clear expression of rejection of the death 
penalty had been incorporated into the Bill of 
Rights, but the Government of the United States 
had unilaterally imposed it by means of federal legislation.

“The United States authorities can impose the 
death penalty upon the citizens of Puerto Rico in 
spite of the fact that we have not given them the 
right to end the life of any one of us,” he said, 
requesting the Special Committee to evaluate how 
such an anomaly affected the Commonwealth’s right 
to self-determination. Puerto Rico was the only 
nation in the world in which the processes in 
cases of capital punishment were conducted in a 
language different from the native one. While 
Spanish was spoken in Puerto Rico, English was 
the language used by the Federal Court. Pointing 
out that there were currently five cases pending 
before the Federal District Court for the 
District of Puerto Rico in which the death 
penalty could be imposed, he said there was a 
serious conflict between the right to 
self-determination and imposition of the death 
penalty. The United States must immediately and 
totally suspend its application of the death penalty in Puerto Rico.

As several speakers demanded the immediate 
release of all Puerto Rican political prisoners, 
SAM MANUEL, Socialist Workers Party, said they 
were serving “draconian sentences in US jails for 
the ‘crime’ of fighting for the independence and 
dignity of their country”. Carlos Alberto Torres 
and Marie Haydée Beltrán Torres had been locked 
up for 29 years, and Oscar Lopez for 28 -- “some 
of the longest-held political prisoners in the 
world”. Avelino Gonzalez Claudio had been jailed for two years without bail.

EDUARDO VILLANUEVA MUÑOZ, El Comite de Derechos 
Humanos de Puerto Rico, pointed out the 
contradiction of federal law defining as crime 
fighting another crime –- maintaining a colonial 
regime. The clause of supremacy forced the United 
States federal authorities to prevail wherever 
there was a conflict with Puerto Rican local 
laws. President Obama demanded respect for human 
rights in many countries, but maintained a 
colonial regime in Puerto Rico. The existence of 
the death penalty and political prisoners were 
not conducive to Puerto Rico’s 
self-determination. The people of Puerto Rico had 
limited civil rights and the United States 
discriminated against those whose ideas were 
different from those of its Government.

RICARDO PARET VELEZ, Colectivo de Trabajo por la 
Independencia de Puerto Rico Area de Mayaguez, 
said the most serious problems facing Puerto Rico 
were rooted in colonialism. They included 
environmental degradation, quick loss of arable 
lands, forests and coastal areas as a result of 
the activities of so-called developers, as well 
as the chemical, pharmaceutical and other 
industries. Among other priority issues were an 
alarming increase in criminality and drug use, 
high suicide rates and poor medical services. In 
addition, the privatization of public agencies 
had led to mass dismissals in the interests of 
the wealthy and of major transnational and United States corporations.

Mr. MANUEL recalled in that regard that tens of 
thousands of unionists and students in Puerto 
Rico had taken to the streets last week, 
demanding an end to the Government’s plans to lay 
off 30,000 workers. Today, Puerto Rico’s official 
unemployment rate stood at nearly 15 per cent, 50 
per cent higher than that of the United States. 
Under the new “fiscal emergency” law, Luis 
Fortuno’s administration would freeze wages and 
essentially tear up the union contracts of public employees.

He said imperialist investors had demanded sharp 
assaults on what they called Puerto Rico’s 
“welfare state” -– federal payments such as food 
stamps and housing subsidies -- upon which 
Washington had relied for decades to cushion the 
effects of super-exploitation. The people of 
Puerto Rico and workers and farmers in the United 
States shared a common enemy –- billionaire 
families in the United States and their 
Government in Washington. For that reason, a 
successful fight for Puerto Rico’s independence 
was not only in the interests of its own people, 
but also that of the vast majority of people in the United States.

NILDA LUZ REXACH, Executive Director, National 
Advancement of Puerto Rican Culture, said Puerto 
Ricans had United States citizenship and, during 
recent elections, most of them had voted for 
Puerto Rico, which already had an elected 
Governor, to become the fifty-first state of the 
United States. If Congress could vote to send 
Puerto Rican soldiers to war, than Puerto Ricans 
should be able to vote for representatives in 
Congress. The Special Committee should listen to 
those voices calling for statehood.

HECTOR J. FERRER, Popular Democratic Party, said 
PPD defended the right of Puerto Ricans to decide 
their future through self-determination, 
favouring enhanced Commonwealth status, which 
would be non-territorial and non-colonial. During 
his presidential campaign, President Obama had 
promised that his Administration would try to 
resolve the case of Puerto Rico and that he would 
work to guarantee that the Commonwealth had a 
voice in discussions on its status. He had 
rejected the statements that sovereignty could be 
transferred to Puerto Rico unilaterally by the 
United States. Even though the President was 
committed to working with the Congress, a bill 
had recently been presented to Congress which 
contravened the President’s determination. Two 
rounds of voting proposed in the bill was 
intended to manipulate the results in favour of 
statehood and did not provide for the 
commonwealth option. A constitutional assembly on 
status would be the best mechanism for determining Puerto Rico’s future.

JOSE ADAMES, Literary Center Anacaona (CLAHI) 
advocated a declaration of statehood by Puerto 
Rico, insisting that the Commonwealth was not a 
colony and that Puerto Ricans were already 
American citizens. “How would you feel if every 
year someone asked you: ‘Do you want to lose the 
citizenship you had since you were born?’” The 
Puerto Rican government was working like that of 
any state of the Union, and all that was missing 
was a declaration of state to start eliminating 
all the discrimination that its people were 
suffering at the hands of their own Government. 
The so-called decolonization of Puerto Rico was 
pushed by those looking to distract the attention of the Special Committee.

Those calling for independence, 
self-determination, plebiscite or any similar 
kind of definition represented the past and were 
promoting their miniscule interests over those of 
the majority, he said. “Please stop this 
relentless and insensitive [
] debate. We are 
plying with the citizenship and American passport 
of millions of people.” More than 95 per cent of 
Puerto Rico’s population had consistently voted 
for statehood, 45 per cent for direct statehood 
and 40 per cent for free association, while 
independence had received below 5 per cent.

ALEIDA CENTENO-RODROGUEZ, Frente Patriotico 
Arecibeno, like other petitioners, addressed the 
consequences of several nuclear tests carried out 
by the United States, characterizing them as 
“acts of environmental terrorism”, adding that 
colonialism in Puerto Rico was degenerating into an ecological disaster.

ANITA VELEZ-MITCHELL, Primavida Inc., said Puerto 
Ricans were United States citizens, but they 
could not vote in mainland presidential elections 
and had no voice in the United Nations unless 
invited by Cuba to speak. Hopefully, there would 
be hope for a change in how the Organization 
perceived Puerto Rico, which should be accorded 
the voice and respect it deserved, moving it away 
from its vulnerable position as a colony and 
towards the security of statehood at independence.

ANTHONY MELE, Chairman, Sixty-fifth Infantry 
Regiment Honour Task Force, said the 1914 Jones 
Act granted full United States citizenship to all 
Puerto Ricans on the island and their progeny. It 
afforded them equal protection under the law and 
was guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The United 
States could not honour its signature to the 
United Nations Charter while it denied 
sovereignty to one segment of its own citizenry, 
justified by an arcane piece of extraneous legislation.

He called upon the Special Committee to remind 
all Member States that the sovereign right of 4 
million Americans to vote in national elections 
was obstructed by legislation that could easily 
be amended by Congress. It would be a national 
disgrace if soldiers who fought, bled, died and 
were buried under the United States flag 
continued to be denied equal medical treatment. 
“We are not begging for a fifty-first star on the 
United States flag. What we are saying is the 
price for placing that star on the United States 
flag has been paid in full with the currency of 
blood. Our account is satisfied.”

Several petitioners addressed the situation on 
the island of Vieques following 60 years of 
exercises by the United States military.

FRANCISCO VELGARA, Movimento de Afirmacion 
Viequense, said the United States Armed Forces 
had left great environmental damage on the island 
and there was a general deterioration in people’s 
health. Heavy metals were to be found in the soil 
and the pollution of local waters made it risky 
to eat fish. The bombs used by the United States 
Navy contained dangerous and toxic substances, 
and despite the withdrawal of the Armed Forces, 
explosions of remaining ordnance continued. Thus, 
the bombing of Vieques had not ended, all of 
which pointed to violations of the human rights 
of the island’s inhabitants. The United States 
Navy should be held accountable for the damage it had inflicted.

MYRNA V PAGAN, Committee for the Rescue and 
Development of Vieques, said the local 
communities had no human rights, being the 
victims of bombing and expropriation. Depleted 
uranium had been dropped on the island by mistake 
and continued to poison the people. “We may never 
recover from that mistake.” Yet the Navy refused 
to accept responsibility for decimating the 
health of thousands of people as a result of land, water and air contamination.

It was encouraging that the Director of the 
Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry 
had recently agreed publicly to take a fresh look 
at the Vieques situation, she continued. Yet, in 
recent years, the people of the island had 
enjoyed the freedom from bombing, but still 
remained victims of the control and whims of the 
Federal Government and the lack of independent 
action on behalf of the Estado Libre Asociado, 
which danced to a colonial tune, “and the devil 
take the men, women and children of Vieques who continue to sicken and die”.

On 18 May 2009, the United States Department of 
Justice had used “sovereign immunity” in the 
legal case in which 7,100 Viequenses had filed 
suit against the United States Navy. The Navy 
should not be allowed to hide the truth about its 
actions, its violation of laws and regulations, 
and the harm it had caused to the health of the 
people of Vieques by using the “sovereign 
immunity” defence. The Special Committee was 
invited to stand with the people of Vieques in 
the spirit of truth and justice and in honour of 
its own affirmations of fundamental human rights. 
The United States Government should compensate 
the islanders for the harm they had suffered.

GIOVANNIA ANGELICA ACOSTA BUONO, Frente 
Socialista de Puerto Rico, said the fact that 
Puerto Rico remained a colony was not in doubt, 
and the colonial situation must be considered by 
the General Assembly. Yet some said Puerto Rico 
was a colony because it wished to be. At the same 
time, there had been campaigns of harassment 
against those protesting against colonialism as 
well as aggression against groups of journalists, 
growing repression of Latin American nationals 
coming to work in Puerto Rico and increased 
recruitment of Puerto Rican citizens into the 
United States Army. Given the increased United 
States presence and control, the United States 
military, legal and political mechanisms must 
withdraw from Puerto Rico and release political prisoners.

HARRIET NESBIT, Harriet Nesbit Halfway Houses, 
advocated statehood for Puerto Rico, saying it 
was not a colony. It had an elected Governor and 
appreciated the billion it received in aid from 
the United States. The Constitution of the United 
States said “all American citizens have 
constitutional rights” and the progressive people 
of Puerto Rico were making their unique 
contribution to the betterment of society. With 
its beauty, tourism and industrialization, Puerto 
Rico was an asset that enhanced the image of the United States.

SANTIAGO FELIX, Ministerio Latino, said Puerto 
Rico had never accepted the idea of being a 
colony and had opted for Commonwealth status. The 
United States had granted citizenship to Puerto 
Ricans, but it was not quite understandable how 
such people could be citizens without having a 
right to elect the President of the United States.

Petitioners also addressed the Commonwealth’s 
fiscal autonomy, voting rights and the treatment 
of Puerto Rican political prisoners by the United States, among other issues.

Action on Draft

CRISPIN GREGOIRE ( Dominica), speaking on behalf 
of the Non-Aligned Movement, said decolonization 
and the exercise of the legitimate right to 
self-determination of peoples continued to be a 
top priority for the Movement, which reiterated 
its strong support for the Special Committee’s 
work and urged the administering Powers to grant 
it their full support and cooperation. The 
Movement also renewed its call upon Member States 
to speed up the decolonization process towards 
the complete elimination of colonialism, 
including by supporting effective implementation 
of the Plan of Action of the Second International 
Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism 
(2001-2010). The Movement also reaffirmed its 
position on the question of Puerto Rico, 
contained in the Final Document of the 
Ministerial Meeting of the its Coordinating 
Bureau, held in Havana in April 2009.

The colonial question of Puerto Rico had been 
under consideration of the Special Committee for 
more than 35 years and had yielded a total of 27 
resolutions and decisions, he said. The Movement 
welcomed the fact that, over the last 10 years, 
the Special Committee had adopted its draft 
resolutions on that issue by consensus. It 
strongly supported those resolutions, which were 
in full agreement with the Movement’s traditional 
position on the question of Puerto Rico, and 
called for their expeditious implementation. The 
Movement reaffirmed the Puerto Rican people’s 
right to self-determination and independence, and 
called on the Government of the United States to 
assume its responsibility to expedite a process 
that would allow them fully to exercise that 
inalienable right. The United States should also 
return the occupied land and installations on 
Vieques island and at the Roosevelt Roads Naval 
Station to the Puerto Rican people, who 
constituted a Latin American and Caribbean nation.

JAIME HERMIDA CASTILLO ( Nicaragua) stressed the 
importance of decolonizing Puerto Rico and 
expressed hope that the Special Committee would 
adopt the draft resolution by consensus. The text 
reflected the Special Committee’s commitment to 
the exercise of the Puerto Rican people’s 
legitimate right to self-determination. Nicaragua 
would always defend the right of peoples to 
independence and would never tire of saying that 
Puerto Rico was a Latin American and Caribbean 
nation. Its people were standard bearers in the 
fight for freedom against colonialism and 
imperialism, showing an aspiration for full 
sovereignty, self-determination and independence.

Information provided by the petitioners was very 
valuable, he continued, noting that Puerto Rican 
patriots had spoken out against the death 
penalty, called for the release of their 
compatriots and expressed hope that the General 
Assembly would immediately consider the question 
of Puerto Rico. The Special Committee had 
considered that situation for many years and 
there was an urgent need to start implementing 
the relevant resolutions. At the end of the 
Second International Decade for the Eradication 
of Colonialism, Puerto Rico still did not 
exercise its right to self-determination, and its 
full sovereignty must be recognized without 
delay. Puerto Rico should not be the exception in 
Latin America and the Caribbean. It had much to 
contribute to the community of nations.

GIANCARLO SOLER TORRIJOS ( Panama), noting that 
Latin America would celebrate the bicentennial of 
its fight for independence in 2010, pointed out 
that one Latin American nation had not attained 
self-determination and the resolution of that 
situation must be a priority. The Special 
Committee must call for a review of the existing 
status quo to guarantee full implementation of 
the Declaration contained in the historic 
resolution 1514 (XV). The report of the United 
States Government’s working group on Puerto Rico 
recognized that the nation was subject to a 
colonial regime. Panama joined those who believed 
that the question of Puerto Rico should be placed 
on the General Assembly’s agenda. It was up to 
the Puerto Rican people to make any final 
decision on their country’s status. Hopefully, 
once adopted by consensus, the draft resolution 
would repeat a request that the matter be placed 
on the General Assembly’s agenda.

MARIA FERNANDA ESPINOSA ( Ecuador), speaking in 
explanation of position before action on the 
draft resolution, said 11 of the General 
Assembly’s resolutions on Puerto Rico made 
reference to the call for it to take up the 
matter. Ecuador was a co-sponsor of the draft 
resolution before the Special Committee, which 
represented its commitment to the island’s cause 
and aspirations, as a Latin American and 
Caribbean nation with its own national identity, 
to be able to join the concert of independent nations in the near future.

CAMILLO GONSALVES (Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines) said the Puerto Rican people’s right 
to self-determination was accepted by most 
nations and had been reaffirmed during the April 
2009 Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned 
Movement Coordinating Bureau in Cuba. Puerto 
Ricans may be in favour of independence, 
statehood, autonomy or a continuation of the 
status quo. The decision was theirs alone. The 
voices raised today were not intended to offer 
solutions, but to express solidarity with that 
cause. The Special Committee was ill-equipped to 
divine the breadth and depth of the 
constituencies that the petitioners before the 
Committee purported to represent.

He said that what seemed beyond debate, however, 
was the responsibility of the United States to 
follow through with the logical consequences of 
its decision to end its bombing and military 
exercises in Vieques island and carry out a safe 
and effective, environmentally friendly clean-up. 
It must also expedite the process that would 
allow Puerto Ricans to exercise their right to 
self-determination in a way that respected the 
rights of all Puerto Ricans, regardless of political alignment.

JULIO ESCALONA ( Venezuela) said his country was 
a co-sponsor of the draft resolution and defended 
the inalienable right of the Puerto Rican people 
to self-determination. During its 515 years of 
existence, Puerto Rican had been fighting for its 
independence under hostile and difficult 
conditions, necessitating many heroic actions. 
The Special Committee had expressed its 
solidarity with Puerto Rico, but the Commonwealth 
remained under the political, economic and social 
domination of the United States. Venezuela 
reiterated its appeal to the United States to 
provide for a process that would allow Puerto 
Ricans to exercise their inalienable right to 
self-determination and independence.

PABLO SOLÓN-ROMERO ( Bolivia) said the 
twenty-first century should be a time for 
multilateral action leading to tangible results. 
Political will and visions of renewal were needed 
in order to accept changes and structural 
transformations in societies. That was important 
for the restoration of international public trust 
in the United Nations system. Solutions must 
respond to people’s true expectations.

He said the cause of Puerto Rico was one of the 
challenges that the United Nations must face if 
it wished to contribute to a solution that would 
allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise their 
inalienable right to self-determination and 
independence. Bolivia fully supported giving the 
Puerto Rican people an opportunity to decide 
their own future on the basis of their Latin 
American and Caribbean identity. The petitioners 
heard today confirmed the will of the Puerto 
Rican people to continue fighting for independence.

MANAR TALEB ( Syria) said the 27 resolutions and 
decisions reaffirming the inalienable right of 
the Puerto Rican people to self-determination and 
independence also reaffirmed that they were part 
of the Latin American and Caribbean region. Syria 
urged the United States to assume its 
responsibility to accelerate the process that 
would allow them to exercise their right to 
self-determination. Syria had fully endorsed the 
outcome document of the July 2006 Fourteenth 
Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement 
in Havana, which reiterated the Movement’s 
traditional stance regarding Puerto Rico. The 
document requested implementation of relevant 
decisions on Puerto Rico, and Syria looked 
forward to the Special Committee’s consensus adoption of the draft.

AMIR HOSSEIN HOSSEINI (Iran), associating himself 
with the Non-Aligned Movement, said the issue of 
decolonization should remain a top priority on 
the agenda of the United Nations as long as 
millions of people in the Non-Self-Governing 
Territories hoped to receive help towards 
achieving independence. They certainly deserved a 
better life and should be able freely to decide 
their own future. Iran hoped that, by approving 
the draft by consensus, the Special Committee 
would be able to help the international community 
take decisive steps to help the Puerto Rican 
people exercise fully their right to self-determination.

The Special Committee then approved the draft 
resolution on Puerto Rico by consensus.

Following that action, the representative of Cuba 
thanked delegations for approving the text for 
the tenth consecutive year. For Cuba, the draft 
resolution was not only a fundamental duty, but 
proof of its historic commitment to the sister 
nation of Puerto Rico and patriots there, who for 
several centuries had been setting inspiring 
examples in their fight for self-determination and independence.

More than 100 years of colonial domination had 
not been enough to deprive the Puerto Rican 
people of their culture and identity, he said. 
That fact alone showed the unswerving vocation 
for independence that was deeply rooted in that 
Latin American and Caribbean island. All those 
years of endurance and struggle entitled Puerto 
Rico to hope, and Puerto Ricans could always 
count on the solidarity of Cuba, which would 
continue to uphold the legitimate right of the 
Puerto Rican people to self-determination and independence.

<http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/gacol3193.doc.htm>view original source




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