[News] National Lawyers Guild - Presentation to the United Nations Decolonization Committee Hearings on Puerto Rico

[Anti-Imperialist News]

NationalLawyersGuild

PresentationtotheUnitedNationsDecolonizationCommitteeHearings onPuerto Rico


June20, 2016

Ihave the privilege of addressingyou todayon behalf of the National 
Lawyers Guild. Founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar 
Association, which did not admit people of color, the Guild is the 
oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the 
United States, with headquarters in New York, and chapters in 
everystate. From its founding, the National Lawyers Guild has maintained 
an internationalist perspective, with Puerto Rico playing an important 
part of the critical focus of our international work. Our 
manyresolutions affirm the right of the Puerto Rican people to 
self-determination and independence and call for the release of Puerto 
Rican political prisoners. Our members, includingmyself, have dedicated 
our legal skills to this just and noble cause.

*I. P**uerto Ricois acolonyof theUnitedStates*

**

Just this month, the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. House of 
Representatives clarified what this Committee has recognized and 
denounced for decades: Puerto Rico is a colonyof the United 
States.1First, the U.S. Supreme Court announced 
inPuertoRicov.SánchezValle,that ultimate sovereigntyfor Puerto Rico 
originates with the U.S. Congress, resultingin a rulingthat for purposes 
of double jeopardy, unlike the 50 U.S. states, unlike the Indian tribes, 
Puerto Rico is not a sovereignentityentitled to criminallyprocess its 
citizens who have alreadybeen criminally processed in the U.S. court in 
Puerto Rico.2The moment, noted one political commentator, is “the end of 
a lie.”3

The same day, the House of Representatives – over the objections of 
Puerto Rico’s governor, manyelected officials, labor unions and the 
votingpublic4– passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and 
Economic StabilityAct (PROMESA, Spanish for “promise”),5in response to 
the need to restructure Puerto Rico’s unpayable debt of over $72 
billion.6The law will establish an oversight board to be responsible for 
enforcingbudgets and government reform, includingforcingthe sale of 
government assets, consolidatingagencies and firingworkers. The board 
will be comprised of seven people selected byRepublican congressional 
leaders and appointed bythe U.S. president – there is no provision for 
inclusion of anyPuerto Rican, but there is a provision to exclude 
anyPuerto Rican elected official or candidate. The board will further 
usurp the function of the elected government, in that it can “prevent 
the execution of legislative acts, executive orders, regulations, rules 
and contracts” as it sees fit. Amongits odious powers, it can shrink the 
minimum wage for youngworkers.

As if this one-two punch were not enough, days later the U.S. Supreme 
Court delivered the third punch, 
inPuertoRicov.FranklinCaliforniaTax-FreeTrust, sidingwith investors and 
strikingPuerto Rico’s legislation to restructure public utilitydebt, 
rulingthat federal bankruptcy law, “bars Puerto Rico from enactingits 
own municipal bankruptcyscheme to restructure the debt of its insolvent 
public utilities.”7

As an editorial in Puerto Rico’s main dailynewspaper articulated:

The state of colonialism unveiled in the pages of the Supreme Court’s 
rulinghas placed Puerto Rico between a rock and a hard place, 
experiencingpreciselythe opposite of “the best of both worlds.” On the 
one hand, the colonyhas no powers to assume control of the nation. On 
the other, Congress has explicitlyexcluded the island's agencies from 
the protection of the U.S. BankruptcyCode since the mid-eighties.8

The dissent, written bythe sole Puerto Rican justice Sonia Sotomayor, 
recognized that the decision leaves Puerto Rico at the mercyof U.S. 
Congress, “powerless and with no legal process to help its 3.5 million 
citizens,” who face what “members of the Executive and Legislature have 
described as a looming‘humanitarian crisis’,” as their vital public 
services are imperiled.

The vulture- and hedge-fund operators who own a huge share of the debt 
are pushingto protect their own interests over and above the interests 
of the Puerto Rican people.9These operators, alongwith the U.S. Congress 
and Supreme Court, whollyignore the fact that the very United States has 
a deficit of $534 billion, with a $14.0 trillion debt held bythe public.10

These latest events further unmask the true colonial nature of the 
United States and give the lie to U.S. representations to the United 
Nations in the early1950's when the U.S. falsely asserted that U.S. Law 
600 converted Puerto Rico into a self-governingterritory. In what some 
refer to as “a monumental hoax,” the U.S. maneuvered the U.N. into 
removingPuerto Rico from the list requiringaccountabilityfrom countries 
with non-self-governingterritories.11

In imperial fashion, the U.S. continues to thumb its nose at 
international law which requires it to engage in a process to enable the 
Puerto Rican people to fullyexercise their inalienable right to 
self-determination and independence.12

*II.Resistanceis aliveandwell*

A doom and gloom portrait of Puerto Rico predominates the U.S. and 
international media, which fail to report the inspiringand creative 
resistance to the latest phase of U.S. colonial control. Rather than 
dwell on the negative, we will instead focus on the positive.

A.Challengingthe debt

The Puerto Rico Commission for the Comprehensive Audit of the Public 
Credit[Comisión para la Auditoría Integral del Crédito Público de Puerto 
Rico],13created to evaluate the process of renegotiatingthe public debt, 
has made a preliminaryanalysis that half the debt maybe 
unconstitutional,14which could lead to Puerto Rico’s nullifyingthat debt.15

Representatives of more than 50 groups comprisingPuerto Rico’s civil 
societyadvocated at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for a 
moratorium on debt payment and a participatory, democratic and 
transparent mechanism to restructure the debt, as well as for an audit 
that would clarifythe origin of the debt, exclude the 
illegitimatelyacquired debt, and establish a legal framework for 
determiningcivil and criminal liabilityfor the debt.16

The notion of “odious debt,” i.e., debt incurred not in the interests of 
those on whose behalf it was incurred, could annul some of the 
debt.17Indeed, the United States used this very notion in 1898 when it 
took possession of Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam, to avoid 
responsibilityfor debts incurred bySpain.18

B.ChallengingPROMESA


In the face of the imminent U.S. imposition of a fiscal control board 
and its exacerbation of austerity, hundreds of labor, environmental, 
religious, communityand not-for-profit organizations on the Island and 
in the diaspora announced the formation of the Puerto Rican 
CoordinatingCommittee Against the U.S. Fiscal Control Board, to attempt 
to avoid passage of the law; but if it should pass, the Committee will 
convene acts of civil disobedience in Puerto Rico and the U.S. to impede 
the Board’s abilityto function.19A senator said that if the Board is 
established, he would resign, and he encouraged his fellow senators to 
do likewise: “we have to start to see this reallyseriouslyas an attack 
on Puerto Rico’s institutions and what itrepresents.”20A cabinet 
minister expressed, “It makes you want to run away.”21As for civil 
disobedience, the mayor of San Juan, who joined the Committee Against 
the U.S. Fiscal Control Board, said:

“This board is the United States’ second invasion of Puerto Rico. The 
other one (that took place in 1898), theydid obviously. This one, 
they’re doingit as if they were helpingus out. No one helps anyone 
byenslavingthem; thus we have to combat it byeverylegal means, be it 
bydemonstrations, assemblies, meetings to orient the Country, 
lobbyingagainst it in Washington, supportingthose in the United States 
who are against the Board, askingthe Puerto Rican diaspora to use 
political pressure so the Democrats are against this Board, and if we 
have to resort to civil disobedience, resort to civil disobedience. No 
one can make Puerto Rico decide between indignityand slavery. We must 
value our right to defend a future of hope and dignityfor our homeland.”22

Opposition to the Board has been buildingfor months, as Congress 
considered various drafts, with earlier coalitions, calls for 
resistance, marches, and acts of civil disobedience.23

C. Creatingasustainableeconomy

An island that imports more than 80% to 85% of what it consumes,24and 
that is hamstrungbythe onerous requirements of U.S. shippinglaw25must 
create a sustainable economy, and particularlymust develop its own 
agriculture. Not onlyis there an increase in the number of 
universitystudents choosingto major in agriculture, but there is a 
growingattraction to workingthe land26and a local governmental 
commitment to improve Puerto Rico's food security.27The notion that 
"Wehave a beautiful island and a perfect climate, we can produce 
whatever we want,"expressed byan experienced chef who uses 
onlylocallygrown produce, is catchingon,28with new farmers, new 
technology, and new farms. One optimistic youngorganic farmer sees it 
this way: "We're creatingdemand. We have this pool of buyers, a pool of 
farmers and we're bringingthem together. Food is mybet on how to change 
this island, if not the world. Food has the power to change 
everythingfrom economyto education to health to environment, you name 
it. Ifeel we'reon the verge of somethingwith this island."29

D. Protectingthe environment

Takingmatters into their own hands, Puerto Ricans have organized to 
combat, and often stop, harm to public health, the environment, and 
natural resources.30Two powerful examples are a waste incinerator in 
Arecibo and a coal burningplant in Guayama.

For years, residents of Arecibo and their supporters have been 
organizing– on the streets and in the courts – against a 
“waste-to-energy” incinerator which EnergyAnswers proposes to 
operate.31Appreciatingthe toll on the nearbywetland reserve which would 
serve as its water source, the threat to several endangered species, and 
the tons of hazardous pollutants it would pump into the air, 
virtuallyeverymunicipalityhas announced its refusal to send their waste 
to the proposed facility.32The communityhas also successfullychallenged 
efforts to block its participation in the permit process, 
virtuallystoppingthe operation in its tracks.33

Residents of Guayama and their supporters have for years organized 
against Applied EnergySystems (AES) Corporation, a Fortune 500 
company34that bills the Puerto Rico electrical authoritynearlya million 
dollars dailyto manufacture electricityfrom coal, everydaygenerates tons 
of toxic coal ash dust and fails to properlydispose of it, resultingin 
contamination of the surroundingair and water.35The companyhas not been 
willingto expend the moneynecessary for export or proper disposal, 
preferringinstead to transport and dump the ash dust into inadequate 
landfills where it leaks toxic and carcinogenic chemicals into the land 
and local water supply,and government agencies, seen as 
willingaccomplices, are not protectingpublic health or the environment.36

E. Preservingthe culture

Puerto Rican artists, their production of art and preservation of the 
culture, are flourishing in spite of the challengingeconomic 
times.37Some of the manyexamples follow. One cultural entrepreneur 
started Inversión Cultural (Cultural Investment), with a goal of 
cultivatingthe formation, research and mentorship for cultural small 
businesses.38Beta-Local, in Old San Juan, is a non-profit that supports 
and promotes aesthetic thought and practices through a 9-month research 
and production program for artists and other cultural agents, a 
residencyprogram, and an experimental pedagogical platform, 
sponsoringmonthlycommunitydinners, teach-ins, art exhibits, and 
publications.39Maritza PérezOtero, theater professional, teacher and 
activist, is nourishingyet another generation of youth in “Jóvenes del 
98,” to make sociallycritical theater.40

“Santurce es Ley,” now in its sixth year, seeks to carryout its goal of 
creatingan alliance among diverse sectors of Santurce to revive it as an 
art district.41It has become an important platform for 
emergingcontemporaryart, gaininginternational attention with its 
enormous murals, sculptures, installations, communityworkshops, and 
musical performances. José Morales of La Marqueta Retoña in New York 
Cityand La Respuesta in Santurce works to create a cultural bridge 
between the Island and the diaspora in New York City, 
includingorganizingan international mural festival in East Harlem and 
the South Bronx which involved Puerto Rican artists.42

F.Organizingfor politicalpower in the diaspora

The debt crisis on the Island has fueled much solidarityfrom Puerto 
Ricans in the U.S. diaspora, from workingto find employment, housingand 
schools for the manywho are migrating from the Island, to 
formingcoalitions to create agendas for the benefit of Puerto Rico and 
Puerto Ricans in the U.S., to lobbyingpolitical parties and elected 
officials for legislation. Conferences in Orlando, Florida and New York 
Cityhave brought together Puerto Rican elected officials, communityand 
religious leaders and academics to unite around debt restructuring, 
equalityin health care, the environment, and the release of Puerto Rican 
political prisoner Oscar López Rivera.43

*III.PoliticalprisonerOscarLópezRivera*

*“PuertoRicoisimprisoned,and[...]OscarLópezRivera’simprisonmentisametaphor 
forthecountry.”44*

Oscar López Rivera, the longest imprisoned Puerto Rican political 
prisoner in history, has served 35 years in United States federal prison 
for seditious conspiracy, that is, for his commitment to the 
independence and self-determination of his nation, with more than 12 of 
those years in solitaryconfinement. With a sentence of 70 years, he was 
not convicted of hurting anyone or takinga life. At age 73, he maintains 
his health as best he can, “vivito ycoleando,” with a disciplined regime 
of exercise.

The people see his ongoingimprisonment as “a historical debt and one of 
human rights,”45as an affront to the dignityof the Puerto Rican people 
and others who love justice. The injustice of his continued imprisonment 
has stirred a creative, widespread response from every sector of 
society, in Puerto Rico, in the United States, and internationally.46

In the year since this Committee’s last hearings on Puerto Rico, support 
for his release has continued to grow exponentially. His case became an 
issue in the Democratic presidential race: the candidates understood 
that his freedom was so important to potential voters that they felt the 
need to state a position.47DuringPope Francis’ travels, bishops48and 
churches,49 politicians50and attorneys51sought his intervention on 
Oscar’s behalf. In conferences, prominent people dedicated their keynote 
addresses to him, from the Archbishop of San Juan Roberto

GonzálezNieves at a recent New York Citysummit of the diaspora,52to 
award winningauthor Luis Rafael Sánchezat the Congreso Internacional de 
la Lengua Española in San Juan.53

People of renown have trekked to the federal prison in Terre Haute, 
Indiana, to visit with him, from mayor of San Juan Carmen Yulín Cruz 
Soto;54speaker of the New York CityCouncil Melissa Mark Viverito; member 
of U.S. Congress Luis Gutiérrez; Juan Cartagena, president and general 
counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEFand Natasha Bannan, president of the 
National Lawyers Guild,55as well as manyattorneys from Puerto Rico; and 
Sister Kathleen Desautels of the 8thDayCenter for Justice and Sister 
Denise Wilkinson, SP, General Superior of the Sisters of Providence at 
St. Mary-of-the-Woods, IN – all deeplyimpacted byhis humanity, 
rectitude, generosity, sense of humor and wisdom.

Elected officials at everylevel of government, from heads of nations 
(President Daniel Ortega56)to members of U.S. Congress (José Serrano, 
Nydia Velázquez, Luis Gutiérrez, Pedro Pierluisi57)to the speaker of the 
New York CityCouncil (Melissa Mark Viverito58)to the more than 50 
electeds from various cities and states seekinga meetingwith the U.S. 
president, have spoken, marched, and otherwise advocated for his release.

His image appears throughout San Juan, on the walls, on balconies, in 
people’s cars. The artist class – musicians (René Pérez,59AndyMontañez, 
Rubén Blades), those in theater (Lin Manuel Miranda,60Pedro 
Adorno,61Bread and Puppet Theater62),filmmakers (Tito Román,63Pedro 
Muñiz64),artists (Miguel Luciano,65Juan Sánchez), poets66– paint, 
compose music andpoetryabout his life, talk about him at concerts and 
rallies and with the president of the United States, make films of 
gubernatorial candidates urginghis release, create theater to spread the 
word.

Resolutions callingfor his freedom abound, from citycouncils (New York 
City;67

Newark, New Jersey;68Holyoke, Massachusetts,69Springfield, 
Massachusetts70)to legal / human rights organizations (the American 
Civil Liberties Union,71the Hispanic National Bar Association,72the 
Puerto Rico Bar Association,73the president of the Bar Association of 
Guatemala Marco Antonio Sagastume Gemmell,74the American Association of 
Jurists,75the Tenth International Conference of Labor Lawyers,76the 
Council of Delegates of the Latin American Union of Bar Associations and 
Groupings of Attorneys [Unión Iberoamericana de Colegios yAgrupaciones 
de Abogados]).77

Organized labor has added its voice as well – the Service Employees 
International Union,78the Communications Workers of America,79Latin 
American Federation of Journalists [Federación Latinoamericana de 
Periodistas (FELAP)],80the 25thCongress of the Sindicato de Trabajadores 
de la Industria de la Bebida ySimilares (Union of Beverage 
IndustryWorkers),81 the 38thMeetingof the Latin American Executive Board 
of UITA (International Food Workers Union),82the Union of Cuban 
Journalists83– as have popular organizations and conferences: the

21stForo de Sao Paulo Conference,84the Summit of the Peoples of 
MERCOSUR, or Mercado

Común del Sur (Common Market of the South),85the People’s Summit in 
Brussels (simultaneous parties, as well as “poets, pleneros, teachers, 
communityleaders, politicians, veterans, mothers against the war, 
artists, children, and people from everysector of society.”92Chants 
included, “Obama, listen to me! We want Oscar López free!” People 
carried signs with messages about Oscar, including“We are marchingfor 
Oscar, example of dignity.”93

In Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, on this anniversarythe National 
Boricua Human Rights Network sponsored 35 Poets for Oscar, which was 
live-streamed as the poets performed in their respective cities. In 
Havana, in an event was sponsored byThe Cuban Institute of Friendship 
with the Peoples [Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos (ICAP)], 
Fernando GonzálezLlort, one of the Cuban 5 who shared a cell with Oscar 
for years, gave an emotional message of support.94

In San Juan, New York Cityand Chicago, 35 women demonstrate the last 
Sundayof everymonth for 35 minutes, committed to doingso until he comes 
home.95In their bright pink tee shirts and turquoise bandanas, their 
consistent presence is an inspiration.

Consonant with the demand of the Puerto Rican people and the manypeoples 
of the world who love justice, and in light of the wholesale lack of 
legitimate justification for his continuingimprisonment, we trust that 
this august bodywill once again urge the president of the U.S. Barack 
Obama to release Oscar López Rivera, who is beginningan unprecedented 
35thyear in U.S. prisons for his unwaveringcommitment to the 
independence and self-determination of his People.

*IV.Conclusion*

The National Lawyers Guild, incorporatingthe requests sought bythe 
majorityof the other presenters before this Honorable Committee, urges 
the adoption of a resolution callingfor the General Assemblyto consider 
the case of Puerto Rico; and callingon the government of the United 
States to:


* immediatelycease the brutality, criminalization and harassment of, and 
attacks on, the Puerto Rican Independence Movement and all those who 
exercise their fundamental rights to expression and association;

* immediatelyrelease Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, 
who has just marked the 35thanniversaryof his arrest and imprisonment in 
U.S. prisons;

* identifyand hold criminallyliable all those responsible for the 
assassination of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos (2005), Santiago Mari Pesquera 
(1976), Carlos MuñizVarela (1979), and other militants of the Puerto 
Rican independence movement;

* withdraw the FBI, the U.S. court, and all other U.S. police, 
repressive and military forces and agencies from Puerto Rico;

* fullywithdraw from Vieques, formallyreturn legal propertyof the land 
to the people of Vieques, cease detonatingunexploded ordnance, 
completelyclean up the pollution left bythe U.S. Navy’s 60 year 
occupation through the use of proven, environmentallyfriendlyclean-up 
methods, foster and support a sustainable economy, and compensate the 
people of Vieques for the damage to their health done to them bythe same;

* cease and desist from the application of the death penaltyin Puerto Rico;

* formallycommit to negotiate in good faith with the people of Puerto 
Rico a solution to the colonial condition; and recognize the proposals 
that emanate from a Constitutional Assembly, initiated bythe people of 
Puerto Rico, such as that called for bythe Puerto Rico Bar Association, 
as the true expression of the aspirations of the people of Puerto Rico, 
and respond to them accordingly.

Dated: June 20, 2016

Respectfullysubmitted, Jan Susler

People’s Law Office

1180 N. Milwaukee

Chicago, IL60642

773/235-0070jsusler at gmail.com <mailto:jsusler at gmail.com>

On behalf of the National Lawyers Guild

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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