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<font size=3><br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5><b><u>Puerto Rico at
The United Nations<br>
</u></b></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>June 13,
2006<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>Juan Antonio Ocasio
Rivera<br>
<a href="mailto:joboriken@aol.com">joboriken@aol.com</a><br>
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5><b>A</b></font>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>t the United Nations yesterday
morning, one thing was immediately clear: as the member nations of the
Decolonization Committee noted, there is tremendous and lasting interest
in the case of Puerto Rico and its political status. The Committee
noted that, this year, the number of presenters and speakers during the
hearing on Puerto Rico doubled from that of last year's hearing, which to
them is indicative of the relevance and interest in Puerto Rico's
colonial situation. Indeed, the crowds gathered in front of the
United Nations main entrance were witness not only to the strong breezes
of an oddly cool morning but to an assembly of Puerto Rico's most well
known and most committed political leadership: Ruben Berrios Martinez,
Juan Mari Bras, Fernando Martin, Ismael Guadalupe, Hector Pesquera, and
other similarly committed regional leaders such as Miguel Sanchez and
Vanessa Ramos. Important organizations such as Movimiento
Independentista Nacional Hostosiano, Partido Independentista
Puertorriqueño, Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico, and La Coordinadora
Nacional Rompiendo El Perimetro made their presence felt as well. <br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>The Committee, formally
titled The Special Committee On The Granting Of Independence To Colonial
Countries And Peoples, was formed to oversee and facilitate the process
of decolonization of the world's remaining colonies. Named after UN
Resolution 1514 (Resolution On the Granting Of Independence To Colonial
Countries And Peoples), it has reviewed the case of Puerto Rico since the
early 1970s, passing resolutions consistently at the conclusion of its
hearings calling for Puerto Rico's self-determination and
independence. Its member nations include Venezuela, Mali, Iraq,
Cuba, Congo, Argentina, Iran, Saint Lucia, Papau New Guinea, India,
Chile, and others.<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>There were several
significant aspects of this year's presentations. First, for the
first time, representatives of international organizations took to the
podium to support the call for Puerto Rico's independence. Gustavo
Carvajal, of the Conference of Political Parties of Latin America,
clearly called for an end to the colonial status of Puerto Rico and
openly supported its independence, insisting that Puerto Rico was a Latin
American nation and as such must join that community of nations. He
also demanded that the General Assembly once again review the case of
Puerto Rico, something not done since 1953. Raul Alfonsin, a former
President of Argentina, representing the Committee of Latin America of
the Socialist International, an organization representing over 100
government across the world, was another distinguished presenter.
Following the theme of Latin American unity, Alfonsin also insisted that
Puerto Rico is an integral part of Latin America. He stated that
colonialism is a practice that runs contrary to the notions of democracy
and stated that the independence of Puerto Rico has been on the agenda of
Latin America since the 19th Century. He reiterated that the island
has an inalienable right to freedom and independence, demanded that the
island join the international community as equals, and poetically
emphasized that the entire territory of Latin America must be free in
order to meet the mandate of its founders.<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Presenters denounced
the environmental degradation occurring in Puerto Rico, with respect to
water resources, nuclear weapons, and experimentation in land, air, and
sea. Presenters from the island of Vieques denounced the current
process of gentrification that is occurring on the island, forcing many
Vieques residents to move to St. Thomas and other neighboring islands as
the price of land is being driven up by realtors and land-grabbers.
They also denounced the navy's practice of detonating remaining bombs on
the island as a method of cleaning target areas, saying this will
continue to damage the health of the already afflicted residents.<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Juan Mari Bras, a
significant and highly respected leader in the independence movement,
gave an impassioned presentation demanding action by the Decolonization
Committee. He proposed several amendments to the Resolution,
including demanding that language be included which conveys the urgency
of the need to address Puerto Rico's colonial situation and language
which clearly condemns the assassination of revered revolutionary leader
Filiberto Ojeda Rios. Mari Bras demanded action from the Committee
after the dozens of resolutions the Committee has passed regarding Puerto
Rico and called on the General Assembly to once again review the case of
the archipelago. His testimony and furious delivery brought the
public to its feet and drew a standing ovation from them as well.<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Presenters from the
Nationalist Party demanded an end to the current wave of political
persecution, a theme repeated by Miguel Sanchez from the Coordinadora
Rompiendo El Perimetro (Coordinating [Committee] Breaking the Perimeter],
a group formed after the assassination of Ojeda Rios and which
figuratively and literally works to break FBI perimeters such as the one
that prevented help from reaching the wounded and dying Ojeda Rios last
September. Sanchez gave a highly detailed and shocking account of
the current experiences of Puerto Rican activists being persecuted for
their political work. Accounts of small planes and helicopters
flying and hovering over peoples' homes, unmarked sedans following
people around, FBI visits to the homes of neighbors and friends, obvious
interception of phone calls and cell phone reception, all actions
designed to intimidate activists who are merely working people,
professionals, who simply are working to organize fellow citizens around
the issues of importance. He proclaimed that these activists are
not terrorists and demanded that the General Assembly become involved to
address these serious violations in the colony.<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>The Pro-Libertad
organization called for the release and freedom of the Puerto Rican
political prisoners as part of any decolonization process and recounted a
brief history of the prisoners, their incarceration and conditions of
imprisonment. It denounced, along with other presenters, the
current incarceration of Antonio Camacho Negron. Recent reports
indicate that Camacho is being now held in solitary confinement, having
unknown drugs administered to him, in an effort to silence and discredit
him. Camacho had been very active in Puerto Rico denouncing the
murder of Ojeda Rios and organizing a new national Decolonization
Conference and organization. He had previously served 15 years as a
political prisoner and was re-arrested this year by the FBI, who claimed
he still had time left on his sentence - a claim rejected by his lawyers
and movement leaders.<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Many other
organizations testified and were brilliant, but the emotional high point
of the day was when Edgardo Ojeda, son of Filiberto Ojeda Rios, testified
in front of the Special Committee. His voice breaking with emotion,
Ojeda siad that he was there to demand justice for his father. He
described what the family knows about the murder and later recounted how
his father, while surrounded by hordes of FBI agents, demanded to meet
with a reporter. Having this demand rejected, Ojeda Rios continued
to resist the effort to assassinate him until the one bullet pierced his
clavicle. He was left to bleed to death by the FBI agents present,
who waited until the following day to enter the house. Edgardo
Ojeda proudly recounted how his father consistently and brazenly defied
the agents who were obviously there to murder him, continuously yelling
patriotic slogans from inside the house such as, "Asesinos Fuera de
mi Patria", "Yanqui fuera de mi patria", "Que Viva
Puerto Rico Libre", etc. Once his wife was removed from the
scene, no one knows exactly what took place in the final moments.
Egardo Ojeda's forceful demand for justice and emotional delivery shook
the public section of the audience, many of whom also in tears, stood and
gave his testimony a prolonged standing ovation.<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>The resolution
(A-AC-109-2006-L7), sponsored by both Cuba and Venezuela, was passed by
consensus by the Decolonization Committee, without a vote and without
objection. It was yet another victory for the subjugated nation of
Puerto Rico, a proud people with a rich history, which has seen some of
the most brutal elements of colonialism. This was evident yesterday
when statehood supporters (one of which carried an American flag with her
everywhere she went) pathetically made their own presentations calling
for the UN to make Puerto Rico the 51st State of the U.S. (something
completely out of its jurisdiction). This unfortunate affliction is
a direct result of centuries of having our island and our people
controlled, governed, abused, and manipulated by another country.
That is colonialism. However, the beauty of such a hearing at the
United Nations was that although most understood that this will not bring
freedom and independence tomorrow, surely history will record and reflect
that there are Puerto Ricans who have overcome the noxious and
demoralizing effects of collective enslavement and correctly and justly
continue to demand that God-given right which is the right of all souls
born unto this Earth - freedom and the right to forge their own
destinies.<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Que Viva Puerto Rico
Libre!<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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