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<h1 class="reader-title">Puerto Rican Independentist Asks UN to
Respect His Country</h1>
United Nations, Jun 18 (Prensa Latina) <br>
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<p>Puerto Rican independence fighter Oscar Lopez Rivera
denounced today the disastrous impact on Puerto Rico''s
economy, culture and society of the U.S. imposition of a
colonial model.</p>
<p>The United States wants the cage, but not the pigeons,
he said in an intervention at the U.N. Decolonization
Committee, which is analyzing on Monday the Puerto Rican
case and the demand for independence.</p>
<p> That is why the American government encourages
migration in my country. From the first moment the
United States invaded and occupied the island, one of
its main objectives was to depopulate the territory and
destroy our culture, our identity and our language, he
stressed.</p>
<p> The majority of those who leave are professionals and
young people, which endangers the future of the country,
there is a loss of brains and the country is left
without its human resources, Lopez Rivera added.</p>
<p> Increasingly, Puerto Rico's economy is becoming
dysfunctional: it has no capacity to create jobs, while
the United States prevents the development of a domestic
market and all the capital produced on the island ends
up in northern banks, the Independence fighter detailed.</p>
<p> The fiscal control board imposed by the U.S. Congress
controls the decisions of local officials and the people
don't know how and on what they spend their tax dollars,
he observed.</p>
<p> In addition, he added, the threat of public school
closures continues, there is a loss of investors and
Puerto Rico is left without human capital.</p>
<p> We cannot allow Puerto Rico to become another Hawaii,
so more Puerto Ricans are joining the fight for
independence and the end of colonial rule, Lopez Rivera
affirmed.</p>
<p> This demand must be taken to the UN General Assembly,
because it is up to it to address a crime against
humanity such as colonization, emphasized the
independence fighter who was imprisoned in U.S. prisons
for more than 36 years.</p>
<p> Despite this, the UN General Assembly continues to
ignore the issue and the situations of danger that
threaten the future of our people and of an entire
nation under colonial rule, he reiterated.</p>
<p> Lopez Rivera expressed his gratitude to the
Decolonization Committee for the support they have given
to the Puerto Rican people in their struggle for
independence.</p>
<p> How can the U.S. government be allowed to continue to
perpetrate this crime of colonialism, the United Nations
should study all these negative consequences generated
in the last 120 years of domination, and how destructive
and dehumanizing this colonial situation is, the fighter
stressed.</p>
<p> The UN Decolonization Committee is once again
addressing the issue of Puerto Rico today and supporting
its call for independence.<br>
________________________________________________</p>
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<h1 class="reader-title">Oscar Lopez Rivera Urges UN
to End U.S. Colonialism in Puerto Rico</h1>
<span>18 de junio de 2018 -</span> Ibis Frade Brito </div>
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<p style="" class="readability-styled">United
Nations, Jun 18 (Prensa Latina) Independence
activist Oscar Lopez Rivera said today that
the UN and its General Assembly must take into
account as soon as possible Puerto Rico's case
and put an end to the colonialism imposed by
the United States.</p>
<p> As time passes and this issue is not
resolved, conditions on the island go from bad
to worse, so it should not be another year
without addressing the matter at the United
Nations, said Lopez Rivera in exclusive
statements to Prensa Latina.</p>
<p> We have enormous problems caused by the U.S.
government, for example, that issue of
creating a fiscal control board that dictates
to the Puerto Rican people how they will spend
their money and where to use it, he said.</p>
<p> We are also suffering the consequences of
privatization: living conditions have been
declining because public corporations -which
previously provided services- no longer exist
or are in foreign hands, especially American
industries, he added.</p>
<p> Puerto Rico is still a guinea pig not only
for U.S. corporations, but also for the
government of that country, so we will
continue with our claim for independence, he
said.</p>
<p> The United States, as Pedro Albizu Campos
said, wanted the cage, but not the pigeons. In
other words: it seeks to stay with Puerto Rico
and, at the same time, eliminate its people,
depopulate the territory, force people to
leave Puerto Rico, warned the anticolonialist
fighter.</p>
<p> Lopez Rivera, who was imprisoned for more
than 36 years for his independence ideas,
recalled how five million Puerto Ricans live
outside the country and only about three
million remain in the territory.</p>
<p> The United States has been achieving one of
its goals, depopulation, and now more than
ever we need the UN to hear our demand for
independence, he said.</p>
<p> The General Assembly is the one that has the
responsibility and the strength to address the
independence issue and can make a decision to
decolonize Puerto Rico, he noted.</p>
<p> That body has to force the U.S. government
to stop the crime against humanity that is
colonialism and even more in Puerto Rico's
case, the oldest colony in the world, he
stressed.</p>
<p> We need the support of the entire world,
because the United States has the veto power
in the Security Council, and this gives it an
opportunity to decide what the future of
Puerto Rico will be, he warned.</p>
<p> We need the support of all the people who
believe in justice, in freedom and are against
the crime of colonialism; the whole world has
to fight for the independence and sovereignty
of Puerto Rico, he reiterated.</p>
<p> Puerto Ricans must govern Puerto Rico, they
should have control and not the foreign
entities and the United States Government.</p>
<p> That was the claim of the independence
fighter supported on Monday by the United
Nations Decolonization Committee.</p>
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