On June 20, 2016, Cuba demanded that the US end its 118-year colonial regime in Puerto Rico.
It was made by Humberto Rivero, the Cuban Ambassador to the UN.
Rivero declared that Puerto Rico is headed for “a severe humanitarian crisis in which food, water and electricity may be rationed, and many lives will be lost.”
Ambassador Rivero denounced the US response to this looming crisis. “Instead of triggering a process that would allow Puerto Ricans to develop self-determination and economic control of their own future,” said the Ambassador, the US is imposing a Financial Control Board which “only seeks to force Puerto Rico to pay money to Wall Street and several vulture funds.”
The Ambassador also noted that 118 years of colonial rule have failed to destroy the culture, dignity and nationalist sentiments of the Puerto Rican people.
These sentiments are not limited to the island. They are shared across the United States — and analyzed in its universities, by highly-regarded professors such as Ana M. López at Hostos College.
UN RESOLUTION…FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF PUERTO RICO
On June 20, Ambassador Rivero acted on his words…by introducing a UN resolution that the United States must create a path to independence for Puerto Rico.
The resolution was supported by representatives from Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Syria and Venezuela…and was approved by the UN Committee of Decolonization.
It was also supported by the Non-Aligned Movement, which incorporates 120 of the 193 UN member nations, and by the 33 nations of the Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC).
All of these nations and organizations agree with Cuba and its Ambassador Rivero: that Puerto Rico should no longer be a territory…a property… a colony of the US.
PUERTO RICAN MISSION IN CUBA
The 50th anniversary of the Puerto Rican mission in Cuba was recently celebrated in Havana. The mission was founded in 1966, to support the continued independence of Cuba.
As part of the anniversary celebration, the mission presented Fidel Castro and his brother Raul with a commemorative medal.
The mission was co-founded in 1966 by Fidel Castro and the historic Puerto Rican independence figure, Juan Mari Brás. For 35 of those years, the Cuban government has advocated for the release of political prisoner Oscar López Rivera.
The Puerto Rican mission in Cuba
Within a few weeks, when a US Financial Control Board assumes complete control of Puerto Rico’s economy and government, the alliance between Cuba and Puerto Rico – and their joint advocacy in the United Nations – will become increasingly vital.
Happy 50th Anniversary to the Puerto Rican mission in Cuba!
For a history of the War Against All Puerto Ricans, read the book…