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At 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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