2019 UN hearing PR Decolonization
By José M. López Sierra – New York City
InfoAlDesnudo
This year’s United Nations’ (UN) hearing on Puerto Rico decolonization was on Monday, June 24, 2019. Fifty-three petitioners spoke at that hearing. The hearing started after 10 AM, and the morning session ended at 1 PM. It resumed at 3 PM until about 4:30 PM. Click on the following link to watch this year’s hearing: http://webtv.un.org/watch/5th-meeting-committee-of-24-special-committee-on-decolonization/6051725003001/
I was supposed to be the second speaker, but ended up being the 22nd. I will be filing a formal complaint to the UN’s Committee of 24 (C-24) on that.
Puerto Ricans will not decolonized themselves until we do the kind of resistance necessary to accomplish it. But to do that, we must decolonize our minds by learning our real history. That is the glue to our unity, and that was my petition before the C-24:
Good morning. My name is José M. López Sierra of United Comrades for Puerto Rico Decolonization in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
Who has the inalienable right to self-determination and independence? Colonized people.
This 3rd International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism will end next year. How close are we to achieving it? Is it possible to eradicate colonialism in a culture of ignorance? That was the theme of Paco Vazquez’s 2018 documentary, “A culture of ignorance”.
Puerto Rico is not on the United Nations’ (UN) list of colonies since 1953, although she is the oldest of all 17! Additionally, Puerto Rico’s population is much larger than all of them combined!
Most people in New York City are oblivious to these annual hearings about Puerto Rico decolonization. Are you aware that yesterday’s New York Daily News, New York Post and New York Times said nothing about today’s hearing? How could news that directly affect almost 9% of New York City’s population be hidden? This news blackout is obviously intentional. Empires know that you can’t decolonize a nation with ignorant people. That is why we march every year from Hunter College to the UN to make New Yorkers aware of these hearings. Our march was last Monday.
Most people don’t know that the United States Government (USG) has violated for the past 74 years the UN’s Charter that prohibits colonialism by keeping Puerto Rico a colony.
Most people don’t know that the USG has ignored 37 UN resolutions asking it to immediately return Puerto Rico’s sovereignty to the Puerto Ricans. This ignorance has divided us!
I congratulate the current chair of the UN’s Decolonization Committee, the ambassador Keisha Aniya McGuire, for her tremendous courage in making it possible that today’s hearing is being broadcast live. That is doing something important to help decolonize people’s minds! Why hasn’t that been happening all along?
Decolonizing people’s minds will naturally lead to decolonizing their nation. The worst fear of the 1 % is the education of the 99%. Harriet Tubman said that she freed a thousand slaves through the Underground Railroad, but that, she could have freed a thousand more had they only known that they were slaves! Therefore, the international community could greatly help eradicate colonialism by helping to eradicate ignorance.
Aware that the USG has violated the UN’s Charter for the past 74 years, and that this is the last year of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, the UN should seriously consider moving its headquarters to a nation that respects democracy and the rule of law.
And to continue to pressure for compliance, the UN should also recognize a symbolic Puerto Rican passport that should be honored by all member states that are in solidarity with Puerto Rico decolonization.
We must send a clear and strong message before beginning the 4th decade that we are serious about achieving our goal. Let’s honor the wise words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.
We need to walk the talk. We should not continue to make it easy for empires to continue committing their crimes against humanity. Let us all be part of the solution, because those who refuse tenaciously to decolonize their colonies, don’t believe in LIBERTY AND IN JUSTICE FOR ALL! Thank you.
Get involved, because those who don’t want you to watch these hearings live or want the media to publish anything about them, don’t believe in LIBERTY AND IN JUSTICE FOR ALL! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1697349163904877/
Boricuas must push their own decolonization.
