A message to the Pope on behalf of Puerto Rico
From left: Manuel Melendez Lavandero, Msgr. Joseph Grech, First Secretary of the Holy See to the UN, Lourdes Garcia and David Galarza
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2015
Contact: David Galarza 917-573-9250
A Call to Action on Puerto Rico Delivers Hand-Crafted Flag, Letter
Calling on Pope Francis to Address Colonialism, Oscar Lopez Rivera
(UNITED NATIONS) — Representatives of A Call to Action on Puerto Rico met today with Rev. Msgr. Joseph Grech, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the UN, to deliver a hand-crafted Puerto Rican flag and a letter signed by numerous people from diverse sectors of Puerto Rican civil society, asking His Holiness, Pope Francis, to address the colonial situation of Puerto Rico and the incarceration of long held political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera during his meetings at the UN, Congress and with President Obama.
The Pope has condemned colonialism as a sin. The letter has been signed by many notable members of the Puerto Rican community living in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Part of the letter reads:
«We join our voices to yours to demand: «Let us say no to forms of colonialism old and new. Let us say yes to the encounter between peoples and cultures. Blessed are the peacemakers.»
The Puerto Rican flag that was presented for Pope Francis was lovingly hand-crafted by Puerto Rican artisan Sara Toldeo Velez, a resident of the town of Lares and the birthplace of the historic Cry of Lares (Grito de Lares) where patriots mounted an anti-colonial insurrection in 1868 against Spanish rule.
On Oscar Lopez Rivera:
«… we ask of your Holiness, to intercede on behalf of Oscar Lopez Rivera. We can assure you that at this time there is no greater consensus within the Puerto Rican family than the recognition that it is an injustice for this brother to be imprisoned for demanding the independence of his country.»
The full text of the letter in English and Spanish, and the signatories, are printed below.
September 21, 2015
Holiness, Pope Francis
Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City
Your Holiness:
We send you a cordial greeting on behalf of the people of Puerto Rico. We who write this letter are conscious of your commitment with the oppressed of the earth. We recognize in you the voice of the Church who stands with the poor and expresses itself in favor of building a new world of social justice, respect for the sovereignty of nations, respect for human dignity, human labor and the right of all peoples to live in peace, equality and freedom. For this reason, we ask that you lift your voice and intercede on behalf of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico has been a colony of the United States (USA) since 1898 when it was invaded militarily by the North American army. As a colonized country Puerto Rico has no control over its destiny and its political and economic subordination impedes its ability to develop fully as a nation. Colonialism has created a form of Stockholm syndrome in the minds of many of our brothers and sisters who find it difficult to believe that another Puerto Rico is possible outside of the colonial framework.
At present, Puerto Rico is undergoing a profound economic crisis both as a result of the neoliberal policies of the capitalist colonial model and because its geopolitical strategic value, as a military bastion of US interests in the Caribbean, has decreased. Puerto Rico has a huge public debt and a limited capacity to collect taxes due in part to major tax evasion by large foreign capital corporations who extract billions of dollars annually in profits but do not reinvest them in the Puerto Rican economy.
Since it is not recognized as a state of the USA, the US Congress does not allow Puerto Rico to avail itself of the US bankruptcy laws like other states and municipalities. On the other hand because of this disgraceful colonial situation, Puerto Rico cannot create laws that would allow it to deter attacks by the credit agencies and vulture and wolf funds of Wall Street. The Puerto Rican governments from both political parties, who have taken turns being in power, have been at the service of big capital and have dedicated themselves in a negligent and criminal fashion to profiting from the peoples’ money. They have seriously compromised Puerto Rico’s credit worthiness and have subordinated the true interests of the nation to that of big capital and Wall Street.
At this historic, dramatic and painful time for the vast majority of the people, the governing sectors of the colony once again submit to the powerful imperial corporate elite in the U.S. and continue to conspire against the best interests of Puerto Rico. Capital’s greed insists on imposing its austerity measures and demanding the greatest sacrifices of the poor and working people of Puerto Rico. It proposes that Puerto Rico surrender its future as a nation in order to pay the debt to the Wall Street bondholders. The big interests insist that Puerto Rico close schools, universities and hospitals, lay off public employees, eliminate workers’ rights such as the minimum wage, overtime, Christmas bonuses, vacation and sick days and many other benefits.
We believe that the alternative for the people of Puerto Rico is to recognize and overcome the problem of colonialism and political subordination to the US, as this is the basis for the present fiscal crisis. One example of this is that because of its colonial status Puerto Rico cannot establish beneficial trade agreements with sister nations in the Caribbean and around the world. The US empire forces Puerto Rico to use its merchant marine which is the most expensive one in the world.
We also state that the public debt is immoral and unpayable because it is the product of policies that are designed to maintain Puerto Rico in a state of increasing indebtedness and are geared towards privatizing services that are strategic to Puerto Rico’s national development such as education, health care, electricity and potable water among others. We know that we are not alone in this call for justice and equality for Puerto Rico. The nations of the world, grouped together in the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC in Spanish), and the countries in the Non-Aligned Movement, among others, have recognized the colonial character of Puerto Rico and its right to full self-determination and independence.
A concrete example of this international solidarity with the colonial case of Puerto Rico is the demand made to the US government for the immediate release of Oscar Lopez Rivera, a Puerto Rican political prisoner, who has been imprisoned for 34 years in the empire’s prisons for his determined and militant participation in the Puerto Rican anti-colonial struggle. Thus this is a very special request that we ask of Your Holiness, to intercede on behalf of Oscar Lopez Rivera. We can assure you that at this time there is no greater consensus within the Puerto Rican family than the recognition that it is an injustice for this brother to be imprisoned for demanding the independence of his country.
We know that we are not alone and that the Church which you lead accompanies us because you have said: “No actual or established power has the right to deprive peoples of the full exercise of their sovereignty. Whenever they do so, we see the rise of new forms of colonialism which seriously prejudice the possibility of peace and justice.”
We recognize ourselves in you when you call attention to the new colonialism “which takes on different faces. At times it appears as the anonymous influence of mammon: corporations, loan agencies, certain ‘free trade’ treaties, and the imposition of measures of ‘austerity’ which always tighten the belt of workers and the poor.”
We join our voices to yours to demand: “Let us say no to forms of colonialism old and new. Let us say yes to the encounter between peoples and cultures. Blessed are the peacemakers.”
In light of the above, we respectfully ask that when you address President Obama, the Congress of the United States and the United Nations, that you remind them that colonialism is a sin against humanity and that it is urgent that they address with utmost priority the colonial problem of Puerto Rico as well as Oscar Lopez Rivera´s freedom.
With our best wishes to Your Holiness, we thank you for receiving us and for advocating for our cause.
Peace and Solidarity,
21 de Septiembre de 2015
Sua Santità Francesco
Secretaria de Estado
Palazzo Apostólico Vaticano
00120 Città del Vaticano
Su Santidad:
Reciba un saludo cordial del pueblo puertorriqueño. Los(as) que suscribimos esta carta somos conscientes de su compromiso con los(as) oprimidos(as) de la tierra. Reconocemos en usted la voz de la Iglesia que asume su posición al lado de los(as) pobres y se expresa a favor de la construcción de un nuevo mundo, con justicia social, con respeto a la soberanía de los pueblos, respeto a la dignidad humana, al trabajo y el derecho de todos(as) a vivir en paz, en igualdad y sin subordinación.
Por ello solicitamos de su voz para que interceda por nuestro Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico es una colonia de los Estados Unidos desde el año 1898, cuando fue invadido militarmente por el ejército estadounidense. Como país colonizado no ejerce control de su destino y la subordinación política-económica impide su pleno desarrollo como formación nacional. El colonialismo ha creado una especie de síndrome de Estocolmo en las mentalidades de muchos(as) de nuestros hermanos y hermanas a los cuales se les dificulta pensar que otro Puerto Rico es posible fuera del ámbito del marco colonial.
Actualmente, Puerto Rico atraviesa por una profunda crisis económica producto de las políticas neoliberales del modelo colonial-capitalista y por el agotamiento de su valor geo-estratégico como bastión militar de los intereses de los Estados Unidos en la región del Caribe. Puerto Rico tiene una gran deuda pública y una limitada capacidad de recaudos, producto en parte a la gran evasión contributiva de las grandes corporaciones de capital extranjero, que extraen miles de millones de dólares anuales en ganancias de capital, el cual no reinvierten en la economía puertorriqueña.
Al no ser reconocido como estado de los Estados Unidos, el congreso de ese país no le permite a Puerto Rico acogerse a la ley de quiebras como lo hacen otros estados y municipios de EEUU. Por otro lado, debido a la desgraciada condición colonial, a Puerto Rico no se le permite diseñar leyes que le faciliten contener los ataques de las casas acreditadoras, los fondos buitres y lobos de Wall Street.
Los diversos gobiernos de los dos partidos al servicio del gran capital que se han alternado en el poder, de manera negligente y criminalmente se dedicaron a lucrarse de los dineros del pueblo a la vez que comprometieron seriamente su capacidad crediticia, subordinando los verdaderos intereses del país a los del gran capital y de las casas acreditadoras de Wall Street.
En este momento histórico, dramático y doloroso para las grandes mayorías, los sectores gobernantes en la colonia, una vez más se someten al poder de las élites del poder corporativo- imperial en EEUU y continúan confabulándose contra los mejores intereses de Puerto Rico. La avaricia del capital insiste en imponer sus medidas de austeridad y exigen los mayores sacrificios al pueblo trabajador y a los (as) pobres. Proponen rendir el futuro del país para pagar la deuda a los bonistas de Wall Street. Los grandes intereses insisten en el cierre de escuelas, cierre de universidades, cierres de hospitales, despidos de empleados públicos, eliminación de derechos laborales tales como el salario mínimo, compensación de horas extras, bono de navidad, eliminar días de vacaciones, los días de enfermedad y muchos otros.
Pensamos que la opción para el pueblo de Puerto Rico es reconocer y superar el problema colonial y de subordinación política de Puerto Rico a EEUU, siendo este un eje de la actual crisis fiscal. Un ejemplo de esto lo constituye el hecho de que, debido a su condición colonial Puerto Rico no puede establecer tratados comerciales beneficiosos con otros países hermanos del Caribe y del mundo. El imperio EEUU obliga al país a utilizar su marina mercante que resulta ser la más cara del mundo.
Igualmente planteamos que la deuda pública es inmoral e impagable puesto que es producto de políticas diseñadas para mantener un creciente endeudamiento y dirigida a privatizar servicios fundamentales para el desarrollo nacional como lo son la educación, la salud, electricidad y agua potable, entre otros. Sabemos que no estamos solos en estos reclamos de justicia y equidad para Puerto Rico. Los países del mundo, agrupados en el Comité Especial de Descolonización de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y del Caribe (CELAC) y en el Movimiento de Países No Alineados entre otros, han reconocido el carácter colonial de Puerto Rico y su derecho a la plena autodeterminación e independencia.
Una muestra concreta de esta solidaridad internacional con el caso colonial de Puerto Rico lo constituye el reclamo al gobierno de Estados Unidos, para que proceda a la inmediata excarcelación del prisionero político puertorriqueño Oscar López Rivera, quien lleva 34 años en las cárceles del imperio por su decidida participación y militancia en la lucha anti-colonial puertorriqueña. Es esta entonces una petición muy especial que le hacemos, para interceder a favor de Oscar López Rivera, pues le aseguramos que no hay mayor consenso en la familia puertorriqueña en este momento, que la de reconocer lo injusto que es tener a este hermano preso, por reclamar lo que por derecho corresponde, la independencia de su país.
Sabemos que no estamos solos y que la Iglesia que usted dirige nos acompaña cuando ha dicho: “Ningún poder fáctico o constituido tiene derecho a privar a los países pobres del pleno ejercicio de su soberanía y, cuando lo hacen, vemos nuevas formas de colonialismo que afectan seriamente las posibilidades de paz y de justicia.”
Nos identificamos en usted cuando ha señalado a ese nuevo colonialismo que “adopta fachadas; a veces por el poder anónimo del ídolo dinero, corporaciones, prestamistas, algunos tratados de ‘libre comercio’ y la imposición de medidas de austeridad que siempre ajustan el cinturón de los trabajadores y de los pobres”. Unimos nuestras voces a la vuestra para reclamar: “Digamos No a las viejas y nuevas formas de colonialismo. Digamos Si al encuentro entre los pueblos y culturas. Felices los que trabajan por la paz.”
Por todo lo antes expuesto, respetuosamente le pedimos que cuando se dirija al Presidente Obama, al Congreso de los EEUU, a las Naciones Unidas, les recuerde que el colonialismo es un pecado contra la humanidad y les urja a atender el problema colonial de Puerto Rico como alta prioridad, planteando además que ya es hora de liberar a Oscar López Rivera.
Con los mejores deseos para Su Santidad nos despedimos y damos gracias por recibirnos y abogar por nuestra causa.
Paz y Solidaridad,
Manuel E. Meléndez Lavandero
Educador Sindical
Queens, New York
