What should a Boricua want?

by José M. López Sierra – Puerto Rico

InfoAlDesnudo

What should a Boricua want?

I usually get asked when I talk about decolonization, what political status do I want for Puerto Rico? My response is that I have no right to an opinion as a slave.

The majority of Boricuas don’t understand that we are slaves of the United States Government (USG). Boriken has a treaty status, and that is exactly what the Treaty of Paris of 1898 says.

The Treaty of Paris says that the rights of the natives ceded by Spain to the USG will be determined by the United States (US) Congress. What did the US Congress decide in 1898?

The US Congress decided that Puerto Ricans belong to an inferior race, and therefore the US Constitution could not be extended to them. The USG then created the Non-incorporated Territory law for Puerto Rico. The US Supreme Court said that that means that Puerto Rico belongs to but is not a part of the US. Therefore, Puerto Ricans are property of the USG.

It is important to emphasize that the USG used violence to own Puerto Rico and the Puerto Ricans. Then, the USG created a network of laws to prohibit Puerto Ricans from decolonizing themselves from their aggressor.

Part of that network to keep us colonized is the elections. I just mentioned that the USG didn’t use elections to colonize the Puerto Ricans. But, in all of the USG’s recommendations for Puerto Rico decolonization, it insists on a peaceful election process.

Why must it be done that way, and not by complying with the United Nations’ Charter (US) of 1945 that prohibits colonialism? And why not by complying with 37 UN resolutions asking the USG to immediately return Puerto Rico’s sovereignty to the Puerto Ricans?

The USG doesn’t do it that way, because Puerto Rico is a goldmine for its interests. Since the USG has no interest what-so-ever in decolonizing us, it fools us and the world by insisting that decolonization must proceed via a peaceful election process that it could control.

The USG puts Boricuas to fight amongst ourselves by putting the cart before the horse.

We should not fall into that game! We should all insist that the USG immediately return our sovereignty, so that we could then, like Leonor Velásquez suggests, design the Puerto Rico that we all want.

Join our protest for Puerto Rico decolonization in front of the UN on Monday, August 20, 2018. Click here for more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/512248595904465/

Join our permanent resistance, or make your own in your community, to force the USG to comply with the desire of the international community, because those who have used violence and lies to colonize Boriken don’t believe in LIBERTY AND IN JUSTICE FOR ALL! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1697349163904877/