|
El Presidente del Partido Independentista
Puertorriqueño, Rubén Berríos Martínez, planteó hoy ante
el Comité Interagencial de la Casa Blanca que no habrá
mejor momento que el actual para que los Estados Unidos
enfrenten con seriedad el fracaso de la relación
colonial de Puerto Rico y los insalvables obstáculos
para su anexión como estado. Al mismo tiempo instó al
grupo de trabajo a tomar plena conciencia y prepararse
para el inevitable advenimiento de la independencia.
 “Mientras más el gobierno de los Estados Unidos siga
arrastrando los pies ante el chantaje de los
beneficiarios del colonialismo, más difícil será una
solución descolonizadora y mutuamente beneficiosa,”
sentenció Berríos.
El Presidente del PIP también denunció hoy la
inacción y falta de compromiso del Presidente y del
Gobierno de los Estados Unidos: “No sólo le tomó más de
un año al Presidente hacer público que su administración
respaldaba la conclusión y recomendación del Informe
para acción congresional, sino que no ha tomado ninguna
iniciativa eficaz para poner en práctica una política
pública cónsona con dicho informe.”
“Tal parece”, criticó Berríos, “que el Presidente y
la Casa Blanca han sucumbido ante los cabilderos del
colonialismo. El PIP—añadió—apoya un proyecto
sustitutivo al HP 900 para que, luego de que la mayoría
haya repudiado el status territorial existente, incluya
una recomendación para una Asamblea Constitucional de
Status.
El dirigente del PIP advirtió al gobierno de los
Estados Unidos que su partido promoverá una amplia
iniciativa latinoamericana y caribeña en Naciones Unidas
para que la Asamblea General examine el caso colonial de
Puerto Rico.
El Congreso Latinoamericano y Caribeño por
la Independencia de Puerto Rico de noviembre de 2006,
con la participación en Panamá de más de 33 partidos de
América Latina y el Caribe, se había comprometido con
estos objetivos. Berríos indicó que su partido
“desenmascarará y combatirá cualquier intento del
gobierno de Estados Unidos de impedir o frustrar este
esfuerzo continental para cumplir con el derecho
internacional.”
Por último, Berríos insistió con vehemencia que el
Presidente de Estados Unidos no esperara más para
proceder a la excarcelación inmediata de los prisioneros
políticos puertorriqueños que llevan más de 25 años
cumpliendo condenas cuya severidad y duración sin
precedentes responden tan sólo a criterios de represión
política. “Dicha excarcelación,” recalcó Berríos, “no
sólo cuenta con el apoyo de la inmensa mayoría de los
puertorriqueños, sino que avalaría la existencia de una
voluntad descolonizadora de parte del gobierno de
Estados Unidos.”
To the President’s Task Force
on Puerto Rico’s Status
After the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s
Status, in its December 22, 2005 Report, acknowledged
the continuing colonial subordination of Puerto Rico by
virtue of its territorial status under the constitution
of the United States, the White House has failed to
vigorously exercise the necessary leadership to promote
a speedy decolonization process.
By its sluggishness in responding to the new
international and domestic configuration of the 21st
century, the U.S. Government has done little to
dissipate the notion of the effectiveness of the tens of
thousands of U.S. dollars which the colonial government
of Puerto Rico has been paying to an army of lobbyists.
Puerto Rico, recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as
belonging to, but not a part of the United States, is
very much a part of Latin America. The Latin American
and Caribbean Congress in Solidarity with Puerto Rico’s
Independence, held in Panama City in November 2006,
attests to that fact, even after U.S. colonial rule for
more than a century.
The Proclamation of that Congress, annexed hereto
and made a part hereof, asserts that “Latin America and
the Caribbean will not be truly independent until all
its nations are” and offers “cooperation and good
offices, including the role of interlocutors,” leading
to a “Hemispheric dialogue to resolve Puerto Rico’s
colonial condition.” The Proclamation was unanimously
adopted by a broad ideological spectrum of 33 political
parties from 22 nations attending the Congress, 15 of
which were government parties at the time.
President Martín Torrijos of the Republic of Panama
stated in his keynote opening of the Congress, also
appended here and incorporated by reference, that Latin
America’s “aspirations regarding Puerto Rico’s
independence have been part of a moral and cultural
indebtedness dating back to Simón Bolívar and José
Martí, but which we had not honored until now. Among
other reasons,” he explained, “because this issue, like
many others, became cloaked in Cold War rhetoric.” As
President Torrijos also noted, for more than two decades,
Puerto Rico’s colonial status has been a recurring issue
in the Resolutions of the Special Committee of the
United Nations Organization to eliminate colonialism. As
in the preceding years, the UN Special Committee
resolution on Puerto Rico “was again passed by consensus;
that is, without opposition or reservations of any of
the member States –which also means, without opposition
or objections on the part of the United States.”
Besides the moral imperative to end colonialism,
Puerto Rico’s status is an international issue, as well
as a constitutional anomaly for the United States.
Accordingly, the White House must act decisively to end
Puerto Rico’s political subservience, a status that
denigrates Latin America and the United States, the
first nation to oppose colonial rule in this Hemisphere.
The President must therefore:
• exercise the necessary leadership in the Congress
of the United States to secure legislation that affords
the unequivocal expression of a majority of Puerto
Ricans who oppose continuing colonial rule under the
powers of Congress;
• support a mechanism, such as a constituent
convention, to elaborate and negotiate a proposal,
consistent with decolonization norms recognized by
international law, regarding the manner in which the
United States shall dispose of Puerto Rico as an
American colony;
• provide for the immediate liberation of Puerto
Rican political prisoners in U.S. prisons, a claim
already made by the most diverse ideological sectors of
the people of Puerto Rico.
We are, of course, willing to engage in any serious
dialogue towards these ends, but time is of the essence.
Submitted in Washington, D.C. by the Puerto Rican
Independence Party (PIP):
Rubén Berríos Martínez, President
Manuel Rodríguez Orellana, Secretary for North
American Relations |
