UN resolution calls for independence of Puerto Rico

The UN Special Committee on Decolonization today approved a resolution demanding independence for Puerto Rico and reaffirming the inalienable right of that people to self-determination.

The document -presented by Cuba and adopted by consensus- reiterates that such island nation constitutes a Latin American and Caribbean nation, with its own unmistakable national identity despite the long process of colonization to which it has been subjected.

It also recognizes that, in the context of the significant worsening of the economic and fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico, the current status prevents that people from making sovereign decisions to meet their needs, define their future and address their serious economic and social problems.

Likewise, the text includes concern over the imposition on Puerto Rico by the Washington Congress of a Fiscal Control Board that exercises control powers over the island's elected officials and legislators.

The resolution also refers that the US Supreme Court ruled in the case of Puerto Rico versus Sanchez Valle that the original and ultimate source of governmental authority on the island is the US Congress.

This makes it clear that any limited grant of self-government to Puerto Rico can be unilaterally revoked by the US Congress, the Cuban delegation indicated in the document.

The Cuban delegation presented on Friday the draft resolution on the Question of Puerto Rico to the Special Committee on Decolonization on behalf also of Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Syria, and Russia.

For the 39th time, the document was approved by the Committee and 21 of them have been without a vote.