The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization voted on Monday, for the 49th time, to reaffirm “the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and statement continued. “The Commonwealth imposed on Puerto Rico more than 70 years ago was a mere setup by the United States government to exercise total domination over this sister island. The United States Congress has full authority and power over Puerto Rico in matters such as defense, international relations, and foreign trade, while Puerto Rico has limited local authority. This is intended to mask an act of clear colonial domination. The U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, and the administration itself have dismantled this political farce by clearly and unequivocally pointing out that Puerto Rico lacks sovereignty and is completely subject to Washington’s powers. In other words, it is a U.S. possession and colonial territory. Puerto Rican patriots and others, like Cuba, have denounced this situation and invariably support their just cause.”
The representative concluded, “Cuba remains committed to the sustained aspiration of a free and independent Puerto Rico. The definitive solution for Puerto Rico’s fate is not an internal matter for the United States, but rather a matter for the Special Committee on Decolonization and the entire international community to decide.”
Puerto Rico’s response
In response to Cuba’s statement, Congressman Carlos Giménez (R-FL), who was born in Cuba posted, “The longest-lasting and most murderous dictatorship in the history of the hemisphere seeks to support what it denies its own people. #PuertoRico has voted time and again in favor of permanent union with the United States and has chosen statehood in all recent plebiscites.”
Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon built on Rep. Giménez’s strongly worded statement. She wrote on X, “Thank you, Congressman, for standing up in defense of the democratic will of the people of Puerto Rico. While the most repressive dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere dares to speak of rights it denies its own people, Puerto Ricans have voted time and again for statehood and permanent union with the United States. Your support is critical to ensuring that voice is heard and respected in Congress and around the world.”
At the United Nations and Around the World
The United States has repeatedly insisted that Puerto Rico’s political status is an internal matter for the United States and Puerto Rico to determine, while the Special Committee on Decolonization has brought the subject to the world in its push for Puerto Rico independence. Yet Puerto Rico’s plebiscites show a strong preference for statehood, not independence. At the heart of this issue lies the reality that U.S. citizenship, which is accessible to Puerto Ricans today, would be vulnerable under independence, and as President Obama’s 2011 Presidential Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status made clear, “[a]ny status option that could conceivably result in the loss of U.S. citizenship by current U.S. citizen residents of Puerto Rico would, it seems, be viewed with hostility by the vast majority of Puerto Ricans.”
The United Nations General Assembly has not taken any of the committee’s resolutions up officially, despite the vote’s annual occurrence:
- 2024: Cuba, Russia, Syria Again Urge Puerto Rican Independence at U.N. Meeting
- 2023: Cuba, Iran, Venezuela Call for Puerto Rico Independence
- 2022: U.N. Again Considers Next Step for Puerto Rico
- 2019: UN Decolonization Plans Report on Puerto Rico
- 2016: United Nations Again Calls on the US to Expedite a Self-Determination Process for Puerto Rico
- 2015: United Nations Special Committee Directs U.S. to Provide Self Determination to Puerto Rico
- 2014: Relationship of the UN Decolonization Committee to Puerto Rico’s Status Issue
- 2013: UN Committee Notes Plebiscite Results, Calls for Nationhood or Statehood Action
- 2012: UN Meeting about Puerto Rico Again
Closer to Home
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), who is one of only a few members of Congress of Puerto Rican descent, recently called out the practice of condemning violations in foreign countries while ignoring problems in one’s own country. Torres held a spotlight on the U.S., noting the disenfranchisement of three million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico while some Americans also criticize other countries with allegations of unequal treatment. It may be that U.S. legislators are increasingly acknowledging that Puerto Rico’s status is a blot on the United States’s claim to be a beacon of democracy for the world even if they don’t agree with Cuba’s push for Puerto Rico independence.
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