23 de octubre de 2007
Comunicado
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
