The announcement that Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) have added themselves as co-sponsors of the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act (PRSDA) is welcomed news. The PRSDA puts at the center of decolonization the right of Puerto Ricans to self-determine through a fair, transparent, and inclusive Status Assembly. A “compromise” draft bill currently on the table completely left out this democratic process.
“We applaud Senators Durbin and Duckworth for standing up for the only bill that would decolonize Puerto Rico in a truly democratic way, with the people impacted by US colonialism at the front and center,” said Power 4 Puerto Rico Director Erica Gonzalez. “As a veteran, Sen. Duckworth understands that fighting for democracy abroad but derailing fair self-determination at home is a contradiction, while Sen. Durbin, who has rallied for immigration reform and tackled the abuse of Big Pharma, knows that the decolonization of the Island must not exclude swaths of Puerto Ricans who don’t have millions of dollars to advocate in Washington every day.”
“Senators Durbin and Duckworth’s endorsements of the PRSDA speaks volumes about how this bill is recognized by these two champions of democracy as the only inclusive, fair and transparent framework for a serious decolonization process for Puerto Rico,” said Juan Manuel Calderón, Chief Operating Officer of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago. “They join more than 100 organizations from Puerto Rico and across the United States, all of the major Democratic presidential 2020 candidates currently in the Senate, and leaders backing all of the non colonial options for the Island in supporting this bipartisan bill, S.865. We especially thank Majority Whip Durbin for meeting with leaders and constituents of the Puerto Rican Diaspora and hearing and respecting voices from Illinois to the Island. We continue to affirm that the only true path to decolonization is the PRSDA and express serious doubts about the “consensus” bill which in its current form usurps the democratic framework outlined in the S.865. Thank you Senators Durbin and Duckworth for standing with us.”
Illinois has the seventh largest population of Puerto Ricans in the United States, with more than 200,000 Boricua residents.
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