Puerto Ricans

STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT “COMPROMISE” ON THE DECOLONIZATION OF PUERTO RICO

Diaspora Coalition warns against PROMESA-type deal-making

Washington, D.C. – For years, a movement of Puerto Rican groups and allies committed to true democracy has insisted that the voices of diverse Puerto Ricans must be at the center of self-determination for the Island. We mobilized from coast to coast and in Puerto Rico to keep a drumbeat and deliver a resounding message against anti-democratic status legislation that would unilaterally impose annexation, assimilation and integration. The shelving of the Statehood Admission Act represents the solid defeat of imposition versus democracy and a now broader understanding that the road to decolonization cannot rest on the suppression of the 67 percent supermajority of Puerto Rican voices or on leaders with an anti Black, anti LGBTQI or anti woman agenda.  

As the solution to ending the Island’s colonial status, this movement of Puerto Ricans with diverse status views, including pro statehood advocates, has insisted on fair, inclusive and transparent self-determination. At the core of this is a people-up Status Assembly where Puerto Ricans would receive and rigorously discuss full details about the implications of all non colonial status options.   

A pending backroom deal on decolonization departs from this democratic spirit. This behind-closed-doors approach reflects not only a lack of transparency but would also reportedly exclude this critical Status Assembly. The last time negotiating by a few was employed, the result was the disastrous PROMESA law that is hurting Puerto Ricans. Decision-making for the people of Puerto Rico instead of by them contradicts the fundamental principles of democracy and SELF-determination.

Decolonization must begin and end with the people of Puerto Rico and its Diaspora at the front and center. After six non-binding votes in the island and multiple failed Congressional bills designed to force a specific outcome, the time has come for something different. Non territorial status options with a funded educational campaign on each of their implications and transitional plans; a public campaign matching funds and democratically-elected Status Assembly that provides for a meaningful bilateral negotiation between Puerto Ricans and the United States; and a binding outcome are non-negotiable for undoing more than 123 years of colonial injustice.

Power 4 Puerto Rico
Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora (BUDPR)
Alianza for Progress
Puerto Rican Cultural Center
CASA

Both Biden and Sanders Policy Proposals for Puerto Rico Still Lacking, Say Puerto Rican Stateside Groups as Florida and Puerto Rico Primaries Approach

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2020

Both Biden and Sanders Policy Proposals for Puerto Rico Still Lacking,
Say Puerto Rican Stateside Groups as Florida and Puerto Rico Primaries Approach
Candidates have failed to address the impact of the Jones Act on the Island, among other critical issues

Washington DC/Orlando, FL -- The Power 4 Puerto Rico Coalition and partners today discussed the outcomes of a campaign to pressure the presidential candidates to present action plans for the Island and detailed where the Democratic presidential nominee contenders Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden stand on several of the key issues affecting the Island.

STATEMENT BY POWER 4 PUERTO RICO CALLING ON GOV. ROSSELLÓ TO STEP DOWN

A leader who is truly committed to his patria (homeland in Spanish) and cares about the well-being of his people will forego his ego to allow for a transitional process that is orderly, transparent and begins to restore the confidence of people in the island’s central government.