Cuba defends Puerto Rico's independence at the UN.
Cuba denounces the more than 120 years of US 'colonial rule' in Puerto Rico and defends its self-determination and independence.
247, with HispanTV - “More than 120 years of colonial rule were not enough to take away from the people of Puerto Rico their culture, their identity, their language and their national sentiments,” said on Monday (18) the permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations (UN) Decolonization Committee, Anayansi Rodriguez.
The Cuban diplomat also warned of the negative impact that the subordinate status has on Puerto Rico and the hindrance this represents to its development, recalling the Caribbean country's "depressed economy" and public debt of more than 72 billion dollars.
Puerto Rico has held the status of a Free Associated State of the United States since 1952, but it lacks sovereign powers and is currently in fiscal bankruptcy, with a public debt of $72 billion and an economy that has been stagnant for a decade.
Elsewhere in her statement, the Cuban diplomat criticized the U.S. government's Fiscal Control Board, which implemented draconian spending control and austerity measures against Puerto Rico.
She also warned that political subordination to the United States prevents Puerto Rico from making sovereign decisions regarding the crisis resulting from the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which affected the country in September 2017.
“The definitive solution to Puerto Rico’s fate is not an internal matter for the United States, but a responsibility of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization and the entire international community,” Rodriguez emphasized.
On the same day, the UN Decolonization Committee adopted a resolution advocating for Puerto Rico's independence and urging Washington to promote a process that would allow Puerto Ricans to exercise their right to self-determination, independence, and decision-making.