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