(7th plenary meeting) Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24) - 2026 session

Good morning. Good morning. We'd like to start in 1 minute, please. Can we make a start in 1 minute? Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Buenos días. The 7th meeting of the 2026 session of the Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples is called to order. Before proceeding further, I wish to inform the committee that I have received further requests from the following delegations to participate in this session of the committee as observers: Serbia, Uganda, Uruguay. With the consent of the committee and in accordance with its established practice, I also invite those delegations to take a place at the committee's I would like to kindly remind that states are not— that are not members of the committee and wish to speak under any of the items have first to register to participate in this session through the e-delegate portal so that the committee may consent to their participation in line with established practice. Inscription in the speakers list module on eDelegate alone does not suffice. Please approach the Secretariat if you have any questions or you require any assistance. The Committee will now begin its consideration of the item entitled Special Committee Decision of 16th June 2025 Concerning Puerto Rico hearing of petitioners, I would like to draw your attention to Aid Memoir 06/26 containing the request for hearing on Puerto Rico, which were acceded to by the Committee at its third meeting on 15th June. We have received a total of 73 requests to petition on this item. In line with past practice, I propose that the committee hear from petitioners first, followed by the members of the committee and observers. Then the committee will take action on the draft resolution under this agenda item. May I take it that the committee wishes to proceed accordingly? I hear no objection. It is so decided. Before I open the floor for the committee's hearing of petitioners, I would— I will urge all petitioners to kindly limit their statements to no more than 3 minutes. This is to enable the committee to hear all the petitioners on our list today. Please note that the red light on the microphone will begin to flash when there is 30 seconds left before the end of your 3-minute speaking time. Once the end of the 3 minutes is reached, the sound on the microphone will be cut off and it will no longer be possible to be heard. Accordingly, it is in the interest of all speakers to ensure that their statements are concise enough to be delivered within 3 minutes. In order to facilitate the work of the interpreters, please do send your statements before delivery to e-statements@un.org, copying dppa@un.org. Both email addresses are published in the UN Journal. In the same vein, I wish to appeal to all speakers to deliver your statements at a speed to allow the interpreters to facilitate interpretation effectively. Further, it is very important that I remind speakers to strictly limit your statements to issues within the purview of the special committee's mandate pertaining to Puerto Rico. Petitioners and guests are also reminded that the rules of procedure of the committee must be observed at all times. Accordingly, any display of banners or flags or disruptive behavior in the conference room is strictly prohibited. Please do respect the decorum as this is a meeting of the United Nations. Having said all of this, the committee will now proceed to hear the petitioners. I now invite Mr. Jaime Esteban Inclán to take a seat at the petitioner's table and address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please. Microphone, please. Thank you.

Is that on?

Dale, dale, dale.

Está apagado.

Está apagado.

Yeah, all right.

Proceed.

Puerto Rico is in a mental health crisis. United States imperialism and their colonial administrators are intent on ravaging our identity, our culture, and our lands, homes, and health. They will not prevail. Puerto Ricans have the love, the right, and the tenacity to defeat colonialism. We are Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico is us. We have it in our genes. It is reflected in the deep, clear waters of our culture. Psychologists in the archipelago and the diaspora exhort the United Nations to fully implement Resolution 1514/15 as the sole route and necessary socio-psychological intervention to alleviate psychological trauma and promote the full health and well-being of Puerto Rico. I am a psychologist. Psychologists study conditions of well-being. Dr. Carol Reif's seminal research on psychological well-being established 6 distinct components of positive psychological health: 1, self-acceptance. According to Dr. Reeves, self-acceptance is expressed in having a positive attitude about oneself. We break the scale on that. Puerto Ricans love Puerto Rico, and I don't mean the shallow beaches. We are Puerto Rican culture. We are Bad Bunnies wherever we are. Two, personal growth is expressed in seeing oneself as growing and expanding, as open to explore one's greater potential. History evidences our readiness. The last 200 years of colonialism in Puerto Rico is the history of democratic and revolutionary struggles to establish an independent state that can anchor and lead the people to grow, expand, and explore our full potentials. 3, environmental mastery is expressing having the ability to have competence to manage one's affairs. There is no question the Puerto Ricans have the competence, skills, and education needed. What we do not have is the ability at this time to plan and employ Puerto Rican hands for Puerto Rican purposes. U.S. Congress Financial Control Board dictates all aspects of financial and governmental affairs. Four, autonomy is expressed in being self-determining and independent, able to resist social pressures on how to think and act. Yes, we are here to claim our autonomy, our independence and sovereignty as necessary for Puerto Rican psychological well-being. Five, purpose of life is expressing having direction and purpose that gives life a meaning. Puerto Rico's inalienable purpose as a people is to escape the poverty of colonialism and migrate to the safe harbor of independence where our children can freely develop their potentials and live in peace. 6, positive relations with others expressed in warm, satisfying, trusting relationships. Puerto Ricans are famous all over the world for their hospitality, caring, and kind relationship with others.

I thank Mr. Inclan. Mr., I now recognize and give the floor to Mr. Jeremiah Sideno to take a seat at the petitioner's table and to address the committee. You have the floor, please, Mr. Sedeño.

My name is Jeremia Sedeño, co-founder of the Boric Collective, an organization dedicated to working for the well-being and survival of Puerto Rico, the world's oldest colony. This morning, I echo past calls for the decolonization of Puerto Rico and to denounce the colonial rule of the United States, a rule that has included the mass sterilization of our women, the murder of important figures who've opposed their regime, human rights violations in Vieques, the creation of a fiscal oversight board that has plunged Puerto Rico further into poverty and delayed disaster response in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which cost the lives of many Boricuas. Within a few weeks, the United States will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of their independence from Britain. Their very own Declaration of Independence says that "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government." The abolishment of a destructive government was justified in their own Declaration of Independence, and yet they are entering year 128 of its destructive colonial rule over Puerto Rico. On June 30th, the Fiscal Oversight Board turns 10. In the decade since this board was introduced by Obama's Ley Promesa, all la Junta has done is aggressively carry out the colonial agenda of a Puerto Rico without Puerto Ricans. Total sovereignty over our finances are given to the unelected and presidentially appointed members of this junta. La Junta has closed over 600 schools, leading to a massive drain of talent from the archipelago. They've served in the best interest of Wall Street, allowing profit to be made off of our debt. They've gutted pensions, destroyed our healthcare system, and have protected foreign companies like LUMA and HMS Ferries from being held accountable for the terrible services that they provide. LUMA gets to charge insane rates for an energy system that's always failing, and HMS makes millions off of Puerto Rico while providing poor service to vieques and culebra, an issue which recently cost the life of Sheila Sanabria. While the board imposed severe cuts to local public services, pensions, and social programs to repay bondholders, these lucrative tax exemptions have fueled gentrification and paved the way for projects like Essencia to try and destroy our coasts. Despite all these hardships, Puerto Ricans have shown a strong sense of national pride and self-respect. This was seen on full display when Speaker Number 51, the disgraced ex-governor of Puerto Rico, was ousted from his office. In closing, I hope that after 40 resolutions, decolonization, and independence, for the nation of Puerto Rico can become a reality. ¡Que viva Puerto Rico libre!

I thank Mr. Siderno. I now invite Ms. Vanessa Ramos to take a seat at the petitioner's table and address the committee. Madame.

Vamos el derecho.

We reaffirm the inalienable right of the Puerto Rican people to self-determination and independence in accordance with Resolution 1514/15. We support the resolution that the case of Puerto Rico continue to be considered. Puerto Rico is a Latin American and Caribbean nation. The General Assembly should examine the colonial question of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's lack of political power is compounded by the United States' imposition of the Fiscal Oversight Board and by colonial governments that privatize essential public services. Under colonial rule, economic exploitation is incompatible with the Charter, the Declaration of Human Rights, opinions of the ICJ, and more than 30 resolutions adopted by this committee relating to Puerto Rico. We denounce human rights violations by transnational corporations. There are two dimensions here: the military-industrial complex corporations and corporations engaged in transnational commercial activities. The U.S. uses Puerto Rico for military exercises and, uh, to project power against neighboring countries in violation of international law. Two GA resolutions are particularly relevant: Resolution 52/417 on military activities of colonial powers and Resolution 2023/20 on the removal of military bases from colonial territories. In violation of these, the United States has established 7 military bases on Puerto The second side of this relates to transnational corporations that have appropriated natural resources, as shown in the proposed Essencia megaproject in the Cabo Rojo area. Their influence over the colonial government is evident in Act 82, which changes the classification of specially protected rural land and imposes a 10% bond for the communities seeking to halt this project. The amendments introduced by Act 82 affect land use, the karst region, and aquifers. We support the human rights defenders who are fighting the privatization of beaches and the plundering of our resources. For the independence of Puerto Rico, our commitment is to Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace. Let us not suffer the same fate that befell Hawaii. And I will conclude with a poem by Lola Rodríguez Etío. Cuba and Puerto Rico are the two wings of a single bird. They receive flowers or bullets to the same heart. How much in the vision adorned with a thousand hues does Lola's muse dream with fervent imagination of making this land and mine a single homeland. Thank you very much.

I thank Miss Ramos. I now invite Miss Beatriz Yanine Figueroa to take a seat at the petitioner's table and address the committee. Madam, you have the floor.

Coalition of people in the southwest of Puerto Rico with allies in the diaspora, we are in favor of protecting our land against the current pattern of looting masquerading as development and based on neocolonial racist policy. We in Cabo Rojo We are incapable of promoting self-determination because we're a colony of the United States. Essencia is a settlement for billionaires. It is promoted by Rubin Brothers and other organizations with the complicity of the colonial government as other mega projects that are implemented. Essencia does not benefit the Puerto Rican economy. Even this way, local government provided significant subsidies under the dictatorship of the fiscal control board imposed by the Imperial Congress. This government is now imposing unconstitutional laws and amendments to promote the interests of oligarchs, trample environmental regulations for our people. This project only provides a handful of jobs but in fact it benefits— it also creates huge carbon emissions. Essentia recreates the exploitation of sugar plantations that were widespread in the Caribbean. Essentia also seeks to steal our water in areas where there's a shortage of it, destroying systems that are already creating climate crisis in areas that are protected, where the environment is protected, fragmenting forests, which is an essential point of biodiversity, including threatening endemic species, and also seeking to monetize our indigenous inheritance and privatize our pristine beaches, break up our community, fabric that is based on our traditions and to displace and replace our population by elites that think they are owners of everything. In spite of 534 years of colonization, Puerto Rico will always be free in our conscience and action. We are Solis Caribbean. Whatever it costs, Essentia will not go through. This is a fight for our lives.

Thank you.

I thank Ms. Figueroa. I now invite Mr. Ivan Elias Rodriguez to take a seat at the petitioner's table and to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor.

Estimados miembros del Comité de Descolonización. Distinguished members of the Committee on Decolonization. Receive our greetings. I represent the independence movement Nacional Ostosiano of Puerto Rico. We express our support for self-determination and independence of our homeland. We are people that are invaded and subjected to colonial domination by the United States, that is celebrating 250 years of its independence while maintaining Puerto Rico under the colonial yoke, the United Nations established its mission of ending colonialism, and colonialism has been disappearing. Puerto Rico is continuing to suffer colonial domination and without— even though international law and the UN resolution on decolonization have been adopted. Free nations have spoken out since the adoption of the resolution on decolonization. The inalienable right of the Puerto Rican people to free determination and independence has been recognized by the international community and the Special Decolonization Committee of the United Nations. We continue to suffer colonialism. In Puerto Rico, the militarization of our territory is being accelerated with military bases, exercises, and strategic deployments threatening regional peace. We are being used as a platform for military operations and strategies assaulting the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean. There's a continuing economic and social and political crisis that is deeply linked to the colonial condition and is aggravated by the, the Fiscal Control Board. The rights of our workers and basic services are affected. For example, equality education in the face of attacks against Puerto Rican universities. The colonial administration castrates the processes of planning, issuing permits, and implements the looting of our heritage by foreign interests. We require that this committee request the General Assembly to uphold the right of the Puerto Rican people to self-determination and independence, that it repudiates the militarization of Puerto Rico and its use for military ends, thus threatening the peace and sovereignty of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean. We request the General Assembly of the United Nations and the international community to recognize Puerto Rico as a pending case of decolonization and that adopts specific actions promoting the consideration of the case of Puerto Rico in the relevant international forums. We call on the progressive forces of Latin America and the Caribbean to support us, to support our people in its fight for sovereignty and independence. We condemn the genocidal blockades and imperialist aggression. May free Puerto Rico live. Long live Cuba. Thank you, Cuba, for this this resolution.

I thank Mr. Rodriguez. I now invite Mr. Steven LaSalle Recruit to take a seat at the petitioner's table and address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Muy buenos días.

Good morning. During 128 years of colonialism by the United States in Puerto Rico, which is marked this month, United Nations has implemented various strategies to deny the people of Puerto Rico its right to free determination, violence and political repression, including more useful mechanisms but no less damaging. A particular mechanism which is intrinsical to colonialism and racism that accompanies it is the undermining of local culture. Through this rhetoric, we— there's an attempt to undermine our belief in ourselves and our self-consciousness and the centuries of history. Our history before the arrival of the United States is being undermined. This is very damaging to our people and especially for our children. However, it's a false message. Some people, perhaps motivated by the fear, will request today that it recognize rights under citizenship that was imposed by the United States. However, this committee has a clear mandate. The General Assembly established it to examine the implementation of Resolution 1514. Roman XV and formulate recommendations on this. In other words, this committee is there to ensure the immediate transfer of sovereign powers to the peoples under colonial occupation without any reservations. Therefore, this committee must reaffirm the inalienable right of the Puerto Rican people to free determination and independence and should make an appeal once again to the General Assembly to examine the question of Puerto Rico and to take a position on this as soon as possible. And it should do it as many times as necessary. We are a people with dignity, capable and self-sufficient as all colonial peoples. We have the right to self-determination and independence to develop based on our own criteria and not for the benefit of external interests. More than anything, our Children deserve to grow without experiencing the indignity of colonialism. That is the right that my daughters have and the rest of the Puerto Rican people, and that is the message that this committee should reaffirm. Thank you very much, and long live free Puerto Rico.

I thank Mr. Recrut. I now invite Mr. Gustavo Meza. Well, first, to take a seat at the petitioner's table and to address the committee.

Madam Chair, I'm Gustavo Mesa, Vice President of the Organization of U.S. Immigrants in Puerto Rico. Madam, Madam Chair, Mr. Your Excellencies, heads of missions of the 123 members of the UN. I'd like to greet the Excellency Secretary General of the UN, Mr. Guterres, and I'd like to start by saying that Puerto Rico voted and statehood won. I have the huge honor of addressing for the third time to this assembly full of history. As a Latin American citizen, I I come as a public servant, at the same time as a member of the new generation of those in favor of statehood, motivated by a new island united against— around common goals based on the U.S. Constitution. The Congress of the United States is endowed with full powers over Puerto Rico regarding the defense and international relations, foreign policy, monetary policy, as well as federal relations between Puerto Rico and the United States that have remained intact while the island exercises local authority and is enshrined in legislation. In 1959, Roberto Sánchez Millet presented 3 draft laws to change the political status Status of Puerto Rico, and none of these was adopted, enacted. The residents of Puerto Rico have voted in favor of statehood several times. In November of 2012, 66% voted in favor. In 2017, by an overwhelming majority. In 2024, once again, the 5th of November, 2024, 58% voted in favor of statehood. According to the report of the special committee of the UN on the 20th of June 2004, Barack Obama reaffirmed this position. In 2012, President of the UN, the chair of the relevant UN, of the Congressional committee reaffirm this position. The people of Puerto Rico demand action. Puerto Rico voted in favor of statehood. And I want to congratulate the new president of Colombia for his president— for his victory. After experiencing a left-wing model, Colombia decided to return to a more conservative path. Several years ago, I was here requesting for the recognition of Senator Miguel Uribe, who was killed by the FARC. Lastly, Puerto Rico voted and statehood won. Gustavo Mez.

I thank Mr. Rojas. May I kindly remind participants to speak at a reasonable pace to facilitate the work of interpreters. I know you are working against the clock, but you also want the translation to be effective, so we need to find a happy balance. Thank you for your cooperation. I now invite Mr. Demara Gonzalez to take a seat at the petitioner's table and to address the committee. Ms. Damara González. Madam, you have the floor.

Good morning. My name is Damara González. I am here speaking on behalf of Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora, a political nonprofit advocating for an independent Puerto Rico. Year after year, the United Nations resolves to support the self-determination and independence of Puerto Rico. And yet, Puerto Rico remains a colony. So why do we still come before this committee? Because the United States government is not taking action to free Puerto Rico, and the government of Puerto Rico, caught in a cycle of internalized oppression and dependence, is more concerned with earning the favor of our colonizers than with creating a better future for Puerto Ricans. The governor is actively selling off parts of the archipelago to foreign investors and using hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to chase politically unattainable goals. Meanwhile, the Puerto Rican representative to Congress aims to keep Puerto Rico in the same precarious position it has been in for generations. So we have no choice but to appeal to international governing bodies to advocate on behalf of the Puerto Rican people. This month marks 10 years of PROMESA, a law that personifies the United States' complete control over Puerto Rico. That law created a financial oversight board that has made dangerous cuts to basic services. Every day, thousands of Puerto Ricans go without water and electricity in their homes and workplaces. Citizens are unable to adequately bathe, prepare meals, and store medicine. If the United Nations is to live up to its charter of affirming human rights and promoting social progress, it must move to mitigate these ongoing crises by first addressing the root cause: the United States' colonial rule over Puerto Rico. Those promoting statehood suggest that dissolving into the United States is the only viable option to reconcile Puerto Rico's harsh realities. And those in favor of Puerto Rico's current association with the U.S. want you to ignore how dire the situation actually is. These options are based in fear. What we need now is bravery. We ask the United Nations to lead the international community in standing up for what's right, to acknowledge that colonialism has caused these crises in Puerto Rico, and to find a way to ameliorate them. During protests in Puerto Rico, you'll often hear a chant translated to "Only the people can save the people." Puerto Ricans are a people, and this body was formed to represent the peoples of all nations. As such, we petition that you bring before the General Assembly the case of Puerto Rico's independence to ultimately deploy programs that will help save Puerto Rico from further catastrophe. ¡Que viva Puerto Rico libre!

I thank Ms. González. I now invite Mr. Jason Cruz to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Good morning, members of the Decolonization Committee and delegates from around the world. ¡Mi nombre es Jason Cruz, presidente de Victory en Puerto Rico! Y yo hablo hoy como miembro de la diáspora puertorriqueña. Yo vengo ante ustedes hoy para hablar sobre la aceleración del desplazamiento de las comunidades puertorriqueñas, la privatización de los recursos públicos y las consecuencias continuas de la colonia estadounidense sobre nuestra isla. Puerto Rico está siendo transformada ante nuestros ojos. Nuestros pueblos están siendo expulsados de sus barrios, nuestras recursos públicos están siendo vendidos, and our homeland is increasingly being treated as a commodity rather than a nation with a people, a culture, and a right to determine its own future. Today, newly passed laws such as PC-25 and PC-310 threaten to weaken environmental protections and make it easier for massive development projects to move forward at the expense of the Puerto Rican people. These policies open the doors for projects like Essencia en Cabo Rojo, a luxury development that threatens fragile ecosystems, public coastlines, and local residents. Anasencia is not the end. It is a model for what is to come. We are even hearing proposals to charge people to access El Yunque, one of our country's greatest national treasures. We should not be treated like strangers in our own homeland or be forced to pay to access what rightfully belongs to us. At this very moment, thousands of Puerto Ricans do not have running water. Families are unable to bathe, wash clothes, cook, or even use their own restrooms. This is not the result of a natural disaster. It is the result of decades of neglect, failed policies, and a crumbling infrastructure under colonial rule. For 10 years, la Junta and austerity measures imposed on Puerto Rico have weakened public institutions, closed schools, reduced services, and accelerated migration from the island. The University of Puerto Rico has eliminated more than 60 bachelor's degree programs, forcing many of our youth to leave their homeland in search for educational opportunities elsewhere. Every young Boricua that is forced to leave is another loss to our nation's future. The United Nations has recognized Puerto Rico's colonial status for decades. Today, I ask this committee to move beyond recognition and to hold the United States accountable for the political, economic, and environmental consequences it has continued through colonial rule. Because this is deeper than just gentrification. This is about whether future generations of Boricuas will have a homeland to return to. It is about whether my children will inherit a Puerto Rico that belongs to our people or one that has been sold to the highest bidder. Puerto Rico no se vende. Puerto Rico es una nación.

Puerto Rico cannot be sold. It's a nation. And like any nation, Puerto Rico deserves its fundamental right to freedom and to independence. Long live free Puerto Rico.

I thank Mr. Cruz. I now invite Mr. Oscar José Colon to take a seat at the committee's table and to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor. Microphone, please.

Buenas tardes. Good morning, and thank you for allowing me to testify before this committee. My name is Dr. Casio Casio. I'm Puerto Rican, born and raised in Puerto Rico. For more than 20 years, I've worked as a psychologist studying the emotional consequences of poverty, migration, acculturation, colonialism, structural oppression on working-class and immigrant communities in New York City. From that professional human and Puerto Rican place, I come here to say that colonialism is a structure of domination. It impoverishes, displaces, and corrupts. It presents itself as a savior of a crisis that was politically fabricated to maintain an entire nation under its yoke. The promesa law and the fiscal Border are irrefutable proof that Puerto Rico lives under a colonial regime. This colonial structure has converted the daily life in Puerto Rico in a constant struggle to have electricity, to have water, to have access to basic health services, to maintain a public university alive, to defend our beaches, our lands, and our culture. We see how— we see public controversies such as La Parguera, a protected natural reserve that belongs to the Puerto Rican people, where the privileges of political power connected to the mother-in-law of the current government appear to receive more protection than our natural resources. We see how luxury tourism projects such as Essencia and Cabo Rojo threaten coastlines, ecosystems, and ways of life. We see how the University of Puerto Rico, the intellectual heart of the country, is attacked through budget cuts and the elimination of programs that sustain critical thinking and self-sufficiency of the country's main public educational institution. We also see how colonial violence is expressed against our migrant— against Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela. As a psychologist, I must say that prolonged oppression does not only damage institutions, it also deforms human character. For this it— and in the past two decades the votes that have taken place, in spite of that, statehood has not won. If you add the alternatives against statehood, they exceeded the number in favor of statehood, including abstention as a form of protest.— in the only plebiscite for which statehood won, 27% of the population won. So if you want to choose a number, it's 27%. Therefore, I ask this honorable committee that first of all, that imposes a true process of decolonization on Puerto Rico in accordance with the spirit of United Nations Resolution 1514. Puerto Rico is not an imperialist— imperial experiment. Puerto Rico is not an investor's plantation. The sense will not pass. The microphone has been switched off.

I thank Mr. Ocasio-Cortez. I now invite— I now invite Mr. Mr. Dennis Feeble to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor.

If Puerto Rico were presenting a constitution to the United Nations for the first time today, and that constitution contained an exception for legalized slavery, would this body approve and call it self-determination? I ask because the answer tells you everything about what has happened to Puerto Rico for the past 74 years. I'm Dennis Feeble, National Lead Organizer of the Abolish Slavery National Network. Puerto Rico abolished slavery under Spain in 1873. Absolutely no slavery exception. That is where Puerto Rico stood before 1898. Then the United States arrived and their federal 13th Amendment slavery exception came with the military occupation, an amendment Puerto Ricans did not ratify. And then came the Jones Act, carrying the same exception forward in 1917, which Puerto Rico did not vote for. And when Puerto Rico convened for their own constitutional convention in 1951, the delegates were offered the broader language: slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment. They rejected it. They confined the exception to involuntary labor alone, and they kept the prohibition on slavery absolute. They defined slavery on the floor as a subjection of a person to the will and power of another without recourse. That is slavery as status. They knew exactly what they were protecting. The enrolled text, the official engrossed version, reversed them anyway. It put the broader language back in. Both slavery and involuntary servitude became permissible as punishment. No floor debate, no second vote. The governing Spanish text now preserves the slavery exception the delegates voted down. What I have just described has a name in international law: jus cogens. No people can consent to slavery. No legislature can authorize slavery. No constitution can legitimize slavery, a preemptory norm from which no derogation is permitted. And this is not theory. In Puerto Rico today, prison regulation declares that leave is not a right nor a grace. Movements at total administrative discretion. Incarcerated people earn their freedom back through labor. These are the powers of ownership. That is slavery as the law defines it. Now understand what self-determination is being offered here. The people of Puerto Rico are told they may remove the slavery exception themselves, but they didn't put it there. They abolished slavery in 1873, and the U.S. put it back. Now that the burden of removing a jus cogens violation falls on the people, it was inflicted upon, to then have to ask the same government that imposed it for permission to remove it. We call this self-determination? A body that Puerto Rico does not fully elect gets to decide whether to honor a vote to end legalized slavery. This is not self-determination. That's asking for permission to end a crime against humanity, permission to abolish slavery. This committee would not approve that constitution today. It approved it in 1952.

I thank Mr. Feeble. I thank Mr. Feeble. I now invite Mr. Paul Mayotte to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Distinguished Chairperson, committee members, my name is Paul Mayotte, speaking on behalf of the Socialist Workers Party. I'm the party's candidate for governor of New York. The Socialist Workers Party, since its founding in 1938, has championed the fight for Puerto Rico's independence from U.S. colonial rule. Today, the U.S. rulers are once again using Puerto Rico as a base for military aggression in Latin America. We saw this vividly with the January 3rd U.S. attack on Venezuela and the subsequent stationing of an armada of warships off Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico to threaten Cuba. We join with others here to say: U.S. military out of Puerto Rico and all of the Caribbean, and U.S. hands off Cuba. For the past decade, Washington has imposed a so-called Financial Oversight Board to squeeze workers and farmers in Puerto Rico in order to guarantee debt payments to wealthy U.S. bondholders. The junta has imposed cuts in jobs and pensions. School closures, hikes in utility rates and university tuition, and much more. We demand Washington cancel the debt now. The employer class protects its profits at the expense of working people. The class conflicts sharpening in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. are part of a world capitalist disorder. Today's cutthroat rivalries among imperialist powers and other capitalist challengers are once again marching humanity towards social catastrophes, another Holocaust against Jews, and a Third World War. The working people of Cuba, led by Fidel Castro and the rebel army, overthrew the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship in 1959 and took state power, demonstrating that a transformation in the lives of the toiling majority are impossible. The capitalists of this country have never forgiven the Cuban people for taking control of their country just 90 miles from U.S. shores. The powerful example of Cuba's socialist revolution, where workers and farmers mobilized in their millions to fight in their own interests under a revolutionary leadership, shows the road to genuine freedom and independence. It is an ejemplo para los trabajadores de Puerto Rico, en los Estados Unidos y en el mundo. Today, the fight for independence of Puerto Rico, the struggles of U.S. working people, and defense of Cuban sovereignty are more closely tied than ever. The Socialist Workers Party adds its voice to those here who are fighting to end Washington's colonial domination of Puerto Rico. Thank you.

I thank Mr. Mehut. I now invite Mr. José Miguel Velázquez Cruz to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Distinguished delegates, my name is José Miguel Velázquez Cruz. I'm a Puerto Rican I come to this Special Committee on Decolonization at your allotted time. Thank you, Madam Chair, distinguished delegates. My name is José Miguel Velázquez Cruz. I'm a Puerto Rican. I come to this Special Committee on Decolonization on behalf of Adelante Reunificacionistas. This is a Puerto Puerto Rican organization that promotes the reunification of Puerto Rico with Spain through democratic and peaceful means. I come to you to say that there is a grave deficit of democracy in Puerto Rico. For many years, we have remained under the sovereignty of the United States. Throughout this time, our nation has faced increasing challenges, increasing depopularization, and deteriorating infrastructure and other challenges. The current Commonwealth has failed to provide a permanent solution. The Supreme Court of the U.S. and other courts have reiterated that Puerto Rico remains an unincorporated state. At the same time, the statehood remains uncertain. Despite the request for a local plebiscite, the U.S. has never made a firm commitment for this. Many Puerto Ricans also fear that this will lead to the erosion of our Spanish language and our cultural heritage. Independence has never been an option preferred by the majority of Puerto Ricans, either under Spanish or U.S. rule. Even though it is a legitimate alternative, it has not garnered consensus. The issue is that the people of Puerto Rico continue to have their rights to viable alternatives denied. Therefore, I preferred the alternative of the Voices Act, which is to guarantee a process of self-determination that is truly neutral and truly democratic, in which this option could be put to the vote of Puerto Rican. These options should include reunification with Spain, inspired by the the model within the Kingdom of Spain. In 1898, we had an autonomous government with our own charter and political representation within the Spanish institutions. We also— independence, commonwealth, or reunification for— with Spain is a decision that falls solely to the people of Puerto Rico. Democracy means that all voices should be heard and all viable options should be on the table. Puerto Rico deserves no less. Thank you.

I thank Mr. Cruz. May I kindly remind participants to speak at a reasonable pace in order to facilitate the interpretation, as it becomes difficult to do the interpretation effectively if you are at an accelerated pace. I appreciate that we are trying to manage time, but it is in our interest so that we could communicate effectively. Thank you so much. I now invite Miss Catherine Martinez Medina to take a seat at the petitioner's table and to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor, please.

My name is Catherine Martinez Medina. I am a young Afro-Viequense and a member of La Colmena Cimarrona, a collective committed to food sovereignty through agroecological practices in Vieques, Puerto Rico. I come to this committee today to denounce how Puerto Rico's colonial condition continues to violate human rights, including the right to to food, to land, health, and to the self-determination of peoples. Puerto Rico imports approximately 85% of the food that it consumes, mainly from the United States. This dependency is the result of colonial policies that— such as the Cabotage Act— that undermine and weaken our productive abilities, making us dependent on a food system that we do not control. In Vieques, the consequences of this colonial model run even deeper. Decades of occupation and exploitation by the U.S. Navy destroyed much of our agricultural, fishing, and livestock-producing capacity. Local economies, livelihoods, and know-how that had sustained entire generations were disrupted. Today, We are trying to rebuild that productive capacity amidst governmental neglect, land speculation, and accelerated processes of displacement and gentrification. Despite this, we continue to plant, to fish. We continue to stand up for our right to stay on our land and feed ourselves from it. We do so without clear answers regarding the condition of our own soils and waters, even though there are more than 2,000 cuerdas of land that have been identified for agricultural use in the— area Vieques, we still lack studies that would allow us to determine with certainty the presence of contaminants, the quality of the soil, and its potential for the safe production of food. Vieques has been a symbol of struggle for Puerto Rico and the world, yet much remains owed to our people. It's time for those who have caused such extensive damage to take responsibility. We therefore demand complete, safe, and transparent de— depollution process an objective and participatory scientific study allowing us to understand the true condition of our soil and water, and the return and protection of land, particularly land designated for agricultural use, so that communities of Vieques can cultivate it, remain on it, and build a dignified future. The decolonization of Puerto Rico also means having the ability to feed our people, care for our land, and decide on our own future. Without food sovereignty, there can be so no self-determination. Without Without access to land, there can be no food sovereignty, and as long as the colonial relationship continues, these rights will continue to be violated. Long live free Puerto Rico, long live free Vieques. Thank you.

I thank Ms. Medina. I now invite Ms. Ady Martinez Roman to take a seat at the Committee's table and to address the Committee. Madam, you have the floor.

¡Adiós!

Thank you, Madam President and delegates. I am Dr. Adi Martinez-Roman from Puerto Rico, co-founder and co-director of Right to Democracy, organization that is building a movement to advance democracy, equity, and self-determination in the 5 unincorporated territories of the U.S.: Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. At Right to Democracy, we are building common ground with people of diverse status perspectives and political ideologies to confront what is the real barrier to democracy in our territories: U.S. colonial rule. When we talk about U.S. colonial rule, we're referring specifically to the legal framework created by the Supreme Court of the United States 125 years ago through the Insular Cases and their doctrine of incorporation. This overt racist legal doctrine, still enforced today, provides a stamp of approval to the continued exercise of plenary powers over our territories by the executive and legislative branches. Our fundamental rights have been defined on a case-to-case basis. U.S. constitutional rights are not directly applicable, and we are held at complete political disenfranchisement. This is colonial rule. It is wrong, and it needs to end now. The consequences of this over the people of Puerto Rico have been presented time and time again before this committee. We can attest that these consequences—the high levels of poverty, precarious access to basics such as health, housing, electricity, and clean water, the unilateral imposition of military interests, the extraction of natural resources, and the displacement of our people—are faced throughout all U.S. territories. You have repeatedly sustained that Puerto Ricans have the right of real process of self-determination, yet the colonial framework still subsists as valid US constitutional law, and what is worst, it has hardly known for what it really is. In the words of US Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch, American colonialism. How can we make the United States reckon with its colonial reality and commit to real democratic rule for its territories? International pressure is essential. As this year marks the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, and millions celebrate democratic principles of consent of the governed and all are created equal, it is imperative to make visible that for half of the history of the United States has institutionalized colonial rule. This insidiousness has been seeping into U.S. democratic culture in direct contradiction to its values. We urge this decolonization committee to call on the United States government to reckon with its colonial rule and assume its constitutional and international responsibility. Our dignity requires spaces of real democratic agency and self-determination in which our people and communities can imagine and decide what we want in conditions of transparency, mutual agreement, and consent of the governed. Thank you.

I thank Ms. Roman. I now invite Mr. Angel Javier Serrano to take a seat at the committee's table and to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Honorable members of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization, C-24, ladies and gentlemen, I appear before you today as a voice for the people of Puerto Rico who have repeatedly and democratically express their sovereign will to achieve full integration as the 51st state of the United States of America. Recent plebiscites, including the 2024 referendum where statehood secured a clear majority of approximately 58.6% of the vote, confirmed this consistent preference across multiple elections. This is not abstract aspirations, but the informed exercise of self-determination by U.S. citizens who have contributed profoundly to America's defense, economy, and values. The current territorial status, an incorporated territory under the U.S. Constitution's territorial clause, and the legacy of the Insular Cases deprives Puerto Ricans of full rights and sovereignty. Unlike residents of the 50 states, we cannot vote for president, lack voting representation in Congress, and remain subject to the federal laws without reciprocal political power. Are citizenship granted by statute rather than constitutional rights. This arrangement falls short of the full self-governance and equal rights envisioned by the UN Charter's principles of self-determination and equality among people. It perpetuates a democratic deficit incompatible with modern standards of political equality. This incomplete sovereignty has tangible harmful consequences Consequences. Consider the Fiscal Oversight and Management Board under PROMESA in 2016. PROMESA is anticipated as a limited role. Balanced budgets were a core milestone for the board's objectives. Under recent administrations, Puerto Rico has achieved and certified balanced budgets, including the milestone's first certified balanced budget signed in June 2025. Yet the board continues operations, arguably exceeding its constitutional and statutory bounds by prolonging intervention beyond the fiscal stabilization it was tasked to achieve. This undermines local governance and self-determination. Distinguished members, the will of the Puerto Rican people is clear: continued territorial status hinders economic prosperity, full constitutional protections, and democratic equality. Um, This incomplete sovereignty has tangible harmful consequences. Under PROMESA in 2016, the board assumed extraordinary power control. The PREPA retirees face uncertainty over their pensions due to mismanagement and underfunding of the system. Liabilities that predated the board but persist under its sovereignty. Retirees who served faithfully risk losing hard-earned benefits because the board wields near-total authority over funding promises. We urge this committee to recognize the legitimacy of Puerto Rico's repeated democratic mandates for statehood, to affirm that territorial limbo contravenes the spirit of the U.N. Charter, and to call upon the United States Congress to act decisively, admitting Puerto Rico as a state.

I thank Mr. Serrano. I now recognize and invite Miss Saida Torres Rodriguez to take a seat at the committee's table and to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor.

Buenos días. Good morning. My name is Zaina Torres Rodriguez. I'm a part of the Vieques Women's Alliance. I come to you with a strong voice following my training as a nurse with more than 20 years of experience dedicated to public health in my island, Bierkis, with the experience that have left scars on this female defender committed to the well-being of our people. I— my husband was just part of the statistics of the battle that I have been fighting through my own body. My genetic tests have said that my cancer is not genetic. We are a territory that has been violated with full knowledge of the U.S. Navy in under the shade of colonialism for more than 60 years. This is an act of violence and is a consequence of environmental racism that is disproportionate, that violates the human rights of the people of Vieques, of the first, second, and third generation. Our health cannot depend on fate, on luck. Health is a a fundamental basic right, and it has been violated by military activities. A— an ill people just has no future, and forthcoming generations depend on the justice that we are demanding. Science confirms the venom in our— in our blood. My testimony confirms this violation of international law. As a part of our struggle, 9 Viequenses and WTO have committed to a human rights committee. We were admitted to there and we requested this right to human health. This is not a favor, it is a demand. As a nurse, I know that science looks for explanations through data, but as a daughter, a wife, and as a patient, I have also been a living witness of the request, uh, a witness that overcomes any and goes beyond any scientific data. Um, this is an act of bravery to raise the profile of our struggles. Dignity for the health of Vieques cannot be looked at through construction or data. Rather, the immediate availability of specialized medicine. We ask for the specific medicines to heal our people. We also need to address the lack of specialists. We want health for our children and our grandchildren.

I thank Ms. Rodriguez. I invite— thank you, thank you. I invite Mr. Adrian Gonzalez Costa to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Buenos días. Good morning, Madam Chair. Delegates, my name is Adrienne González Costa. I come on behalf of the Puerto Rican Independent Party, and I'm the secretary of this party. I represent them as a senator in the Senate. In light of the current political scenario in Latin America, as well as around the rest of the world, and the role played by the United States in what seems to be a historic setback in terms of respect for the sovereignty of peoples, it is particularly important to adopt these resolutions of the special committee recognizing our Latin American and Caribbean nature, as well as our right to self-determination and independence. This historic setback that threatens the region in our case is the reality that we have lived for more than a century of economic, social, and political domination. For us, this isn't a new threat. This is our past, our present, and it cannot be our future. Our lands have been occupied for military purposes, jeopardizing the health and lives of our compatriots as a part of the tightening colonial policies. One decade ago, an unelected board— it was imposed by the U.S. Congress— and it has been exercising selective control over the use of public money, imposing austerity cuts designed to weaken access to health, public employment, and education, particularly our main educational project, which is the University of Puerto Rico. While we see suspicious, uh, specificity in light of harmful practices that promote corruption— these are just a few of the many examples— despite all of the adversity For more— less than 50 years ago, we realized that the world needed to know about these and other problems and stand with us as we have done in this Special Committee through the adoption of the relevant resolution and the support of this Special Committee for our independence. Now believe that— we reiterate the importance that this should be adopted by a historic consensus and without the need for a vote. The expression of the voice of this committee is a cornerstone to truly start the decolonization process in Puerto Rico and also to overcome the government domination of the United States. Long live Puerto Rico. Thank you.

I thank Mr. Costa. Sharing, just for your information, that the session is being webcast on UN Web TV, and video recording can also be accessed on the website. Just sharing for your information. I now invite Mr. José Lara to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor. Mr. José Lara.

Gracias, señora presidenta.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Distinguished members of the Decolonization Committee of the UN, my name is José Lara. I represent an association that seeks to solve the problem of self-determination of Puerto Rico. By reunifying with the motherland of Spain. 120 years after the invasion of the United States to Puerto Rico during the Spanish-U.S. War, our colonial position has not changed. Nothing has changed it. The Jones-Shaffer Law of 1917 did not change it. Ley 600 of 1950 didn't change it. That made it possible to convene a constituent assembly which founded the Free Associate State in 1952. We continue to be a colony of the United States no matter what the names or descriptions. The Constitution of the United States does not apply in its totality to Puerto Rico. We're not a state and we do not have representation in the federal Congress, nor can we vote in general elections that elect the president and congressmen and senators that take decisions that affect us. We have a second-class American citizenship to fight in US wars. We are entitled, but for nothing more. Just this year, 2026, our local constitution and its government are still subjected to the imposition of the federal Congress limiting the real power of these local institutions. The imposition of the fiscal control board through the PROMESA law is an excellent example of this. Now we find ourselves invading sovereign nations, fabricating wars against other countries, and even threatening to continue taking neighboring peoples by force of arms. Status of— this committee must put an end to the colonial status. We promote the correction of a historical injustice when we were torn from the nation to which we did belong, and we were a province, an overseas province of that country, just as today France and Holland have in the Caribbean. And we had an autonomous government which transformed us into the first autonomous region of Spain in 1897. We have— the U.S. presence in our archipelago has made us fall into decadence and has led to despair that has led to some 1 million Puerto Ricans to emigrate to the United States, abandoning their native land. And culture of families. We request that this distinguished body to consider this option of decolonization of the people of Puerto Rico to reunify with Spain as is appropriate. The United States does not want to give us statehood or independence or free association. It wants to maintain us with the free association state as a colony. The microphone has been switched off.

I thank Mr. José Lara. I now invite Mr. José Louis Morin to take a seat at the committee's table and address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please. Microphone, please. One minute, please. They— no, I invited Mr. José Louis Morin. Can you hear me? Yes, please proceed.

Thank you. Thank you. Good morning.

While some pro-statehood proponents cite Hawaiʻi as a model for Puerto Rico, the experiences lived under U.S. statehood by Native Hawaiian peoples, the Kanaka Maoli, tell a different story. For Kanaka Maoli under statehood, the legacy of colonial domination and the 1893 coup that toppled the independent Kingdom of Hawaiʻi leaves on in the form of marginalization, deprivation, and unequal treatment in contemporary Hawaiʻi. Studies point to the generational trauma and the impact of colonization as contributing significantly to present-day health disparities, including high rates of chronic disease, cancer, obesity, mental illness, drug use, and other manifestations of trauma. Data show infant mortality rates of Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders are 46% higher than national rates. Food insecurity, 41% higher than household nationally. 1 in 6, or 17%, live in poverty, greater than the national average and that of the state of Hawaiʻi at around 10%. The rate of unhoused persons in Hawaiʻi is among the highest anywhere in the United States, with Kanaka Maoli on Oʻahu making up the highest percentage of unhoused persons compared with other racial and ethnic groups. Unable to sustain themselves in their own homeland, more Kanaka Maoli now live outside of their homeland than in Hawaiʻi. U.S. statehood has not protected Kanaka Maoli from untoward federal and state governmental policies, displacement, exposure to harmful U.S. military and outside commercial activities, and attempts to undermine their environment, cultural heritage, and identity. For Puerto Rico, the U.S. government's adherence to the doctrine on plenary powers under the territorial clause of the Constitution and to U.S. Supreme Court decisions that empower the U.S. Congress and not the people of Puerto Rico serve to undermine the right of self-determination. It is incumbent on the special committee to ensure that what happened to Kanaka Maoli in Hawaii not happen to Puerto Rico.

Please, can you read? Can you restrict your comments to the territory under consideration? Thank you.

Yes.

It is urgent that the Special Committee strengthen its efforts and call for the United States government to comply with its responsibilities in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 1514/15 and resolutions and decisions of the Special Committee concerning Puerto Rico for a process that provides the Puerto Rican people with the ability to fully exercise their inalienable rights and to self-determination and independence. Thank you.

I thank Mr. Morin. I now invite Ms. Alexandria Corneli Rias to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor, please.

I come from Vieques, a small island located on the east of Puerto Rican archipelago. Vieques is recognized for achieving the end of the United the United States military exercises and maneuvers that for decades violated our lives and our lands. However, that victory did not bring justice. We are still waiting for reparations. Living in Vieques compel us in one way or another to deeply love our land. We love it because it is our home, but also because remaining there requires a constant struggle. When we speak of colonialism in Vieques, we also speak of a historical attempt to erase our existence. Between 1958 and 1964, the United States Navy proposed the Dracula Plan that aimed to remove Vieques residents and relocate their cemeteries. Although the plan was never carried out, it reflects a mindset that viewed our land as a strategic resource and our people as an obstacle. Today we continue to face these forms of planned and systematic displacement. Although the plan was never carried out, it reflects the colony mindset that view our land as a strategic resource and our people as an obstacle. Meanwhile, the new hospital, built at an estimated cost of $85.6 million, has yet to open its doors and will not include a maternity ward. For people, many— for people, being born in the homeland is something natural. For us, it is a denied right. The cleanup of our lands does not guarantee justice. There is no certainty that the decontamination will be completed or that the land will be returned to the people of Vieques. Although Vidas Viequenses Valen acquired a detonation chamber that could significantly aid the cleanup process, its use has been discontinued. Our demand has always been clear: land return, demilitarization, development, and decontamination. And if Puerto Rico experiences the consequences of colonialism, Vieques' experience is even more intense. We're an island within a colony, forced for generations to endure decisions made about our land, our health, and our future. That is why we come before this committee once again, to reaffirm our demand for justice. We call for the complete cleanup and return of our lands and respect for our collective right to self-determination. But also we come up with a question: What are we going to do for our future generations? What are we going to leave them? A contaminated, fragmented, displaced island? Or an island where its children can be born, can grow up, and decide their own future? As human beings, we have the capacity to be a light amid the darkness that exists in our world. Today I ask you to be a part of that light. ¡Viva Puerto Rico libre! ¡Viva Big and Small!

Long live free vehicle, lives of vehicle matter.

I now invite Mr. Kevin Miguel Rivera Medina to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

I am Kevin Miguel Rivera Medina. I'm the Committee for Human Rights Puerto Rico. For decades, this committee has recognized Puerto Rico as an unresolved case of decolonization. However, the situation has become worse, and the consequence of 128 years of domination continue to be without being addressed. This not only raises an issue of decolonization but reparations. Uh, the territory has not been administered well. Quite to the contrary, a country is being destroyed. The economy of Puerto Rico has been marked by policies imposed without democratic participation and for the benefit of the metropolis. The, the date crisis, the austerity measures imposed by the fiscal control board, which has been doing damage for a decade, can contribute to dependency, immigration, and the loss of control and economic development. The colonial damage is much more broad. I'll give you some examples. The Department of Defense admitted that Orange Agent and over 40 herbicides and toxins were tried in our land, probably explains the levels of type 2 diabetes and prostate cancer. This has left a legacy of environmental contamination, elimination of industries and agriculture, restriction of development in the abuse and displacement of its inhabitants. Today, Puerto Rico has been converted in one of the major aircraft carriers of the Caribbean. There are multiple political assassinations of those who have fought for national freedom, the massacre of Ponce. Furthermore, Puerto Rican women were used as trials for anti— for birth control pills with long-term consequences. During the hurricane of 2017, we witnessed suffering due to the delays in assistance, indifference due to the colonial status in the midst of rampant corruption. The question is not merely an issue of charity but justice. Reparatory measures should include debt forgiveness, return of infrastructure, and rehabilitation of contaminated land, rehabilitation of urban centers, formal recognition of historic abuses facilitating the return of our the exiles, and a genuine process of self-determination and independence. The 20th century clearly demonstrated colonialism is unacceptable. The 21st should demonstrate that its consequences are not— can be reversed. It's important for the United States not only to recognize decolonization and independence of Puerto Rico, but to, uh, uh, compensate damages. We thank, uh, Cuba and other countries.

Thank— I thank Mr. Medina. I now invite Miss Vivian Cordino Villaronga to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor, please.

I'm here as the president of the Association of Lawyers of Puerto Rico, an institution that for 186 years has defended the human and civil rights of Puerto Ricans. 10 years ago, Congress of the United States enacted the PROMESA law and imposed on supervision a fiscal control board with powers that are greater than those of the elected institutions of our people. A decade later, the board continues to be the clearest evidence that Puerto Rico lacks the essential authorities of self-government that characterize a sovereign and fully democratic country. Puerto Rico, even though it has its own legal system, remains under the authority of the United States Congress, which imposes laws and policies without the democratic consent of the Puerto Rican people. This reality has been confirmed many times by federal courts, including The island cases and the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle in 2016, which demonstrate the continuity and a subordinated political relationship that is incompatible with the principle of self-determination. This situation has been clearly demonstrated during the administration of Donald Trump. In Puerto Rico, discriminatory, migratory policies have been implemented by the federal government. They have affected immigrants with non-defined status, even though our regulations recognize their rights to live with dignity, including access to driving license and other fundamental rights. Of particular concern is the impact on the Dominican community, which is part and parcel of the social, cultural, and economic reality of Puerto Rico. Under its— his administration, as a consequence of policies of austerity imposed by the Financial Oversight Board. Pensions have been cut. Funds for University of Puerto Rico have been reduced. Resources for healthcare services have been reduced. Labor rights have been undermined, and privatization of essential services have been promoted for grave consequence for the quality of life and well-being. The combination of austerity policies imposed by the board, the Fiscal Control Board, violations of human rights due to the implementation of federal policies in our land, and structural limits that restrict the capacity of the Puerto Rican people to fully exercise their economic, cultural, political self-determination constitute clear contemporary manifestations of colonialism. 10 years after the enactment of PROMESA, the Association of Lawyers of Puerto Rico reaffirms that decolonization cannot continue to be delayed. This is why we support the Constitutional Assembly of Status as a democratic participatory decolonizing mechanism for the Puerto Rican people to deliberate, negotiate, and freely decide their future. We demand this committee continues in its efforts to address urgently the case of Puerto Rico and promote concrete actions aimed at putting an end to our colonial condition after more than 100 After 28 years of political subordination, the Puerto Rican people cannot continue to wait for the full exercise of its inalienable right to free determination. Thank you very much.

I thank the petitioner. I now invite Ms. Alexandra Castro Rodriguez to address the committee. I apologize for the interpretation of your name. Please, madam, you have the floor.

Good morning.

The microphone— unfortunately, speaker's microphone is not on.

Please, Miss Rodriguez, you have the floor. Can we start the timer over? Thank you. Please proceed.

Buenos días. Good morning. My name is Alejandra Castro Rodríguez. I'm an economist in equity and I represent the Juan Mari Bras Foundation. We respectfully request this committee support in our efforts for the decolonization of Puerto Rico. Two years ago, we mentioned to this committee the acceleration of neocolonialism in terms of settlements, not only as part of the increased genocide in Palestine, but also in Puerto Rico. After 128 years of occupation, extraction, and repression, there is once again an intention to erase us and erase our existence as of people. For decades, the governments of the United States and Puerto Rico has transferred property and services that sustain life to foreign corporations whose shareholders have little or no interest in ensuring our access to these vital services. The dispossession that began with the privatization of our healthcare system and is now— continues with two monopolies that provide one of the most cost costly and least reliable energy services in this hemisphere. In Puerto Rico, we import over 80% of our food at very high prices. This regime, which evokes the Gaza diet, eradicating agriculture— sustains agriculture, leaves our food security in the hands of the occupying force. The interruption of drinking water services resulting due to austerity is a major problem. Foreign control of our vital services accompanied by incentives for foreign investors have made access to housing precarious. Crucially, incentives for relocalization of Puerto Rico and reconfiguration of the territorial organization are results of governments without mandates. However, they're based on donations by major investors. Their wealth exceeds those of Puerto Ricans by various orders of magnitude. Allowing them to exercise disproportional control. The progress of colonialism, settlement colonialism, increases the asymmetry of power, weakening our right to participate in democratic processes. This is why we request this committee to denounce the colonial settlement model and its interference in the exercise of our full right to govern us and reiterate our right to the full exercise of Puerto Rican citizenship and the inalienable right to independence. The transfer of the collective heritage and our vital services means we need to restore our right to self-determination. Thank you.

I thank Ms. Rodriguez. I now recognize and invite Mr. Edwin Ortez. Mr. Edwin Ortez to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Hi, my name is Edwin Ortez. I speak on behalf of A Call to Action on Puerto Rico. We are always grateful to the people of Cuba Venezuela and Iran for their longstanding support in this committee of Puerto Rico's right to its freedom. Our hearts go out to them as they continue to support us despite the acts of aggression perpetrated against them by the imperialist U.S. government. More than ever, the lives of Puerto Ricans in the archipiélago are endangered by the dictatorial Financial Control Board and its corrupt and incompetent colonial administrators. These annexationists and estadolibristas fight over spoils of a collapsing economy and can no longer use discredited so-called plebiscites to hide their acquiescence of the actions of the metropolis. The current status and its colonial defenders have left Puerto Ricans at the mercy of collapsed power and water infrastructures. Increasing numbers of our people and neighborhoods must rely on cistern trucks to provide basic water necessities. Basic health and welfare facilities are severely affected. Economic displacement forces many of our young people to leave Puerto Rico, further exacerbating the population crisis. We've also recently seen tourist hotels connected to cistern and generator trucks. Tourists are leaving, probably never to return. We celebrate the resilience of the Puerto Rican people who bravely endure the suffering. In this spirit, ProLibertad and Call to Action celebrate and salute the memory of Don Ismael Guadalupe Vieques, who recently passed. Doña Ismael showed how to fight on behalf of the people of Vieques and the archipelago, how to fight for the right to a home in his homeland, the right to medical care which is being taken away, the right to a peaceful homeland free from U.S. militarization. It is disconcerting that we see Puerto Rico again being used to support U.S. government aggression against our neighbors. We ask that the U.N. stand with Puerto Rico against the violation of international law by the U.S. government and its colonial subjugation of the Puerto Rican people. We wish to avoid the tragedy of the Palestinian people. We share a similar ongoing struggle with them who have been living out the worst-case scenarios of colonialism, genocide, and expulsion from their homeland. The only true paths are sovereignty and independence. As with the Palestinians, Puerto Rico's colonial crisis only intensifies. The UN Committee on Decolonization must state that the current situation of colonial rule is unacceptable, and that Puerto Rico is entitled to self-determination and independence, and the immediate and unconditional transfer of all sovereign powers to the people, powers that have been illegally appropriated. Long live a free and sovereign Puerto Rico. ¡Que viva Puerto Rico libre!

I thank Mr. Edwin Ortiz. I now invite Mr. Edwin Ortiz to address the committee. Another Mr. Edwin Ortiz. Sir, you have the floor, please. Thank you.

Distinguished delegates, leaders of the world, my name is Edwin Ortiz, president of the National Puerto Rico in Spain Initiative. In 1953, the United States informed the United Nations that Puerto Rico had achieved a full measure of self-government through the establishment of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Based on those representations, Puerto Rico was removed from the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories through the Resolution 748. Yet today, Puerto Rico remains subject to the plenary powers of Congress under the Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution. And under the United States Supreme Court continues to recognize Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory. Puerto Rico is often described as part of the United States. However, under the Insular Case, Puerto Rico belongs to the United States, okay, but is not part of the United States in the same constitutional sense as the 50 states. Many people are unaware Puerto Rico had already achieved constitutional autonomy— constitutional autonomy before 1898. On November 25, 1897, la Carta Autonómica established Puerto Rico's autonomous government, and on March 27, 1898, Puerto Rico participated in a democratic election under the constitutional framework. Puerto Rico never voted to surrender its autonomy. Puerto Rico never consent— consent to the transfer of sovereignty. If Puerto Rico truly achieved a full measure of self-government in 1953, why does its political authority continue to derive from Congress? If Puerto Rico's future is truly in the hands of the Puerto Rican people, then when will Congress authorize a binding process and commit itself to honoring the results? For this reason, we respectfully request that any future process of self-determination— determination, excuse me— includes all viable options, including constitutional autonomy and reunification. Reunification with Spain. And to those who advocate for statehood, independence, or the current territorial arrangement, I ask this: If you truly believe in democracy, why are you— what are you afraid of allowing Puerto Rico to be considered and to be on the ballot just like everyone else? Reunificación con España is basically an option just like everyone else. Competition is healthy. Allow constitutional autonomy and reunification with Spain on the ballot. Democracy, fear not.

Thank you. I thank Mr. Edwin Ortiz. I now invite Mr. Manuel Rivera to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Distinguished members of this honorable special committee, on the Fourth of July, this coming Fourth of July, the United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary of its independence. However, while the North American state as a sovereign independent state commemorates two and a half centuries of freedom of democratic self-government, Puerto Rico continues to be the oldest colony in the world without having achieved its full independence and national sovereignty. The commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States takes on greater relevance at a time when President Donald Trump and various figures of the Republican Party have come out against statehood for Puerto Rico. At the same time, the support of the Democratic Party to statehood responds to— reflects a domestic political calculation which takes the form of rhetoric of rights and equality and is not a genuine effort at decolonization. Ladies and gentlemen, the political future of Puerto Rico must be decided in line with the universal principle of the free determination of peoples and their right to independence. Over the past 2 years, we have visited various offices of Republican congresspersons in Washington. Congressman Tom McClintock has spoken in favor of the independence of Puerto Rico. Which is the first public expression of support by Republican legislator since the creation of the Commonwealth in 1952. Likewise, I recently had a conversation with Republican Congressman John McGuire of Virginia, to whom I provided a draft legislation in favor of independence that Congressman McClinton will consider. Unfortunately, the current resident commissioner in Washington, Pablo José Hernández, has taken a step back in the process of decolonization by submitting a draft law similar to the failed H.R. 8393 Puerto Rican Status Act, but including the colonial territory as an option. This draft The law is unacceptable and does not have the support of the Republicans in Congress. Including the territory is equivalent to maintaining the door open to statehood and to perpetuate colonialism. For 128 years of United States colonialism and 533 years of colonial domination overall, after that, the time has finally comfort Puerto Rico to take its place among the free and sovereign nations of the world. Thank you very much. Long live free Puerto Rico.

I thank Mr. Rivera. I now recognize and invite Ms. Ana M. López to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor, please.

Thank you. My name is Ana María López López, and I'm speaking on behalf of Women United Against Genocide, a member of FDIM. We are a broad-based coalition of civic organizations. Women as givers of human life, transmitters of identity and culture, and as leaders within our communities. Make up more than 50% of Puerto Rico's population. The persistent colonial situation spanning 128 years has affected women and children more— most severely. Women were subjected to forced sterilization at a rate of 45% between 1940 and 1970, an act constituting genocide. Pervasive poverty affects women and children. Over 56% live below the poverty line. This poverty is disproportionate in compared to other U.S. jurisdictions. The rate is 3 times higher. Among families with 3 or more children, the poverty rate is 90%. Women are heads of household constituting 60% 60-67% of the population. This hunger, this constant lack of water in many municipalities and frequent power outages. Families face lack of affordable housing while land is handed over on a silver platter to foreign investors and billionaires who pay no taxes. Increasing levels of homelessness It is estimated that by the year 2050, Puerto Rico's population will shrink from 3 million to 2 million, driven by a steadily declining birth rate. More people are dying in Puerto Rico than they're being born. The forced migration and displacement of Puerto Ricans constitute genocide. I speak from personal experience. My family and village comprising of farmers and agriculture workers, have been victims of forced land expropriation twice: in 1930s by the U.S. military and in 2024, stripping us of a 200-year history and way of life. The colonial conditions present in Puerto Rico also manifest in our communities and neighborhoods within the United States. Puerto Ricans face constant racial discrimination, daily police violence, and displacement. Under the guise of democracy, our hostile colonial situation imposed by U.S. imperialism has denied us our inalienable right to sovereignty and independence in accordance with U.N. Resolution 1514/15. Let us be clear: achieving independence is the only decolonizing solution for Puerto Rico. For this reason, we live and we understand the devastation caused by genocide, military intervention, and—

I thank Ms. Ana López.

Thank you very much. ¡Viva Puerto Rico libre! ¡Viva!

I now invite Mr. Ricardo Quiles to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Saludo. Greetings. My name is Ricardo Quiles. I'm a militant from Las Promesas, an organization that denounces the crime of colonialism and advocates for the independence of Puerto Rico. Today, as we've done for several years now, we come to you to denounce a crime against the people of Puerto Rico, a nation that has been subjected to military intervention by the United— governments of the United States since 1898, a nation that remains in a condition of colonial subjugation under an empire that, with the complicity of the local government, is displacing our people and destroying our natural resources. Our country is in a deplorable situation. Thousands are without water. Infrastructure is in decline. And our natural resources are being threatened by those who see Puerto Rico as a playground. Added to this, we have a fiscal oversight board imposed by the U.S. government, which 10 years on has continued to drive our country into misery and undermine our public university system. None of this would be possible without the complicity of a corrupt local government that maintains its power through lies, repression, fraud, and submission to the interests of those who seek to dispossess us of our land. Many people have come here today to denounce this criminal act. Some have done so while clinging to impossible dreams of colonial assimilation, bowing and scraping before the empire, begging for its attention. But the reality is that the only solution to our colonial condition is Freedom. It is our independence. It is the Constitution of the Republic of Puerto Rico. Millions of Puerto Ricans, both within and outside the archipelago, continue to ask: How much suffering? How much injustice? How much more evidence does the United Nations need to shoulder its responsibility and return Puerto Rico to the list of colonized territories? How much longer will it overlook the fact that the U.S. is violating its international obligations by keeping Puerto Rico under a colonial regime in disguise. There is little point coming year after year to repeat a truth that you already know and continue to ignore, just as you have ignored the Palestinian genocide. Your inaction and silence make you complicit in imperial violence. Today, we once again demand that the international community call Puerto Rico's reality what it is: a colony. We demand that the government of the United States be held accountable for the crime that it continues to commit against our people. The time has come to act. Puerto Rico deserves justice. Thank you very much. Long live a free Puerto Rico.

I thank Mr. Cueles. I now invite Ms. Lia Filo-Mata to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor. Good morning.

My name is Lía Fiolmata, and I represent the organization Power for Puerto Rico. We are here to ask this committee an urgent, long-overdue question: Why has the General Assembly never considered your resolutions on Puerto Rico? Since 1972, this committee has issued more than 40 resolutions to decolonize Puerto Rico, yet none have been moved to a vote in the General Assembly. Year after year, we come to this hearing to no avail. Must we remind you that we were excluded from the 1898 Treaty of Paris, where two imperial powers decided Puerto Rico's fate according to their own interests? Must we remind you of the many ways the United States consistently violates Section 748 of Article 73 because we are not a self-governing territory? The USA is deceiving in how it portrays its relationship with Puerto Rico. Domestically, we have little to no power over important aspects of our lives, such as trade and immigration policies, public benefits, government budget and spending with the imposition of an unelected fiscal control board, and many more. For the USA, Puerto Rico belongs to but is not part of this country. According to Supreme Court cases that continue to legitimize our unequal treatment. Yet before the UN and the world, the USA argues that Puerto Rico's constitution is proof that we are self-governing and not a colony. The United States lies about our relationship, and its blatant misrepresentation must end. The USA's treatment of Puerto Rico has always been one —of imposition, domination, and control. Stemming from a military invasion, we have always been subjugated to the empire, used and abused, for example, to fight in U.S. wars, as guinea pigs in medical experimentation, and as a military outpost for U.S. war actions. This treatment is contrary to the principles of sovereignty and democracy upon which the UN was founded. As the oldest colony in the world, Puerto Rico is tired of being ignored. After waiting over 50 years for our matter to be heard in the General Assembly, it is time for you to act. We yearn for our country to be free from colonial rule, not by annexation to the empire that strangles us, but by charting our own path in the world. You must demand that our right to sovereignty be voted on in the General Assembly once and for all.

I thank Ms. Mata. I now invite Mr. Rafael Oliveira Citron to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please. Microphone, please, for the petitioner. Thank you. Please proceed.

Hello. Thank you. Can I reset the timer?

Uh, can we start the timer over, please? Thank you.

All right.

No se puede. You can't wake up before you dream. Just for a moment, dream of a free Puerto Rico that is truly yours. One where the sun warms you, lights your home without electricity shortages preventing you from reading. One where Tommy can graduate and doesn't have to move away, where his smile and ambition to thrive are not lost. One where there is no lack of water where beaches belong to the people. One where our crops sway in the fields and abundance fills your dining room. One where an egg doesn't cost the price of a house and where people can both buy food and refrigerate it. One where we live happily and healthily in a land shared with our families and our culture, where we can hear the music of our prosperity carried on the air. It's our dream to wake up and see the sun. Let us Let's not allow them to take away our duty and our opportunity to live. Land and housing. What you're imagining isn't the American dream. This is the Puerto Rican dream. It is yours. It is ours. And it belongs to no one else. A Puerto Rican identity that represents us in all of our aspirations in life, governance, the economy, health, food, everything, developing our ability to solve problems and in the process building our own Foundation of support. My name is Rafael Oribe La Cintrón. Thank you, committee, for the opportunity to speak.

Even though you supposedly united to end colonialism by organizing this committee 54 years ago, us Puerto Ricans have been the ones needing to come together to solve our colonial crisis because your empty words, 43 resolutions in without action, have led us to ruin. While the news reflects how this institution bends regularly to the pressures of powers around them, we don't. Porque somos boricuas. Our strength is not our unity of strategy, rather our strategy of unity. And while we take time from our jobs to come here and say the same things every year, it feels like you are too scared to do your job and fully execute on the task of decolonizing the Earth's oldest colony. Yes, we understand that Puerto Rico has a right to self-determine, that we have been abandoned, neglected, sanctioned, displaced, priced out, and legally enslaved. Yes, we understand that Wall Street and fiscal control boards should not govern our public services. We understand that developers with international banks should not buy our protected nature reserves from mega-billion-dollar tax havens like Ascensia. We understand that our local government should not then go pass laws that limit our speech to allow them to buy that land, like PC-25 and 310. We understand that our cost of living should not be tied to our inability to trade with other countries. And we understand that you should not be allowing our most corrupt politicians to come and speak on behalf of the Puerto Rican people. ¿Qué vas a hacer? What else are you going to do about it? How are you going to hold the U.S. accountable? How are you going to help us fulfill the Puerto Rican dream?

Por eso le hablo a ustedes. That's why today I primarily speak to my own people here, because this chamber is not going to resolve our problems for us. We must take responsibility for our own destiny, build our own path, and walk it at the same time. May this message reach all of those who eat mofongo, tostones, and roast pork, who want to bury the pitorro in the ground without having to hide from the realities of living as a colony.

I thank Mr. Rafael Citron. I now invite Miss Claire Belle Avila to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor, please.

Two months ago, House Bill PC-310 was signed into law. This law denies the people their legal rights by allowing further development on the island. This represents more environmental disasters, economic discrimination, increased displacement, and a declaration that the opinion of the people is worth nothing. We don't believe that the reason the island of Puerto Rico is facing a level of poverty is a direct result of the policies imposed by the United States. If a law of this magnitude were to be proposed here, it would be framed as an affront to human rights. However, the corrupt government of Puerto Rico was able to pass it without the will of the people. But my story shows me that people didn't— my people did not give up. For more than 500 years, we've resisted cultural death, and in the last 2 years, we've resisted Proyecto Esencia through a struggle for life for both our citizens and our environmental environment. My name is Claribel Avila. I'm the daughter of two colonial migrants from Ladis. As a part of the diaspora, I understand that the disconnection I feel from my ancestral land where my grandparents are buried was intentionally designed by an empire that fears the power of our culture. The time has come to reconnect with that unbreakable culture Above all, it's time to dream. It's not enough to loudly reject the empire. We must reconnect with the Puerto Rican dream, a dream that is absurd in its vastness, as ambitious as the Puerto Rican people themselves, a future so rich, so inspiring that it becomes irresistible to join in building toward that future. It is necessary to exercise our creativity and begin to see the world not as the colonizers have painted it, painted it, impossible to change, but rather what it can be. So I ask you, what is the Puerto Rico of your dreams? How do you see it through your senses? For me, Puerto Rico is the Caribbean sun caressing my skin. It is the smell of alcapurrias freshly fried by my grandmother. It can be heard through the sound of dominoes when capicú is played, and in the laughter when we play together as a family. After decades of bearing witness to our struggle before this committee, one thing is very clear to me: only the people can save the people. The diaspora plays an important role. No matter who you are, Puerto Rico is yours, and Puerto Rico needs you and needs us to dream. Long live free Puerto Rico.

I thank Miss Claribel Avila. I now invite Mr. Michael Vera to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Colonialism is not merely a historical condition, it is a present situation that corrupts the decisions that affect the colonized. We reject their crock of lies. They want everything privatized and we're getting ostracized. These highest bidders are critters laughing all the way to Bank. Have you heard of the latest escándalo involving Politanc, founded by this guy named Frank, Francisco Dominic, who was hired by Governor Jago, scheming for the rich. She's the head of the class while he's— she's the head of the class in the school of epic fail. He's her chief of staff making rules. Follow the trail. Another year we see a monopoly, no democracy. I want my people to be free with sovereignty and integrity. All across Puerto Rico, the people been organizing. The government's antagonizing with propaganda advertising, calling us los pelúes that are causing revolú. But I got some news, no nos vamos.

They're not going to leave us. They won't leave us behind. I blue.

Their desperation is obvious. They're imploding from within. All the statehood lobbyists are from the same engine. PNP, PPD, vote for PC3D. So now the Senate floor is doing more to ensure violations of our coast to the shore, for they'll ignore a community that can't afford the price to retort and report a case in the court. In short, they have cemented their demented incentives to favor the rich in our port. We demand accountability. They have no credibility. En el tesillo, they give out permits for the construction that leads to the destruction of our land and the erasure of our gente en Puerto Rico. Wannabe Anglo-Saxons are forcing the displacement. They're blatant with their actions, endorsing manipulation. They're constantly engañando and shamelessly bambeteando. Using religion to further division, but the people are despertando. They're allowed to run amok as long as they keep us stuck under the thumb. They suck because they don't give a truck filled with water due to the ruptured aqueduct. Neglected structures collapsing while USA hosts the World Cup. They play dumb while keeping the pueblo dependent on crumbs. While the foreigners come, they drinking our rum and they stealing our land and our funds. They want us on our knees to bow down and salute to the operation boot in a suit that continues to loot. From New York to El Morro, no ha proyecto esencia. Ojo en Cabo Rojo, esto es nuestra herencia. El padre de la patria me dijo, no te canses.

The father of our homeland said, don't tire.

Tito Rafael wrote the song Preciosa before Benito had us yelling, acho, pero eres otra cosa. The duty of Puerto Ricans is to defend and protect. We can't claim to be Boricua and accept the disrespect.. It's that feeling that we get. It's that pride that we project. We might sing off-key, but it's those lyrics. It's what those lyrics, those lyrics represent.

Preciosa te llaman los hijos de la libertad.

¡Que viva Puerto Rico libre!

I thank, I thank Mr. Vera. I thank the petitioner. I now invite Mr. Maximo Riviera Lopez to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair, distinguished members of the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations. My name is Maximino Rivera López, and I come before you on behalf of our nation and in my capacity as President of the Committee on the Diaspora of The Puerto Rican Independence Party. For more than 125 years, Puerto Rico has been subjected to colonial domination by the United States, suffering a political status which is in all regards intolerable and is incompatible with the most basic principles of democracy and human rights. The US Congress Commonwealth continues to exercise plenary powers over our nation, dictating our laws, controlling our international trade, and block— blocking our full development. The myth of the so-called self-government of the Commonwealth has been fully revealed through the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Sanchez Valle case and through the imposition of the PROMESA Act by the Congress. Through this harmful law, the United States imposed a fiscal control board that is dictatorial, which is not elected by the Puerto Rican people, which operates as a collecting agency for Wall Street Wall Street at the cost— while imposing devastating austerity measures. Under this colonial yoke, the average family income in Puerto Rico has stalled at just $25,000 per year, just one-third of the U.S. average. This profound economic and social crisis has led to a massive exodus forcing hundreds of thousands of our compatriots to leave their land in quest for their survival, joining the queues of the diaspora that I join here— ranks of the diaspora that I represent here. We recognize that since 1992, this special committee has issued annual resolutions reaffirming, constantly reaffirming, the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence. Nonetheless, the persistence of this indignant colonial paradox means that we need to take one step further. It's not enough to make statements. It is essential for the international community step up the diplomatic pressure on the United States. Our country cannot continue to be treated as a territory where the consent of governors is null and void and whether citizens are used as a disguise for the subordination. Maintaining a colony in the Caribbean in the midst of the 21st century is a moral stain on any nation that self-proclaims itself.

I thank Mr. Lopez. I thank Mr. Lopez. I now— thank you, sir. Thank you. I now— thank you. I now recognize and invite Ms. Sonia Santiago Hernandez to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor, please. Thank you.

Distinguished members of the Special Committee on Decolonization, please receive the warm greetings from Madres Against War, Mothers Against War, which is a pacifist organization founded in Puerto Rico in 2003 by mothers of Puerto Rican soldiers. We denounce that colonialism suffered by Puerto Rico is not only seen through the lack of —of political and economic sovereignty, but also a profound and persistent militarization of our territory and our society. For 128 years of U.S. domination, Puerto Rico has been used as a strategic enclave for military operations in the Caribbean and Latin America. Our archipelago has served to establish military bases, training camps, belligerent maneuvers and geopolitical operations for the United States that has served interests outside the will of our people. Military installations have been built affecting communities, limiting the use of land, and conditioning the socioeconomic and cultural development of our nation. We denounce the military presence of the U.S. and the use of Puerto Rico as a platform for regional operations, such as the invasion of Venezuela on the 3rd of January. Thousands of Puerto Ricans are currently in military— in the military service. They find an alternative there. This decision is being conditioned by poverty and inequality more than by true will. More than 200,000 Puerto Ricans have been— have fought wars on behalf of the U.S. Many have come home physically and emotionally sick. We demand the promotion of environmental cleaning for areas affected by military activities to address the health of those affected and also the veterans, and for us to reject any use of Puerto Rico as a platform for military operations or interventions in kindred countries in the Caribbean, such as Cuba, Latin America, or any other region in the world. Maternity is love and military is death. The end of military bases in Puerto Rico. Long live Puerto Rico.

I thank Miss Hernandez. I thank Miss Hernandez. I now invite Miss Annette Falcon to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor, please.

Thank you very much.

Bueno día. Good afternoon. My name is Annette Falcon. This is the third year that I come to the UN committee. The first time that I spoke here, many saw that I— we could have a fourth option, because being a U.S. citizen without dignified representation in Washington and with a law that is affecting us has devastated us. All Puerto Ricans know that we do not want to continue being a colony of anyone. In the 128 years, Puerto Rico has not become a state, and it will not be one. The current status of the Commonwealth isn't a state, it is an associated state, because what the United States is— what they say is what they have done. Independence without a robust plan to overcome failure will not happen. What we need is to consolidate the political party that we want to build to ensure that we could be the 18th autonomous community of Spain. Puerto Ricans know that we have always had a cultural reality that we share with Spain, that that's never gone away until we had our own government, and it will not until we have our own government with them. Um, we still continue to see, uh, Spanish influences on— in our culture, in them, in the mass, and on our dining tables. We continue to see the cries of our heart. Let us remember— let Spain remember Puerto Rico. This isn't a romanticism of the past, as some claim. Spain is our day-to-day— from— it is a It's a story that remains living in Puerto Rico. When we talk about reunification with Spain, we're not talking about conquering it or going backwards. The question shouldn't be whether Puerto Rico can become Spanish again. The true question is whether we are ready to recognize that many aspects— in many aspects, we've never stopped being Spanish. For this reason, I respectfully say to the government of Spain and to His Majesty King Felipe VI to restore Spanish nationality to Puerto Ricans who are requesting it. We want to go home. 128 years.

An official plebiscite is in order. Let's make Puerto Rico Spain again. Ole!

Well, it's better than being a colonist.

I thank Ms. Falcon. I now invite Mr. José Proventud. Mr. José Proventud to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor.

Members of the committee, my name is Jové Póventud. I'm from Guayama, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico overwhelmingly decided in March of 1898 that it wanted to be independent or did not want to be Anglo-Saxon. During the war with the United States, one of the key negotiators of the Treaty of Paris, 1898, was Whitelaw Reid, editor, director, and owner of the New York Tribune. He said, and I quote, "These islands—Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam, and the Philippines—should be permanently governed as colonies, always excluding the most remote idea of allowing them, admitting them, to the federal union." Article 9 of the Paris Treaty deprived unilaterally Puerto Ricans of their Spanish citizenship. Citizenship without consulting the population of the island. Documents of the negotiations conserved in the Library of Congress show that Spain, Spain gave up under intense military and diplomatic pressure. The regent queen opposed tenaciously but did not obtain any results. After having been Puerto Rico autonomous territory and part and parcel of the Spanish kingdom, the United States degraded it into a colony, an extraction colony, as Mr. Reed requested. In 1900 began scholar doctrina— school doctrination hidden under a project of literacy with the purpose of promoting a separate identity from our Spanish tradition. We were separated from Spain without being consulted. Today, 128 years later, we request that you permit us to consider all alternatives of decolonization, including the reintegration with Spain. Today I come here as a representative of a legitimate and necessary alternative because it is a force that is constantly growing that under any— under no pretext can be negated as a right to— as a decolonizing option. We respect other options, but we don't agree with them. We've been denied statehood for for 120 years for reasons that continue to be for insular states. To deny the reintegration with Spain to prevent Puerto Ricans fully exercise— is to prevent Puerto Ricans from fully exercising their inalienable right to self-determination. We request this committee that delegates from the Kingdom of Spain, United States, and Puerto Rico meet and reach an agreement tripartite agreement that the Spanish Parliament extends Spanish nationality as an option to all Puerto Ricans with ancestors that were born before 1898, that the reunification of Spain be included in a future referendum of self-determination. There will be full— there won't be self-determination without reintegration. As politically, if we're Spanish politically, we'll be Spanish in spirit. Long live Puerto Rico, long live Spain. Spain, and long live the King. Thank you.

I thank Mr. Proventud. I now invite Mr. Hadoro Sare to address the committee. Sir, you have the floor, please. Mr. Sare.

Yes, honorable chair, distinguished member of the special committee. Excellencies and respected delegates, thank you for the opportunity to address the United Nations Committee on Decolonization during this important meeting concerning Puerto Rico. My name is Harold Rosario. I appear before you as the United States' extended congressional delegate for Puerto Rico and also as the founder and CEO of SpaceSys, an aerospace and defense company with entity and partnership across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the United States of America. I speak today with deep respect for the people of Puerto Rico, for the principles of the United Nations, and for the longstanding commitment of this committee to the dignity, equality, and self-determination of all people. Puerto Rico's political status has remained unresolved for far too long. For generations, the people of Puerto Rico have lived under a political arrangement that affects their democratic representation, economic development, disaster recovery, public health, education, infrastructure, and long-term future. These are not abstract issues. They affect families, communities, students, workers, and future generations. The central issue before us is simple but profound: the people of Puerto Rico deserve a clear, fair, democratic, and internationally respected path to determine and implement their political future. Any meaningful solution must be rooted in the will of the Puerto Rican people, expressed through a transparent and legitimate process, and followed by concrete action. The people of Puerto Rico have voted multiple times in favor of statehood. Their will has been expressed through democratic participation, and that will deserve to be respected. In my view, statehood is the best path forward because it offers full equality, full democratic representation, and a permanent place for Puerto Rico within the American constitutional family. For this reason, the question of Puerto Rico should not remain a repeated annual discussion without meaningful progress. The voices of the Puerto Rican people deserve not only to be heard, but to be respected and acted upon. I therefore respectfully urge this committee to work with the United States and international partners in good faith to help ensure that the democratically expressed will of the Puerto Rican people become a reality. I ask this committee to support meaningful action towards statehood and to call for a fair, transparent, and binding process through which Puerto Rico's chosen future will be respected and implemented. This matter is not only about political status. It is about fairness. It is about human dignity. It's about the right of a people to participate fully in shaping their own future. Self-determination should not be a slogan. Equality should not be postponed. Democracy should not be incomplete. I hope that today's discussion will contribute to real progress, not only through words, but through meaningful steps forwards. Puerto Rico deserves clarity. Puerto Rico deserves equality. Puerto Rico deserves action. Thank you for your attention.

I thank Mr. Serré. I now recognize and invite Mr. Manuel Francisco O'Neill to address the committee. Mr. O'Neill, you have the floor, please.

I speak on behalf of the Vermont-Puerto Rico Solidarity Committee. The abolitionist Frederick Douglass, when expressing his sentiments on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence to Black Americans, acknowledged that while the document recognized that all men were were born free and equal and possessed certain inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The truth in practice was that many persons remained enslaved. He conceded that the authors of the Declaration of Independence were learned men worthy of recognition, but they were not perfect or without sin, and that the aspirations expressed within the Declaration's text needed to be extended to all persons. The U.S. Declaration of Independence, influenced by the governance practices of the Hondasani Confederacy and authored by an elite class of colonial settlers, later turned independentistas, rejected colonialism, and later created a constitutional rule-based governance system with three co-equal branches of government, a Bill of Rights, and the guarantee of due process and equal protection to all persons, and codified the principles that government and its agents derive their powers from the governed, the people. Puerto Ricans understand the sentiments expressed in the Declaration, as we are not strangers to the dynamics of colonialism, a system that for the sake of profit has exploited labor, expropriates natural resources, subjugates peoples and cultures, impoverishes the majority of people, criminalizes resistance, imprisons the resister, and steals from the perpetrator and the victim their humanity. And neither are we unpracticed in the struggle to rid ourselves of an external power that prevents us from organizing ourselves for the purpose of self-government. For more than 530 years, we have struggled through various means to establish a governance system democratically organized and beholding exclusively to the will of the Puerto Rican people. Like Frederick Douglass, we too are conflicted. Acquired by the United States without our consent, we remain in possession of but not an integrated part of the United States. U.S. citizenship was imposed upon us, but we have no representation in the U.S. Senate or meaningful representation in the U-House, in the United States House of Representatives, and we are not eligible to vote for U.S. president. In 1952, the Estado Libre Asociado granted Puerto Rico autonomy with regards to internal matters, but its constitution, laws, and jurisprudence had to conform with those of the United States. We have participated in, to no meaningful end, status plebiscites which run contrary to the truth enumerated in both the U.S. and U.N. declarations. Requires us to again suffer the indignity of having to vote as to whether we want to be free, and which only obfuscates, delays, and thwarts an otherwise simple process by which colonized people or enslaved persons free themselves from colonialism and bondage. And for more than—

I thank Mr. O'Neill. I now— I thank Mr. O'Neill. I now invite Mr. Walter Alomar to address the committee. Mr. Alomar, you have the floor, please. Thank you.

My name is Walter Gualterio Alomar. I appear before this committee to address a common argument against Puerto Rico's independence, that Puerto Rico could not survive economically as a sovereign nation. The facts tell a different story. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Puerto Rico's gross domestic product exceeds $113 billion annually. That is a larger economy than dozens of independent nations including Jamaica, Iceland, and the Bahamas. Puerto Rico is not a poor nation. Puerto Rico is a nation whose economic potential is constrained by a colonial relationship. Puerto Rico currently imports 85% of its food. According to the agricultural experts and the— Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture, the island has the capacity to significantly increase local food production. Reducing food imports by just 20% would keep $1.3 billion circulating within the local economy instead of sending that money overseas. Puerto Rico is a global manufacturing center. The pharmaceutical and medical device industry can generate $50 billion in economic activity annually. Puerto Rico manufactures many of the medicines consumed throughout the United States and remains is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical production hubs. Yet Puerto Rico cannot negotiate its own trade agreements with Europe, Latin America, Africa, or Asia. Every independent nation that has that right, Puerto Rico does not. Tourism provides another example. Puerto Rico receives approximately 4 to 5 million visitors annually. By comparison, the Dominican Republic receives more than 10 million visitors and generates billions in tourism revenue. With full control over its tourism policies and international promotion, that sector could expand dramatically and generate $3 to $4 billion a year. The Puerto Rican diaspora is another major asset. More than 5 million Puerto Ricans live in the United States and abroad, sending home over $4 billion annually. Their investments, business relationships, and professional expertise represent a powerful engine for economic development similar to what has occurred in nations such as Ireland and Israel. Puerto Rico is also burdened by the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, known as the Jones Act. Studies have found that shipping restrictions increase transportation costs and the price of consumer goods on the island. Independent economists estimate that this costs the island $1.5 billion every year that could be used for education, healthcare, or infrastructure. This discussion is simply not about economics. There are 193 members of states in the United Nations. Most govern themselves successfully. Many possess fewer natural resources, less industrial capacity, and smaller economies than Puerto Rico. A free Puerto Rico could gain between $15 and $30 billion in new economic activity within the first decade. The issue is whether the Puerto Rican people will finally be allowed to exercise their internationally recognized right to self-determination and determine their own political future. Puerto Rico seeks what the United Nations has long recognized as the rights of all people: the freedom to govern themselves. ¡Que viva Puerto Rico libre!

I thank, I thank Mr. Alomar. I now invite Mr. Hector Torres Diaz to address the committee. Mr. Diaz, you have the floor, please.

My presentation will demonstrate an arithmetic process It'll be a way of refuting some of the falsehoods promoted. But before continuing, just a reminder, annexation takes place when a state takes by force a foreign territory. That is illegal under international law. And any request on this point point would be invalid. The United States has already rejected statehood. Now, plebiscites have never demonstrated a mandate. It is an obfuscation of reality. This is why we briefly analyze each one. If we look at the first referendum on the 1903, then annexation was not considered as a status. Independence won by some 800 votes. Next, another referendum didn't take place until 1967 because those who were in favor of annexation were not able to prove a popular mandate because barely 38% of the people participated in the vote. So independence had modest results, but we have to recall that at the time, the Mordassa Law criminalized independence. Looking at the end of the 20th century, in 1993 and 1998, 73% and 71% of the electorate basically just threw away the voting ballot. Independence won, but by barely. Lastly, lastly, there was in the last referendum, if we look at the real participation, annexation never won. In 2012, 67% of the voters participated, and the independence one had only some 40-something percent. The reader is— the speaker is reading too fast to be able to interpret. And the latest referendums were not very convincing either. In 2024, the process with the most errors, its validity was questioned due to inconsistencies in the vote. And 11% was for independence, 30% was for associated republic, and a large percentage were blank votes. And so the vote— comments saying that statehood provides dignity to my people is an oxymoron.

Ensuring colonialism is not dignity, it is extermination.

Muchísimas gracias por su tiempo, estimado. Thank you for your time, committee.

I thank, I thank Mr. Torres Diaz. May I remind petitioners to— may I remind the participants to speak at a reasonable pace to facilitate the work of the interpreters and to ensure that your message is communicated. Thank you for that cooperation. I now invite Mr. Ouslaude Rousseau to address the committee. You have the floor, sir, please.

Merci. Bonsoir. Thank you. Good evening to everyone, particularly the chair of the committee. Speaking on behalf of the organization Struggling People Organization of Haiti, Through major social changes and as part of a lengthy history of foreign intervention, Haiti has fought for self-determination. The collapse in Haiti, the growing pressure on Cuba, and the renewed appeals for the independence of Puerto Rico demonstrate this common heritage. Haiti is facing a grave crisis. Democratic institutions that are weakened, diminished authority of the state, and the control of vast territories of the country by criminal groups.

Can I remind the participant to limit your statement to the issue pertaining to the territory under consideration? In this instance, it is Puerto Rico. I would like to allow you to make your statement, but you must limit it to the item under consideration. Thank you. Please proceed.

El Duane, there must be an inclusive political dialogue conducted by Haitians themselves aimed at establishing democratic institutions and public security and to promote economic recovery. In parallel, tensions related to to Cuba due to the recent threats by the American administration lead to concerns in the region. The political status of Puerto Rico remains a central issue of justice and representation. Over more than a century, an island is a territory not incorporated into the United States, which limits its federal representation and restricts its economic autonomy. Supporting the self-determination of Puerto Rico means recognizing the right of its population to choose its political future by freeing itself from colonialism. Independence will allow the island to manage its resources, to conduct an independent commercial policy, and preserve its unique cultural identity at the international stage. The challenges of Haiti and Puerto Rico demonstrate a broader regional need for autonomy, equality, and respect. Supporting a stable and prosperous Haiti as well as an independent Puerto Rico will—

Please limit your contribution to the item under consideration. If not, I would have to invite the next Speaker. This would be the final time, I would say so.

Thank you. True progress requires listening to local voices, supporting endogenous solutions, and to be committed to policies promoting equality and democratic freedoms. Long live Haiti, long live Puerto Rico. Thank you.

I thank Mr. Russo. I now invite Ms. Annette Marie Martinez Orobona to address the committee. Madam, you have the floor, please.

Saludos y muchas gracias. Greetings.

Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you to the committee for maintaining this item Puerto Rico on its agenda as a priority item. And all these years demanding once again that the United States to fulfill its international obligations and respect the right to self-determination of Puerto Ricans, this year in particular is important that the committee once again denounces the actions of the United States that instead of putting an end to the colonial project has deepened the political, social, environmental subjugation of our country. United States only— not only occupies illegally Puerto Rico, but it makes us accomplices in its expansionist projects in Puerto Rico. In spite of the demands of all of Puerto Rico against the presence— military presence and the pollution of our land and damaging of our health, instead of— instead of providing reparation for the damage, the United States has begun a process of remilitarization, converting us into floating military bases. It plans and operates and commits international crimes, such as illegal attacks against boats in the Caribbean that have led to the death of some 211 people this year, including fishers. We reject for the United States to continue using us as a colony to conduct criminal actions. We demand this committee condemn these actions, not only as an international crime, but also because they're— we're being used to carry them out. Likewise, we denounce the imposition on Puerto Rico of a racist policy promoted by President Trump and facilitated by our Governor Jennifer González that that persecutes immigrants that are members of our communities, in particular from poor neighborhoods, working-class neighborhoods, Puerta de Tierra and other neighborhoods, that are— they're persecuted and abused by the United States, in particular persons of Dominican origin and Haitian origin. A racist policy, discriminatory policy that separates families, abandons children, and uses torture in detention centers, including— we denounce the policies of President Trump and his colonial imposition in Puerto Rico, and we denounce the local government as an accomplice. Distinguished members of the committee, we're at a critical time. The actions of the United States in Puerto Rico demonstrate that their intention is to continue to exploiting the island. The imposition of the The Federal Fiscal Control Board has dismantled our public services and has promoted foreign interests over our essential services such as access to drinking water. Well, the board continues to cost millions of dollars from our public budget. It is a foreign imposition. It has to be dismantled. Puerto Rico needs is a process of decolonization that is just, that provides reparations. The microphone is switched off.

I thank, I thank Ms. Orobano. Given the time constraints, we will hear from one more speaker before taking the lunch break, and then we will break break for the lunch period. We will resume this afternoon after this speaker to hear the remaining speakers for the day, but we will have one more speaker for today, and that speaker is Miss Eva Prado. Madam, you have the floor, please.

My name is Eva Prado, General Coordinator of Victoria Citizen Victory Movement. We are the only political party in Puerto Rico established by people who believe different options that are non-colonial and decolonial, that to achieve decolonization is essential to have an informed, participatory, democratic process and binding process with the United States, pursuant to international law. The eradication of colonialism is a priority goal of the United Nations, and it is urgent for us to accelerate the implementation— its implementation, the full of the fourth decade for the eradication of colonialism. This is why we're here, to join the voices who respectfully request this committee to recommend the inclusion of decolonization of Puerto Rico for approval by the General Assembly. Our people survives under a regime of colonial subordination and lacking sovereignty. This has been reaffirmed by the judicial actions and decisions, legislative ones and executive ones of North America. This on the 30th of June, we commemorating another decade since the Promesa Law, which was enacted in 2016 pursuant to its territorial clause of its constitution. And that the Congress can issue all rules and regulations regarding the territory and other properties of the United States, and including the Fiscal Support Control Board. My people for the past 10 years has been under the power control unilateral and authoritarian control, the only similar to military juntas, a junta, a board that decides what to do with our money, with our education, security, housing. We live from crisis to crisis in order to pay a debt that cannot be unpayable. We're also subjecting thousands of retired people to poverty. The United Nations Agenda Demands that we put an end to colonialism as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our people deserves a true process of self-determination. This is why we demand a constitutional assembly as a way of achieving a process that is informed, participatory, democratic, and then its results be binding for the United States. Our people deserves reparations for all the damage caused by colonialism, starting from the debt, economic underdevelopment, militarism, and environmental damage. It will not be possible to achieve the end of colonialism while people such as people of Puerto Rico and other territories of the United States do not exercise their right to self-determination. Thank you.

We have heard. I thank Miss Prado. We have heard the last petitioner for this meeting as we have exhausted the time available to us this morning. The committee will reconvene this afternoon at 3 PM sharp in this conference room to hear the remaining petitioners. Continue its consideration of this item and take action on draft resolution L.7, which has been uploaded on the C24 ePlace and which is also available on the UN Digital Library. This meeting is adjourned.