message from José M López Sierra of [www.TodosUnidosDescolonizarPR.blogspot.com]
My petition to the United Nations
To see it on video, click here (set to 26 minutes) [http://bcove.me/38w2l50g].
My name is José Manuel López Sierra, a recently retired teacher, and an eternal history student of the oldest colony in the world, Puerto Rico (PR).
I watched last year’s hearing on the United Nation (UN)’s webcast, because it is not broadcast on PR Television. I decided to write a blog named Compañeros Unidos para la Descolonización de Puerto Rico. Its purpose is to educate and involve the world in this subject. The blog has received over 3,400 visitors from around the world. The majority has been from the empire herself.
The motivation for the blog was the poor attendance at the hearing. Colonialism should be repugnant to democracy! Where were we?
We need to publicize and broadcast this hearing on radio and television all over the world. This would generate the international solidarity critically needed to get the United States (US) to decolonize. I’ve been promoting this hearing worldwide for the last 9 months.
A colony is obtained for the sole benefit of an empire. The motivation is exploitation, which is why she is obtained by force. Colonialism is incompatible to the concepts of equality among people or justice for all. An empire will keep her colony until she is forced to free her. This is what history tells us!
During our history, the US has used terrorism to perpetuate her control. The Ponce Massacre of 1937 and the more recent assassination of Filiberto Ojeda Rios in 2005 are excellent examples. A current great example is the US government’s insistence of keeping incarcerated for over 31 years our partner and political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. The message is clear. “If you want decolonization, the same will happen to you!” The “speak softly and carry a big stick” policy continues!
Decolonization is under international jurisdiction. Most Puerto Ricans don’t know that. The US has successfully convinced Puerto Ricans that it is domestic, so that she could control political outcomes. That, however, would be like asking slave owners to free their own slaves!
We must decolonize via the UN. To continue the fallacy that it could be done using US laws would be condemning Puerto Ricans to colonialism forever. The empire would obviously continue to divide us through her absolute power. What motivation does she have to decolonize? Wasn’t it she who entered into this relationship by forced in the first place?
The fact that PR has a lot of political parties proves that we have believed the jurisdiction lie. Why would we need even one party? The only thing that we achieve with every new party is divide us even more! “I will support any decision that the Porto Rican people make” is what every US president says. Who does that benefit?
We have to put PR back on the UN list of colonies. To continue to keep her off only helps to hide this crime! Furthermore, problems are never solved with lies. What justification is there to leave out the most populated and oldest colony in the world? We must call things by their names if we want to be part of the solution, and not convert ourselves into part of the problem.
We are the only ones who have the right to self-determination and independence. We need to talk amongst ourselves to decide what we want, without any outside influence and interference. No one who really believes in democracy should fear this ponderous deliberation. PR should be, and must be, what the majority of Puerto Ricans, both here and abroad, want her to be. Those who have a problem with this don’t believe in democracy!
We must admit that we have helped colonialism. We have permitted to be lied to about the domestic jurisdiction, and we have helped deceive the world that we are a democracy every time we erroneously participate in PR elections and plebiscites. How is it possible to be a democracy and a colony at the same time? That is not “the best of both worlds!” That is lunacy!
Is the UN ready for this historic challenge? She can not support democratic processes around the world if she herself does not have the tools to do so. She will need to be able enforce approved resolutions. If not, injustice will continue to threaten world peace, and our very reason for being.
Thank you for this opportunity, and I offer you my collaboration in eradicating this crime against humanity. I am convinced, as Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is that we will need everyone’s involvement to get the job done, as we did in Nuremberg after World War II. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expressed eloquently what should be our North Star, when he said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
"Honor our political prisoner Oscar López Rivera"
2014-06 message from José M López Sierra of [www.TodosUnidosDescolonizarPR.blogspot.com]:
Now that our First Oscar – Mandela March in Puerto Rico was successful, we can look forward to an even bigger success with our First Oscar Mandela Protest in New York City. This year, The New York City Puerto Rican Day Parade, a week before our protest, will honor our political prisoner Oscar López Rivera.
On Monday, June 23, 2014, the United Nations (UN) will be discussing again Puerto Rico’s colonial relationship with the United States. The UN is in its third decade trying to eradicate colonialism from the world, because of the belief that it constitutes a threat to world peace. Since this date is a week later than usual, our committee decided to have 2 protests this year.
On the Monday, June 16, 2014, the day after Fathers’ Day, we will have our first protest in the park across from the UN on 46th Street and First Avenue from 8 AM to 6 PM to show the world that we too believe that colonialism is a crime against humanity. On the same day of the hearing, Monday June 23, we will have the second one. We will have a press conference in New York City to inform the public of the latest details of these event. We will need as many people at the protest as possible to make the government of the United States (US) comply with the 32 UN resolutions asking the US to decolonize immediately Puerto Rico. After this many resolutions, it is obvious that the US does not want to.
President Obama recently showed the government of the United States’ hypocrisy about human rights. In his memorial ceremony speech, he had only praise for Nelson Mandela. He, however, has refused, despite the enormous pressure from Puerto Rico and the rest of the world, to release from prison Oscar López Rivera who is doing exactly what Mandela did. Oscar has already spent 6 more years in prison than the 27 that Mandela served. The US is happy when other countries decolonize their colonies, but the US wants to keep hers. What kind of democracy is this? Obviously, those who have colonies don’t believe in justice for all.
Please tell your friends about this important protest for Oscar López Rivera’s release from prison, and to achieve what he has spent his life on, the decolonization of Puerto Rico.
We will have a sheet of paper so that whoever who wants to get involved in the planning of this yearly permanent event in New York City can provide us with your contact information. If you wish, you can also email me right now at jlop28vislophis@yahoo.com.
We look forward to greeting old and new partners in our struggle to provide real justice for all!
Because, rights are not requested, they are demanded!
WALL ST: HANDS OFF PUERTO RICAN WORKERS’ PENSIONS!
Make the Rich Pay!
Wall St. bankers have ordered the government of Puerto Rico, a U.S. colony, to do away with government workers' pensions. The Puerto Rican teachers union held a two-day strike in January to protest this banker-driven austerity.
To put more pressure on Puerto Rican workers, Wall St. just downgraded Puerto Rico's credit status to junk bond status. On Fri., Feb. 7 the Puerto Rican Supreme Court will rule on the legality of the attack on workers' pensions.
The Puerto Rican labor movement and progressive forces will be protesting on that day.
In solidarity with them, join with us on
Fri., Feb. 7 on Wall St. at 12 noon to also demand
‘WALL ST. HANDS OF PUERTO RICO’
Global solidarity between all workers is the key to victory.
Not true that there are 3 political status options for Puerto Rico
ReplyDeleteThe United States (US) government has made Puerto Ricans believe that there are 3 political status options for Puerto Rico. That is a lie. The purpose for that is to have Puerto Ricans fight amongst themselves. The plan has been a huge success! Puerto Rico has been a colony of the United States for 116 years, and judging by the 80% voter turnout in the colonial elections, the majority of us has not realized that we have been lied to.
In reality, there is only one option. The United Nations (UN) in 1960 determined that colonialism is a crime against humanity. Therefore, the only thing that Puerto Rico can do is to become her own nation. That means that the US must give Puerto Rico the sovereignty that the US illegally took away from her by virtue of the July 25, 1898 military invasion.
Thus far, the US government has ignored the 33 UN resolutions asking it to immediately decolonize Puerto Rico. Instead, it has tried to hide these petitions, and at the same time appear to believe in democracy by pushing for plebiscites so that Puerto Ricans could decide between colonialism, being a US state, or independence (decolonization as required by the UN).
The problem with the US pushed plebiscites are that they:
1. don’t comply with international law that prohibits a nation to have a colony.
2. don’t comply with international law that requires the empire to give the sovereignty it illegally took away to its colony.
3. don’t comply with international law that requires that to have free elections, that country must be free first.
4. have 2 options that are not permitted by international law- continuing being a colony and becoming a state of the country that has the colony. For the option of becoming a state of the country that has the colony to be considered, the colony must first become her own nation (decolonized).
This is why we have to peacefully protest 3 times a year until the US government complies with the UN resolutions for Puerto Rico decolonization.
José M López Sierra
www.TodosUnidosDescolonizarPR.blogspot.com
Should criminals be in charge of correcting the wrong they inflicted?
ReplyDeletePuerto Ricans vote in elections every 4 years at an 80% level of participation. Puerto Rico has been a colony of the United States (US) government for the past 116 years. If the US government has the final say in what happens in Puerto Rico, what is the purpose of these elections? The purpose is to fool the world that Puerto Rico is a democracy.
The United Nations (UN) declared colonialism a crime against humanity in 1960. The UN has asked the US government 33 times to decolonize Puerto Rico immediately. The US government has refused. It says that Puerto Rico’s political relationship with the United States is none of the UN’s business. The US says that it is a domestic affair.
To appear that the US government wants to decolonize Puerto Rico, it promotes the use of plebiscites to determine what Puerto Ricans want. Doesn’t that sounds innocent and democratic? So what’s the problem?
To begin with, the international community already rendered its verdict and determined that colonialism is illegal. So to have a political status option in a plebiscite that favors maintaining Puerto Rico a colony of the United States is not permitted. To have a political status option of Puerto Rico becoming a state of the United States is also not permitted under international law. The problem goes back to the beginning of this article. In order to have free elections, the country must be free. So before these elections and plebiscite could be valid, Puerto Rico would have to first be an independent nation.
What people must realize is that Puerto Rico is a colony of the US because the US government wants it that way. That is why it has used terrorism to keep it that way. That is why it refuses to release the Puerto Rican political prisoner of 33 years Oscar López Rivera. That is also why it is ridiculous to believe that decolonization is a US internal matter in which the UN has no jurisdiction over. If we allow the US government to decolonize Puerto Rico, she will remain a colony of the United States forever!
José M López Sierra
www.TodosUnidosDescolonizarPR.blogspot.com
Best 2015 UN Hearing Coverage about Puerto Rico
ReplyDeleteThe alternative news media, InformaciónAlDesnudo.com, will have the best coverage of the United Nations’ (UN) hearing about Puerto Rico’s 117 years of colonial relationship with the United States (US). This year’s hearing will be on Monday, June 22, 2015.
For 3 consecutive Saturdays (June 6, 13 and 20), InformaciónAlDesnudo.com will be giving its listeners the most comprehensive coverage in order to provoke the widest involvement of the people interested in this subject. We hope to encourage them to continuously work together, so that our decolonization could occur sooner rather than later.
The total delegation from Puerto Rico petitioning the UN’s Decolonization Committee will participate on the Saturday, June 20, 2015 program from 7 to 9 PM. These petitioners will share with our InformaciónAlDesnudo.com listeners what they will tell the Committee of 24. Our listeners will also have the opportunity to speak to our panelists to better understand what they hope to gain from their petitions at the UN.
The spokesperson for United Partners for the Decolonization of Puerto Rico, José M. López Sierra, is part of the team for these 3 special programs. In addition to the petition that he will make to the UN, he is part of the committee that organized the 2nd Oscar – Mandela March in NYC. José is also a correspondent in Puerto Rico for InformaciónAlDesnudo.com.
The 2nd Oscar – Mandela March in NYC will be on the same day as the UN’s hearing about Puerto Rico. We will march at 9 AM from Hunter College on 68th Street and Lexington Avenue to the Ralph Bunche Park across the Avenue from the UN.
Help us spread the word about the media coverage, and our peaceful march to force the US government to comply with the 33 UN resolutions to immediately decolonize Puerto Rico.
The UN determined that colonialism is a crime against humanity in 1960 for being a threat world peace. Therefore, UN is convinced that there could be no peace without justice. The US government knows that too, but it is much more interested in its overwhelmingly exaggerated profits around the world. That’s why we must continue to peacefully protest as long as necessary, because those who maintain colonies, don’t believe in justice for all!
Those who demand exaggerated profits around the world, don’t believe in justice for all!
Jose M Lopez Sierra
www.TodosUnidosDescolonizarPR.blogspot.com
787-429-1981
Why nobody broadcasts the PR UN hearings?
ReplyDeleteSince 1960, the United Nations (UN) determined democratically that colonialism is a crime against humanity, because of its threat to world peace. The UN was primarily founded to ensure world peace.
Since that time, the UN has emitted 34 resolutions asking the United States (US) government to immediately decolonize Puerto Rico. What has been its reaction?
The US government maintains that its political relationship with Puerto Rico is an internal affair. How is it be possible that an international crime be a matter that is solely under the jurisdiction of the one who committed the crime? That is called to have a conflict of interest? Under that pretext, the US government has ignored all of the UN’s resolutions.
The US government likes to support plebiscites to determine what political status Puerto Ricans on the island want. That sounds democratic, but in a careful analysis, its purpose is deceit. Why?
The UN has already said what the solution is 34 times. The solution is the immediate decolonization of Puerto Rico. What that means is that the US government needs to give Puerto Rico her sovereignty, so that she could decide for herself what she wants to do without any outside interference.
A plebiscite is totally unnecessary, because Puerto Rico is not, as a colony, free to decide anything. And besides, the only option for a colony is independence. The reason why the US government likes plebiscites is because it knows that the 8 million Puerto Ricans will continue to fight amongst ourselves. And in that way, Puerto Rico remains its colony forever.
The US government controls the United Nations. It has prohibited the UN from broadcasting live the annual Puerto Rico decolonization hearing to keep the world ignorant about the fact that Puerto Rico is a US colony. Not even the colonial government of Puerto Rico broadcasts live these hearing on its government radio and television stations. This is proof that it does not represent the People of Puerto Rico!
Last year, we tried without success to get the Monday, June 22, 2015 hearing broadcast live. We are still committed to this campaign for this year’s hearing. What have we done thus far?
1. We have sent a certified letter to the UN’s Secretary General asking him to broadcast this year’s hearing.
2. We have written to the majority of the ambassadors to the UN to petition the UN to broadcast live these hearings.
3. We have contacted the majority of the legislators of the colonial government of Puerto Rico to broadcast live the hearing on its government run radio and television stations.
4. We have sent 2 letters directly to the president of the Puerto Rico colonial government- run media stations requesting these hearings to be broadcasted live.
5. I have asked in my request this year to address the UN’s Decolonization Committee (C-24) that the C-24 consider the broadcasting live of this hearing via its WEBCAST.
What people do to help?
1. Those with the ability to move people could hold a press conference to insist that the UN and the Puerto Rico colonial government broadcast this year’s hearing.
2. The petitioners to this year’s hearing could also ask in their request letter that the hearing be broadcasted live.
3. You could write letters to the C-24 and the Puerto Rico colonial government indicating that you want to watch this year’s hearing live on television.
4. Join the “To the Town Square with Oscar Our National Hero”. See link for more information.
5. Find a way to have Oscar López Rivera be able to talk to us on the radio from prison.
We must do these things, because those who refuse to decolonize don’t believe in JUSTICE FOR ALL! www.TodosUnidosDescolonizarPR.blogspot.com