New York, 6 August 2020. Yesterday afternoon, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization adopted by consensus a decision concerning Puerto Rico. The text submitted days before by Cuba was co-sponsored by Antigua and Barbuda, the Republic of Nicaragua, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Russian Federation.
The text, inter alia, reaffirms the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence; reiterates that the Puerto Rican people is a Latin American and Caribbean nation with its own distinctive national identity; calls on the United States government to assume its responsibility to favor a process that enables the people of Puerto Rico to fully exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
It also recognized that in the context of the worsening of the economic and fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico, the current status prevents the Puerto Rican people from taking sovereign decisions to meet their needs and shape their future, especially to address the serious economic and social problems affecting them.
Likewise, the decision includes the concern of the imposition of a Fiscal Control Board on Puerto Rico by the United States Congress, which invoking the plenary powers of the Congress, under the Territorial Clause of its Constitution, exercises powers of control on officials and elected law-makers of the Puerto Rican government in matters related to fiscal, economic and budget matters, as well as everything concerning Puerto Rico´s public debt restructuring.
Due to the hygiene and health measures adopted by the United Nations in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee was unable to meet in person and hold, as usual, a general debate on the issue and its audience with Puerto Rican petitioners.
For the twenty-first consecutive time, the Special Committee on Decolonization adopts by consensus a resolution concerning Puerto Rico. Since 1972, Cuba submits this decision, which responds to its unequivocal commitment to the self-determination and independence of the brotherly people of Puerto Rico, based on a relationship of deep historical roots and a common struggle of more than a century.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations