French Polynesia Nuclear Victims Dubious About Commission

Testing victims skeptical of need for more hearings

 WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, May 25, 2015) – The head of an organisation representing victims of nuclear testing in French Polynesia says a commission set up to assess the aftermath of the testing could just be a charade.

It was set up by France's defence minister, and will be made up of 24 members and chaired by the French High Commissioner in Papeete.

The director of Moruroa e Tatou, which represents victims of testing on the atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa, says 80-percent of the members suffer serious health conditions, including cancer.

Roland Oldham is questioning why more more evidence is needed.

"Why more more and more commissions...isn't there enough proof now that it had a bad impact on the environment, and a bad impact on the health of polynesian people - itsn't it enough proof?"

He says they will make themselves heard.

"As far as we're concerned, we will be speaking with a very loud voice, because we have had enough of all these lies, of 40 years of lying, and if this commission's just for another lie, then it's just a waste of money and a waste of time."

New York March to free Oscar Lopez Rivera set for May 30

Compañeros Unidos para la Descolonización de Puerto Rico

Landmark lawsuit challenges experimental seabed mineral mining

Papua New Guinea Mine Watch

New Ocean Gold Rush Could Hurt Marine Life Before Impacts Are Known

The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. government today over its first-ever approval for large-scale deep-sea mining, a destructive project between Hawaii and Mexico that would damage important habitat for whales, sharks and sea turtles and wipe out seafloor ecosystems.

“Like mountaintop-removal coal mining, deep-sea mining involves massive cutting machines that will leave behind a barren landscape devoid of life,” said Emily Jeffers, the Center attorney who filed the case in federal district court in Washington DC.

“Deep-sea mining should be stopped, and this lawsuit aims to compel the government to look at the environmental risks before it leaps into this new frontier. We need to protect the ocean wildlife and habitat, and the United States should provide leadership for other nations to follow before more projects get underway.

”The lawsuit targets the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for issuing and renewing exploratory permits for the work before completing environmental impact studies required by federal law. This is the first major legal challenge to an emerging global industry that is seeking to extract gold, nickel, copper and other increasingly valuable metals and minerals from the seabed beneath international waters.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

Federashon di Futbol Bonairiano becomes 41st Member of Western Hemisphere's Football Federation

CONCACAF Club Licensing at work in Bonaire

(ABOVE) Attendees of the CONCACAF Club Licensing seminar in Bonaire put what they learned into practice during a local match between S.V. Uruguay and S.V. Flamingo at the Antonio Trinidad Stadium in Rincon on May 17, 2015.

CONCACAF: KRALENDIJK, Bonaire – May 19, 2015 - In 2014, the Federashon di Futbol Bonairiano (Bonairean Football Federation, FFB) became the 41st Member Association of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). Nestled in the southern Caribbean – in close proximity to Aruba and Curacao -- Bonaire is home to just under 20,000 inhabitants. It hosts millions of tourists from around the world seeking a spectacular beach vacation.

Similarly, the club football landscape is also exceptionally busy with a men’s first division, two senior men’s leagues (one for over 35 and one for over 50), and youth leagues from the under-9 to under-17 age groups (under-9 and under-11 rosters can contain boys and girls). Additionally, the FFB organizes regular grassroots festivals and works in partnership with local schools to organize boys’ and girls’ school leagues.

This past weekend, the CONCACAF Club Licensing department conducted a two-day club football development seminar -- in partnership with the FFB -- for all the football clubs in Bonaire.

“CONCACAF has designed an inclusive Club Licensing system for our region’s football clubs, and we believe the key to the long term success will be to gradually increase requirements,” said CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb. “By taking this approach, the Confederation is guaranteeing a model for development.”

CONCACAF Club Licensing Manager, Andres Portabella, presented the Confederation’s approach to Club Licensing and thoroughly examined development tools available to all leagues and clubs in the region.

On Saturday, the clubs were given an overview of the system, allowing them to gain an understanding of the new requirements for participation in domestic club competitions. A day later, an innovatively designed session gave club representatives an opportunity to simulate the proper procedures and protocols for executing an international football match. After being assigned various roles and responsibilities, the attendees conducted a Match Coordination Meeting and then proceeded to follow the elements of “The Countdown” during a local match between S.V. Uruguay and S.V. Flamingo at the Antonio Trinidad Stadium in Rincon, Bonaire.

“The response from the clubs in Bonaire to Club Licensing has been very positive,” commented FFB President Ludwig L. Balentin. “They have embraced the project and they are interested in fulfilling the domestic requirements for Club Licensing ahead of the start of the 2015-2016 season.”

In line with CONCACAF’s 2015 Club Licensing Regulations, the minimum domestic requirements put in place by CONCACAF’s Club Licensing system, to be satisfied before the start of the season, include:

- Accurately completing a club general form, a finance form, a youth development form and an infrastructure form;

- Providing proof of ownership or a contract/agreement for the use of a home stadium;

- Appointing a qualified coach to the first team;

- Registering all first team players and coaches through an online platform;

- Appointing a General Manager, Media Officer, Finance Officer, and Marketing Officer;

- Presenting a budget;

- Submitting a legal declaration form signed by an authorized signatory;

- If applicable, submitting the club ownership structure and control mechanisms;

- If applicable, submitting club statutes or an equivalent legal document.

“Our football is operated 100% by volunteers, but our clubs can already fulfill many of the CONCACAF Club Licensing domestic requirements, since they are successfully following our federation’s statutes which mandate that each club have a board of directors and statutes. Integrating our clubs to this system will allow us to centralize key information from all our clubs into one unique system,” expressed FFB General Secretary, Jeaninne Wong Loi Sing.

In order to continue assisting the FFB and the clubs in Bonaire, CONCACAF will organize a D-License Coaching Course before the start of the 2015-2016 season, enabling all coaches in Bonaire to increase their knowledge base.

After this first Club Licensing seminar, the clear response to whether or not CONCACAF’s Club Licensing system can be implemented in Bonaire is a resounding “yes!”

West Papuan leader denied entry by United States

PNG TODAY/PACNEWS

The US Office of Homeland Security stopped West Papuan Independence leader Benny Wenda from boarding a Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Los Angeles on 13 May 2015, reports PNG Today.

After check-in staff found an alert on their passport system, Wenda was questioned by an official from the US Homeland Securities bureau office at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Wenda told the official: “I am a Human Rights campaigner from West Papua, I am exiled and am campaigning for West Papua.”

After making phone calls the US official told Wenda that his US visa had been revoked, but declined to say y. He told Wenda to contact the US embassy. He was issued a 10 year business visa in October 2014 and has already made one visit to Congress staff on Capitol Hill in Washington using it.

Wenda was set to embark on a speaker tour of California and Hawaii at the invitation of US groups supporting the Free West Papua Campaign. Pending an explanation from the US Government, the busy two week schedule of events is moving forward without Wenda. Free West Papua campaigners in California are now even more determined to raise the voice that Indonesia seeks to silence.

Attempts to get answers by the Free West Papua Campaign (FWPC) in both London and Washington have so far met with silence. The FWPC is keen to know why Benny Wenda’s legitimate right to free speech in the US has been quashed and is working to try and get his visa reinstated.

“I hope that US officials respond to my situation soon so that I can join the tour. Concern is growing from people, politicians and UN officials in the United States about the ongoing genocide in West Papua. I am keen to follow-through their invitation to address these audiences and to urge political action by the US Governmen, said Wenda

The FWPC hopes that the issue is no more than a bureaucratic hiccup. However it is not the first time that Wenda has been prevented from travelling to the US. In 2005 and 2013 he had visa applications refused and then went on to successfully apply for his current ten year business visa.

“I have travelled to the USA several times for meetings with political representatives, groups and churches. I also attended meetings with State Department officials who told me they approved of my lobbying and campaigning work. So you can imagine my surprise when my ten year visa was revoked without notice, Wenda said.

Scotland presses for real devolution of power in wake of election

First Minister meets Prime Minister

Scotland

First Minister:

More powers and ending austerity on agenda during ‘constructive’ talks.

More powers for the Scottish Parliament and ending austerity were on the agenda today as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon met Prime Minister David Cameron at Bute House in Edinburgh.

During their first face-to-face talks since the general election, the First Minister welcomed a commitment by the Prime Minister to look at proposals from the Scottish Government to extend Holyrood’s power beyond the plans outlined in the Smith Commission.

Ms Sturgeon also welcomed the Prime Minister’s agreement that legislation currently being drafted to take forward further devolution would implement in full the Smith Commission proposals and also take account of the report published by the Scottish Parliament’s Devolution Committee earlier this week.

The discussions, which were described by the First Minister as “constructive and helpful”, also covered her desire to tackle austerity, with further proposals on how this could be achieved within the UK Government’s own fiscal mandate now to be submitted by the Scottish Government and considered by the Prime Minister in due course.

To take forward these points, the First Minister and Prime Minister also agreed to much closer contact between their respective governments, with a commitment to increasing the number of bilateral meetings between the pair.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“I was pleased to welcome the Prime Minister to Bute House for what were constructive and helpful talks on a range of issues following the outcome of the UK general election.

“During the meeting, we had a productive discussion about the Smith Commission proposals and where we might go beyond them. From that, two things of importance were agreed. Firstly, there was a commitment from the Prime Minister that the legislation being drafted will fully implement the Smith Commission proposals and take account of the conclusions of the Holyrood committee report that was published yesterday.

“Secondly, the Prime Minister agreed that he would look at proposals the Scottish Government will bring forward on how we go beyond the Smith Commission in various important areas. There was no agreement on the substance of that, but the Prime Minister has said he will consider our proposals and there will be a meeting, in the first instance, between the Deputy First Minister and the Secretary of State for Scotland to look at how we take that further forward.”

The First Minister continued:

“The Prime Minister and I have agreed to meet more regularly, which is a good step forward. We have also agreed to much closer contact between Ministers in the Scottish and UK governments to discuss issues of common interest and policies that impact on Scotland at a much earlier stage – that’s all very positive.

“David Cameron and I are a world apart politically but, where we can, I’m determined that we do business in the interest of people in Scotland and across the UK and I’m determined to have a constructive and business-like relationship.

“I hope that the Prime Minister can now show he can respond and deliver a better deal for Scotland, with an empowered Scottish Parliament with the powers over business taxes and employment law, the minimum wage and welfare that enables us to grow our economy, get more people into jobs, and lift people out of poverty. Because, ultimately, that is what this process is all about.”

The First Minister confirmed that discussions had also covered austerity and public spending across the UK. She said:

“The Prime Minister has a fiscal mandate, but even within that that I believe there is enough flexibility to ease the pain of austerity, invest in the things that matter while still getting the debt and deficit down. We have agreed to send our analysis and proposals to the UK Government and he has agreed to look at them. I have a duty as First Minister of Scotland to stand up for the things I believe the people of Scotland want and I will not shy away from doing that.”

Australia, Papua New Guinea differ on Bouganville Consulate

PACNEWS

Australia opening a foreign mission on Bougainville 

totally outrageous: Pato

Papua New Guinea foreign minister Rimbik Pato has described the suggestion by Australia opening a foreign mission on Bougainville as totally 'outrageous'.

Pato says while PNG welcome foreign aid and personel supporting its national development efforts, it is clear that some aspects of the ongoing dialogue on peace building on Bougainville among PNG officials and foreign counterparts are seriously inadequate and need immediate review.

“I've directed the acting secretary to call to call in the Australian High Commissioner to explain the media accounts of this mischievous proposal to open a foreign mission on Bougainville” 

“I will in turn present the findings to NEC, the earliest opportunity, for their deliberations,” Pato said in a statement.

Pato said priority attention should be given helping ABG to conduct an efficient, free as well as fair election on the island with a view to achieving relevant outcomes under the peace agreement in the long run. 

The Australian government Wednesday announced that it will commit A$98.3 million (US$78 million) to open five new overseas missions in consultation with host governments. 

In a major expansion of Australia’s overseas diplomatic network, new posts will be established in Doha, Qatar; Buka, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea; Makassar, Indonesia; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and Phuket, Thailand. 

The announcement came as part of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) annual budget statement for 2015-16.

commons.wikimedia.org

*****

Papua New Guinea peeved at ex-colonial ruler Australia’s 

diplomatic outpost plans

RT NEWS

Australia plans to open a diplomatic mission on Bougainville Island, currently a territory of Papua New Guinea and soon to hold an independence referendum. The island, with vast deposits of copper ore, was an Australian colony until 1975.

This week Australia issued papers on the 2016 fiscal national budget, exposing plans to establish a diplomatic post on Bougainville.

“We were shocked to learn from the budget documents that Australia is planning on establishing a diplomatic post in Bougainville,” said PNG’s Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, as cited by Reuters.

“There has been no consultation on this proposal and there is no agreement to proceed,” O'Neill said at a media event dedicated to 40 years of independence of his country. O'Neill stressed that “Bougainville is an integral part of Papua New Guinea.”

A spokesperson for Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the proposal was discussed in December and Australia's High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea formally advised the government before the Australian budget was released on Tuesday.

The Autonomous Region of Bougainville is holding presidential elections ahead of an independence referendum. The results of the election that started on Monday will be announced on June 8.

After the election Bougainville will have a five-year window to hold a referendum on independence. Whoever wins the vote will negotiate the date and the exact question with Papua New Guinea.

Bougainville Island and a number of smaller islands scattered around it were governed from Papua New Guinea as a protectorate of Australia from the end of World War I, when Australia occupied then-German New Guinea, Bougainville Island included, under League of Nations mandate. When PNG gained independence in 1975, Bougainville refused to remain part of it and declared independence, which proved to be vain.

The next attempt was made in 1990, yet the opposition from the mainland Papua New Guinea was so fierce that it led to a civil war which lasted until 1998 and resulted in complete blockade of the island. This brought tremendous hardships to its citizens.

A peace deal brokered by New Zealand implied that Bougainville would hold an independence referendum before June 2020.

Bougainville and its neighboring islands have an estimated population of 250,000, comprising many ethnic groups that speak estimated 26 languages. Bougainville’s land area is 9,300 sq km.

Before the civil war, resources giant Rio Tinto ran the Panguna copper mine on Bougainville. The mine was the largest employer and single source of export revenue in PNG, providing up to 7 percent of the world's copper production.

The mine was abandoned in 1991 due to the civil war. Rio Tinto has stated it could resume operations at Panguna if the political situation on Bougainville Island stabilizes.

*****

(Australian FM) Bishop denies O’Neill’s claim

SOURCE: THE NATIONAL/PACNEWS

Australia has denied an accusation that it failed to consult the Papua New Guinea Government on a decision to open a new diplomatic mission in Bougainville.

A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she had discussed her proposal to open a secondary post in PNG during a visit in December 2014.

She said Australia’s High Commissioner to PNG had formally advised the PNG Government of its intention to announce a new diplomatic presence in the lead-up to the 2015 budget.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said in a speech last Thursday to the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney that he was “shocked” by the announcement by Australia that it was building a new diplomatic mission on Bougainville.

He said there was no consultation about the decision from Australia to build the new diplomatic post and that he learnt about it from media coverage of the budget.

“We don’t want governments to go around creating offices everywhere around the country that will create the wrong interpretation and wrong meaning to our people,” he said.

“We’ve got sensitivities around areas like Bougainville with the elections that are underway at the present.

And of course we are concerned about the message the establishment of this consulate will give to our people in PNG.”

O’Neill was concerned that the move by Australia could influence elections on the island and that his government would prevent the new post from going ahead.

“We have to sanction this,” he said. 

“You can’t just go around and open offices at your pleasure.”

O’Neill said Bougainville was an “integral part of Papua New Guinea”.

Native peoples' group seeks end to 'US occupation' of Alaska, Hawaii

A man holds a Hawaii flag (Reuters/Tim Shaffer)

The group is to raise the issue during next week’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, reports TASS.

A human rights group speaking in the name of indigenous populations of Alaska and Hawaii seek UN intervention to organize self-determination referenda in the US states, saying Washington has illegally occupied it since 1959.

Both territories were listed in 1946 as Non Self-Governing Territories under article 73 of the UN Charter. The status theoretically subjected Alaska and Hawaii to decolonization. In both referenda were held over whether they would become fully-fledged states of the USA, which both did in 1959.

Critics of the transition, including the Alaska-Hawaii Alliance for Self-Determination, accuse the US federal government of failing to hold the ballots properly, which they say should have involved offering and explaining to the people the option for becoming an independent state rather than part of the US.

The group wants the UN to pressure the US over what they call a violation of UN charter and international law. It accuses Washington of mistreating indigenous peoples of Alaska and Hawaii living under what it calls American ‘occupation’.

“Our culture is being suppressed. But US actions target not only our culture, but also world peace, because it has a military base in Pearl Harbor,” said Leon Siu, a representative for Hawaii in the alliance.“They pollute our land and water during exercises. People get sick because of it. It’s an affront to our land and our people. We don’t want to be part of a war machine.”

Read more‘Martial law exercise?’ Texas jittery over US military drills

Ronald Barnes of Alaska said the US “is mismanaging the property they have no right for.

“They take our land and mine mineral resources in large amounts damaging our environment,” he said.

Barnes told TASS that the group would seek assistance from Russia for their cause.

“It will be 150 years since the sale of Alaska by Russia to the US in 2017. If we could work with the Russians to present the historical truth and reject the distorted concepts about Alaska and our peoples, I believe it could be a good way to amend the situation,” he said.

He said Alaska could become a neutral independent state between Russia and the West.

The group has been active since at least 2010, although its members have long records of fighting for the rights of native peoples of Alaska and Hawaii. Activists from the two states banded together earlier under other names. For instance in 2006 they acted as Indigenous World Association, to get UN support for their cause.

Malawians Seek UK Compensation for 1950s Nyasaland Massacre

RT UK

Blantyre Nyasaland (Image from centralafricana.com)

The families of 33 pro-independence fighters who were killed in the 1950s in the region today known as Malawi are demanding reparations from the UK for “unjustified killings” perpetrated towards the end of colonial rule.

Relatives of protesters who were killed by British colonial forces in Malawi in 1959 during the Operation Sunrise massacre in Nyasaland said they are seeking reparations in court.

The South African newspaper Mail & Guardian reports the families of 51 slain freedom fighters are pushing the Malawi government to seek £100-million in compensation.

On March 3, 1959, Britain imposed a state of emergency in Nyasaland to stop violent protests by political activists of the Nyasaland African Congress fighting for independence, led by Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

The peaceful and unarmed protesters, including three pregnant women, were demonstrating against the arrest of freedom fighters on a passenger ship on the shores of Lake Malawi. Public opposition to the detentions culminated in the killing of 51 demonstrators and 1,300 arrests.

Read more40,000 Kenyans accuse Britain of abuse and torture in second Mau Mau law suit

Speaking to the Guardian, Raphael Mhone, a lawyer representing the victims’ families, said:“The families of the 33 deceased are mourning year in and year out. The killings created a lot of challenges to families, because some of those killed were breadwinners.

“It should also be borne in mind that apart from creating economic and social challenges to such families, the mere fact that they were innocently killed warrants compensation from those responsible.

“First, we will engage Britain diplomatically to own up to their responsibility. The martyrs were not criminals.”

He added that if diplomacy fails, he would bring the case to London’s High Court, “like the Kenyans did.”

Nyasaland became independent from British colonial rule on 6 July 1964 and was renamed Malawi.

Some claim Malawi could use the Mau Mau case as a precedent to push for compensation. In 2013, due to a ruling by the high court, the UK government paid out £19.9-million in costs and compensation to 5,228 Kenyans who had been tortured by British colonial forces during the Mau Mau uprising between 1952 and 1960.

Malawi’s daily, the Nation newspaper, said in an editorial this week: “Let dialogue prevail. Innocent lives were needlessly lost at the hand of the federal forces as people of this country struggled for their emancipation. In the end, a lot is indeed at stake given the age-old relations between the two countries.”

Read moreWhat archives? UK ordered destruction of ‘embarrassing’ colonial papers

In March, John Chunda, the only surviving witness of the massacre and the representative of the families, reportedly presented a petition to the office of the British high commissioner to Malawi in the capital Lilongwe, demanding £100-million in compensation.

“This is the initial step,” Chunda told the Mail & Guardian. “If the UK government insists on denying, then we follow with litigation. It is a simple case. Representatives of the British Crown ordered the shooting of our freedom fighters and it’s on record. There is no way they can deny liability.”

“We have suffered for 56 years,” said Chunda, “a period long enough for people to make a meaningful [contribution] either to their families or the country had they not been slain like animals.

“They have been called martyrs all these years, but definitely their relatives need to be compensated for their souls to rest in peace.”

Read more​Fiji removes Britain’s Union Flag from its standard to ‘dispense with colonial symbols’

However, the British high commissioner to Malawi, Michael Nevin, has ruled out compensation.

“We are saddened by any loss of life during the struggle. We have had no discussion with the government of Malawi on this matter and do not consider the issues of compensation arise,”he told the Mail & Guardian.

“The UK and Malawi enjoy a close relationship that stretches back over many years and we look forward to that relationship continuing in the years ahead.”

See also:  

Britain on trial: 1948 Malaya massacre case could crack open UK’s dark colonial past

Military Presence in Okinawa seen as "Virtual Occupation"

U.S. military in Okinawa illegally

The Japan Times

YOSHIO SHIMOJI

Naha, Okinawa Prefectur

The pomp and circumstance that characterized the state dinner given by U.S. President Barack Obama for visiting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (“State dinner for Abe at White House surprises with haiku, sake and R&B” in the April 30 edition) may camouflage the reality that Japan (Okinawa in particular) is still being occupied by the U.S. military.

People may say “the Occupation” has been sanctioned by bilateral agreements, so that it is in consonant with international law.

The literal occupation of Okinawa lasted from 1945 through 1952 to 1972. But the virtual occupation has continued since 1972 to this day.

Article 3 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty (signed in 1951) stipulates that Japan will concur to give the U.S. “the right to exercise all and any powers of administration, legislation and jurisdiction” over Okinawa and its territorial waters. So the occupation of Okinawa may seem legitimate as far as this period was concerned.

The occupation of Okinawa was supposed to officially end in 1972 when Okinawa’s administrative right was returned to Japan. The catch is that Okinawa is still being occupied by the U.S. because the military presence, guaranteed by the Japan-U.S. security treaty, continued just as before on the pretext of defending Japan and maintaining peace and security in its vicinity.

The security treaty has been gutted and therefore nullified already, though, because the U.S. is using bases in Okinawa for whatever purpose that may suit it. They use the Okinawa bases as staging posts to engage in wars overseas in blatant violation of the security treaty.

The new guidelines struck at the “two-plus-two” meeting in New York on April 27 ignore the most important provision in the Japan-U.S. security treaty as to why the U.S. military is stationed in Japan. The security treaty has thus crumbled from the ground up whereby the United States cannot use it as justification for maintaining its military in Okinawa.

It therefore boils down to the conclusion that the U.S. military presence in Japan, in Okinawa in particular, is illegal across the board. Naturally, the confirmation by both Tokyo and Washington to forge ahead with the Henoko relocation plan is null and void.

e

¿Por qué el ELA de PR no se puede mejorar? / Why Puerto Rico's commonwealth political status can’t be improved

Compañeros Unidos para la Descolonización de Puerto Rico: Cita Patriótica ONU Junio 2012

El Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) de Puerto Rico no se puede mejorar, porque es una colonia del gobierno de Estados Unidos.  Hay algunos puertorriqueños, como Alfredo Hernández Mayoral, que, por lo menos públicamente, no lo acepta.  Él dice que la Organización de Naciones Unidas (ONU) determinó en 1953 que Puerto Rico no es una colonia. 

Para una colonia dejar de serla, la colonia tiene que adquirir su soberanía.  Tu soberanía te permitirá diseñar el gobierno que tú quieres.  Eso se llama descolonización.  Eso no fue lo que pasó en el 1952 cuando se estableció el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. 

El ELA se construyó sobre la LEY 600 del gobierno de Estados Unidos.  Cuando los puertorriqueños redactaron su constitución, el gobierno de Estados Unidos la tenía que aprobar.  De hecho, para ser aprobada por Washington, los puertorriqueños tuvieron que cambiar ciertas partes de su constitución, porque no fueron aceptadas por el gobierno de Estados Unidos. 

El año siguiente, el gobierno de Estados Unidos, con la ayuda de algunos puertorriqueño, engañaron a la Organización de Naciones Unidas diciéndole que Puerto Rico había alcanzado su gobierno propio.  Ésta es la razón por la cual Puerto Rico no aparece en la lista de colonias de la ONU. 

El gobierno de Estados Unidos no quiere cambiar su relación colonial con Puerto Rico, porque Puerto Rico todavía le está sirviendo perfectamente bien.  ¡Solo para los puertorriqueños es que nuestro coloniaje es un desastre!  Por eso es que el ganador del Premio Nobel de la Paz y el Presidente de Estados Unidos Obama no excarcelará  a nuestro Oscar López Rivera.  Excarcelarlo significaría para el gobierno de Estados Unidos que estaría dispuesto a descolonizar a Puerto Rico.  Y por eso también, el gobierno de Estados Unidos ha ignorado 33 resoluciones de la ONU pidiéndole la descolonización inmediata de Puerto Rico.  ¿Qué hacemos cuando lo que es justo no se hace?

Hay que formar un tsunami de gente para obligar al gobierno de Estados Unidos a cumplir con la ley internacional del 1960 que prohíbe el coloniaje.  Tenemos que unirnos para hacer marchas pacíficas permanentemente, porque los que mantiene colonias, no creen en la justicia para todos.

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico can’t be improved, because it is a colony of the United States (US).  Some Puerto Ricans, like Alfredo Hernández Mayoral, at least publically, refuses to accept it.  He says that the United Nations (UN) determined in 1953 that Puerto Rico is not a colony.

In order for a colony to stop being it, the colony must acquire its sovereignty.  Sovereignty will permit it to design the kind of government it wants.  This is called decolonization.  That is not what happened in 1952, when the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was established.  

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was constructed on United States Law 600.  When Puerto Ricans drafted their constitution, Washington had to approve it.   In fact, Puerto Ricans had to change certain parts of their constitution, because the US government refused to accept them.

The following year, the US government, with the help of some Puerto Ricans, tricked the United Nations into believing that Puerto Rico had achieved self-government.  This is why Puerto Rico is not on the UN’s list of colonies. 

The US government has no desire to change Puerto Rico’s colonial relationship, because Puerto Rico has served the US government fantastically well!  Colonialism has only been a disaster for Puerto Ricans for the past 116 years.

That is why the Nobel Peace Prize winner and United States President Obama refuses to release Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera from jail.  Freeing him would mean to the US government that it is willing to decolonize Puerto Rico.  And that is also why the US government has ignored 33 UN resolutions asking for the immediate decolonization of Puerto Rico.  What do we do, when what is just is not done?

We need to form a tsunami of people to make the US government comply with the 1960 international law that says that colonialism is a crime against humanity.  We need to peacefully and permanently march, because those who maintain colonies don’t believe in justice for all!