"United States is an usurper of Puerto Rico's independence"

teleSUR English

Yhamir Chabur, activist and member of Troika Kollective explains how there's no representation for the Puerto Ricans, although they are an important demographic in the United States.

Transcript

00:00And there's this big sector of society has apparently no place in this race between this candidate,

00:10this Democrat candidate, and this Republican candidate.

00:13And you were just mentioning Puerto Rico, and I think that maybe the same could be said

00:18for those Puerto Ricans who are thinking about their independence, for example, right?

00:24Puerto Rico was the topic of debate just days ago, as you were saying,

00:28and things were said, just to say the least, at the closing arguments of Donald Trump.

00:36Kamala Harris tried to step in and win that favor.

00:40But, of course, none of these options are speaking to the Puerto Rican people

00:45who are, for example, trying to just be heard in their desire not to be a colony, for example.

00:53So, in this position, in a system that leaves no option for these sectors of society

01:01that are politicized, that are mobilizing, that are looking for a political option,

01:06what could be done to channelize those intentions?

01:14That was a very, very big question, but I'm going to love answering this and breaking this down.

01:21When it comes to the topic of, well, I'll start with Puerto Rico, just because Puerto Rico,

01:26even today, they have historic elections for their governorship.

01:30Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States.

01:34I've had the opportunity to visit Puerto Rico.

01:37It's a very, very beautiful island.

01:39It's very disgusting to hear that comedian a couple of weeks ago, two weeks ago,

01:45say that it's an island of garbage, when it's not.

01:48It's an island, beautiful island, full of culture, full of nature, and full of very,

01:54very important figures like Pedro Albizu Campos and Lolita Lebron.

02:01But I would say that when it comes to a topic like Puerto Rico,

02:07it's very interesting how the greatest democracy of the world treats Puerto Rico

02:13as just this dispossession of whether they want to use it or not, call it garbage or defend it.

02:24But I believe that the Puerto Rican people, and right now, like I said before,

02:29they have their elections going on, where it seems that there's an opportunity

02:36for the Independence Party that have made an alliance with the Citizens' Movement Party

02:42in order to win the gubernatorial race for the governorship, the candidate of Juan Damao,

02:52that has promised to fight for the Puerto Rican people, fight against the corruption,

02:58fight against the imposed fiscal control board that was imposed by the Barack Obama administration.

03:05But more than anything else, bring pride to the Puerto Rican people and to Puerto Rico

03:13and have it on the path eventually for it to seek its independence that it duly deserves,

03:20because Puerto Rico is a Latin American country.

03:24It's a country that has its own separate history, its own separate culture,

03:30and also a country that has connections with Latin America.

03:34And that fits in this whole struggle of decolonization, which I could also segue into Palestine.

03:41Palestine is a country, a land that has had the effects of settler Zionist colonialism

03:51due to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 with the help of the British Empire and the United States.

04:02And the people of Palestine have always fought for their liberation, their recognition, and their existence.

04:09But as we see with this administration of Biden and Harris administration,

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