While experts and others do know that it is possible, desirable, and mutually beneficial to maintain U.S. citizenship in any sovereignty option, statehooders keep trying to misinform Puerto Ricans and policymakers in Washington.

Puerto Rican legislators from New York and local activist groups joined forces on Thursday to repudiate the Puerto Rican government’s contract with LUMA Energy and ask Gov. Pedro Pierluisi not to grant the company control over the archipelago’s electrical system for the next 15 years.

More and more people recognize that after 124 years of abuse, humiliation, human rights violations, and economic exploitation through colonialism, the United States owes Puerto Rico compensation.

The Puerto Rico Status Act is “the product of an our-way-or-the-highway approach from pro-statehood House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer that has backed advocates of a fair and just decolonization process for Puerto Rico into a corner,” the two groups said in a joint statement.

On Monday afternoon, the United Nations (UN) Special Committee on Decolonization —by consensus and for the 40th time— adopted Draft Resolution L7, which formally recognizes Puerto Rico’s right to self-determination and independence.

Over the weekend, Latino Rebels received testimonies from three speakers, each representing a different take on the status question and the discussion draft bill. We are sharing each testimony here to show the broad political spectrum this discussion draft debate represents.

With an informed perspective and measured approach, Americans can play an important role in supporting Puerto Ricans fighting for their self-determination and help bring justice to the island.

Puerto Rican independence would mean higher annual revenues for Puerto Rico, lower federal expenditures for the U.S. government, and would allow both sides to abandon the current shameful colonial relationship, as authors Javier A. Hernández and Alberto Medina explain.

Hours before President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address on Tuesday, members of the Frente Independentista Boricua gathered in Washington, D.C. to call on the federal government to decolonize Puerto Rico, a U.S. possession since 1898.

As Americans listen to the president’s address on Tuesday, they should remember that the current state of the union is undemocratic, and frankly disgraceful, so long as Puerto Rico remains a colony of the United States.

Organizations supporting the Self-Determination Act of 2021 (H.R. 2070) for Puerto Rico have initiated a series of nationwide actions directed at key House members of the Natural Resources Committee—details of which will be shared at a Wednesday noon press conference outside the White House in Washington, D.C.

As a follow-up to a series of pro-independence marches for Puerto Rico that happened across nine U.S. cities on August 9, the San Juan counterpart —originally postponed that day due to a pending tropical storm— happened this past Sunday.

According to Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora (BUDPR), three statehood advocates were invited to speak at the panel. BUDPR told Latino Rebels last week that two of the advocates declined the invitation, with the other individual not responding.

“I did not request for the cancellation of the event,” Luis Fortuño said.

Hector chats with Edil Sepúlveda, co-founder of Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora.

Does the DNC want to associate itself with such corrupt politicians and illegal activities?

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When 17-year-old Chelsea Figaro heard that the protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd had spread to the nation’s capital, she told her mom she had to go. To her surprise, her mom said yes.

“Not doing so could spell disaster for hundreds of thousands,” the letter said.

“Without sovereignty there is no autonomy, and without autonomy there is no accountability. This is where Puerto Rico finds itself, fundamentally disempowered through its colonial status,” Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora spokesperson Diana Isabel Sotomayor said.

The incorporated territory step has never offered a real or meaningful solution to the question of Puerto Rico.

Amendments proposed in Congressional hearing reinforce “modern-day colonial relationship.”