that loses two-thirds of its population, including Huge rally in San Juan, Puerto Rico as part of student strike against austerity. April 6, 2017 its best-developed human resource, cannot see itself having a strong economy and good quality of life for its citizens. And in Puerto Rico we are starting to see the negative effects of the last wave of emigrants. We are already seeing a larger aging population that is becoming poorer and poorer and with less medical and social services available to them. The future for them looks bleak. And at the same time young people of reproductive age are leaving Puerto Rico, and more foreigners are buying the expensive condominiums or 169 schools will be closed. Teachers will be Rico is being made poorer and poorer and living in enclosed upper class communities. losing jobs, and communities, especially the at the same time depopulated of its native poorer ones, will be losing their schools. population. If the displacement and depopulation of Behind the scenes the colonialists are Puerto Ricans is an alarming problem, what In spite of the fact that the future of Puerto pushing more and more their privatization the Fiscal Control Board is making the Rico looks very bleak, many Puerto Ricans plans. They aren’t satisfied that privatization colonialist administrators of Puerto Rico do believe this is the best moment to wage an in Puerto Rico has played a major role in is more worrisome. For starters, by August effective decolonizing process. We know bringing the economy to its that the majority of Puerto Ricans love worse conditions in Puerto Puerto Rico, our national identity, our Rico’s history. culture, our language, and our origins. We But besides closing 169 see the potential that Puerto Rico has to schools, it is threatening become a strong nation and an asset to the the future of the University economy of Caribbean and Latin American of Puerto Rico. The goal of countries. We have the human resources the Fiscal Control Board and the other basic resources to transform is to take away close to half Puerto Rico into the Garden of Eden it has a billion dollars from the the potential of being. University’s budget. At the Because this is such a moment, we are same time, it is looking for asking this Committee to take the issue ways to raise the tuition and of the decolonization of Puerto Rico to to force the University of the General Assembly and ask it to fulfill Puerto Rico to close some its responsibilities to bring to an end the of its eleven campuses and colonization of Puerto Rico by the U.S. to sell much of its property, government. specially land that it has been using for experiments Colonialism is a crime against all of in the past. What the Fiscal humanity. If the U.S. government is the Control Board seems to be nation of laws it claims to be, then it doing is trying to privatize behooves it to decolonize Puerto Rico by the University system. All adhering to the tenets of international law the money that will be that prohibit the crime of colonialism. taken away from the public I hope you will do whatever you can to bring education system will be used to an end the colonial status of Puerto Rico, as payment to fill the coffers to help us make Puerto Rico the nation it of the Banks and hedge has the potential of being, and to be part of funds. While Puerto Ricans the community of nations. will be poorer and more destitute, the colonialists and Thank you. En resistencia y lucha siempre, the banking industry will Oscar López Rivera Cuban poster in solidarity with Puerto Rico. become richer. Thus Puerto
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