The passage of Miguel Díaz-Canel through the Dominican Republic during the XXVIII Ibero-American Summit has resulted in a dispute with the governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, who was upset on Saturday night by a reference by the Cuban president to the independence of that territory associated with the United States.
“We reaffirm the historic commitment to the self-determination and independence of the people of Puerto Rico,” Díaz-Canel said in a speech in which there was no lack of defense of the absent leaders of Nicaragua and Venezuela, ideological partners of Havana, or support for the recovery of the Malvinas Islands for Argentina.
The words did not sit well with the Puerto Rican Government and, a few hours later, its headline showed his discomfort in his profile Facebook. “Last night I was at the inaugural acts of the Ibero-American Summit at the invitation of my friend, the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader. I returned to Puerto Rico early this morning and did not participate in the work of the Summit because, as Governor of Puerto Rico , I am not a member of it”, introduced Pierluisi.
The words did not sit well with the Puerto Rican Government and, a few hours later, its headline showed his discomfort on his Facebook profile
“Although my presence was limited to such activity, I cannot ignore the expressions made by the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, calling for the independence of Puerto Rico in today’s session,” continued the leader, of the New Progressive Party and the US Democratic Party.
After this preamble, Pierluisi claims the current status of Puerto Rico and attacks the Cuban. “Here we believe in democracy, and the desire of the majority of our people for Statehood and Equality under the flag of the United States must be respected.
I recommend that you focus on freeing your people from the yoke of communism, which has only brought misery and pain to the Cuban people,” he snapped.
A few hours later, Díaz-Canel went to vote this Sunday at his polling station in Santa Clara where a Puerto Rican journalist from the newspaper Clarity He asked him not about the controversy with Pierluisi, but about the US position regarding the vote on March 26 to elect the new deputies to the National Assembly. The Cuban president was, as usual, indignant with Washington, to which he attributed an “imaginary, slanderous, virtual, provocative and lying hostile narrative.”
The Cuban leader considered that the United States is annoyed that Havana does not follow its dictates as, he dropped, it happens in other countries. “We are so sovereign and so independent, so proper … that we do not have to submit to an opinion from the US embassy because for us it does not influence what we are doing, we work for our convictions,” he added.
“Governor Pierluisi should feel ashamed because Puerto Rico cannot participate in this important event, due to its status as a colony of the United States”
The Cuban press omitted information this Sunday about the dispute, but at midnight this Monday Prensa Latina did release a statement from the Hostosiano National Independence Movement (MINH), a left-wing independence organization closely linked to Havana and with little political representation in its own territory. In that text, the MINH reproaches Pierluisi for his words towards Díaz-Canel, whom they thank instead for drawing attention to “the colonial case of Puerto Rico and its inalienable right to self-determination and independence.”
“Governor Pierluisi should feel ashamed because Puerto Rico cannot participate in this important event [la Cumbre Iberoamericana]due to its status as a colony of the United States,” says the note, which describes the governor’s “unconditionality” to the United States as humiliating.
“His pathetic denial of the Caribbean and Latin American condition of our Homeland provokes the contempt and rejection of the governments of independent countries participating in the Summit,” the statement added, without giving a single example of his statement.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
