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UN backs Puerto Rico’s rights to self determination |
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Tuesday, 10 June 2008 |
The United Nations Decolonisation Committee has unanimously approved a resolution calling on the United States to grant the people of
Puerto Rico
their right to self-determination.
The motion, which was put forward by Cuba and Venezuela, also calls on the
US
government to release all Puerto Rican prisoners serving sentences for cases relating to the territory's independence movement.
Speaking before the committee, the
Puerto Rico
governor, Anibal Acevedo Vila, accused the Bush Administration of denying his people their democratic right to choose their future course.
Fernando Martin of the
Puerto Rico
independence party has welcomed the UN resolution
Puerto Rico, which has been a
US
territory since the Spanish American War at the end of the 19th Century, gained greater autonomy following the approval of a constitution in 1952.
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