Puerto
Rico at UN,
NAM's For
Libre, or 51st
State in
Spanglish,
Mavi &
Malvinas
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 18 --
Puerto Rico
was discussed
Monday at the
UN, in
the so-called
Committee of
24, and it
begged
comparison to
last
week's
session on the
Malvinas or
Falkland
Islands.
Then, it was
Argentine
president
Kirchner
speaking to
much Latin
applause,
contested by
the UK and a
half dozen
Falkland
Islanders
speaking of
these
generations on
the island,
sheep farming.
On
Puerto Rico,
while the
Non-Aligned
Movement for
example took a
strong
pro-independence
line, there
were actual
Puerto Rican
speakers, some
in Spanglish,
saying they
want it to be
the 51st US
state, with
two
Senators.
One of these
speakers got
cut off. A
lady in a blue
hat
spoke about
rice and
beans,
bemoaned the
lack of
respect for
Puerto
Rico's
culture.
There was a
strong speaker
for the
"Movimiento de
Afrimacion
Viequense,"
whose acronum
MAVI is also a
Puerto Rican
or even Taino
drink.
Afterward
it was
explained to
Inner City
Press that
pro-independence
Puerto Ricans
have observer
status in the
Non-Aligned
Movement;
hence for
example
Egypt's
speech, in
which Iran
joined.
Earlier,
a Puerto
Rican speaker
denounced
Obama for not
fulfilling a
promise to
resolve
Puerto Rico's
status in his
"first" term.
This drew
applause,
apparently
from those
cheering for
independence.
But that
may not have
been what the
speaker meant.
Strange issue.
What does
Ismael Rivera
say? Or
Cortijo? Watch
this site.
Kirchner
Calls Brits
Hypocrites, UK
Appears with
Sheep Farmer,
No Man Island
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 14 --
When
Argentina's
President
Cristina
Fernández
de Kirchner
took the floor
in Conference
Room 4 of the
UN's North
Lawn building
Thursday
afternoon, the
crowd was
Latin heavy
and ready to
applaud. The
topic was the
Islas Malvinas
a/k/a the
Falkland
Islands and
Kirchner was
in fine form.
She
read from what
she said was a
"non-paper" or
secret
negotiating
document from
1974. She
accused the UK
of hypocrisy,
refusing
dialogue about
the Islands
while claiming
commitment to
human rights.
Her
speech moved
from Angela
Merkel to
Hiroshima; she
asked how the
US would like
seeing its
flag under
that of Japan.
When she
finished there
was a long
applause, and
she shook
hands with,
among others,
Syria's
Permanent
Representative
Bashar
Ja'afari.
Later
up on the
North Lawn
building's
second floor
stakeout,
Inner City
Press asked UK
Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant about
the
"non-paper,"
and more
specifically
for his
response to a
theory that
with Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon naming
Argentines as
chief of staff
(Susana
Malcorra) and
head of Middle
East (Oscar
Fernandez
Taranco), the
UK has been
losing
traction.
Lyall
Grant said it
is hard to
respond to a
1974 document,
but that the
failed talks
then showed
that the
Argentines
wants to go
over the heads
of the
residents and
get the
Islands
returned to
Argentina.
He
said that all
UN officials
are
international
civil
servants.
Inner City
Press asked
about
consistent and
well-sourced
reports, which
Inner City
Press first
exclusively
published,
that the
Argentines
have been
conferring
with "their"
Assistant
Secretary
General Oscar
Fernandez
Taranco. Lyall
Grant said,
you'll have to
ask them. We
will.
Afterward
Inner City
Press spoke
with a sixth
generation
Falksland
Islander,
James Marsh,
before he went
on the show
"Five Live."
He said he's
raising 15,000
sheep, and
that Islanders
go to Chile
for medical
care.
Inner
City Press
asked him, hablas
espanol?
He said, in
English,
enough to go
to
restaurants. Vaya.
, 
