r/MarxistCulture • u/speakhyroglyphically Tankie ☭ • Nov 04 '24

Video Americans excluded from the ballot: Puerto Ricans

90 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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8

u/speakhyroglyphically Tankie ☭ Nov 04 '24

More than 3 million citizens living on the US island of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean don’t have the right to vote in the presidential election.

Several Puerto Ricans tell TRT World they feel like second-zone citizens and that the US treats this unincorporated territory as a possession where the population is disenfranchised.

They describe Puerto Rico as the world’s oldest colony, first ruled by Madrid, now by Washington and say the US government is breaking multiple international laws despite calls for autodetermination by UN experts.

Some demand independence from the US and say the island is being exploited while others want Puerto Rico to become the 51st state of the US and that residents benefit from the same rights as the rest of Americans.

2

u/longiner Nov 05 '24

Do the Puerto Ricans at least get to vote for the politicians that run Puerto Rico?

3

u/AFriendoftheDrow Free Palestine Nov 05 '24

Yeah, but the U.S. has been arresting, torturing and even murdering those of us who were protesting for decades. Pedro Albizu Campos (who wanted autonomy for Puerto Rico) was tortured with radiation, for example.

2

u/longiner Nov 05 '24

Yes, sedition is seen as a big crime in most of the world.

1

u/AFriendoftheDrow Free Palestine Nov 05 '24

Empires don’t like it when the people living in their colonies want freedom.

1

u/longiner Nov 05 '24

Not only colonies but Special Administrative Regions and Autonomous Regions too. Countries don't like it when their SARs and ARs start seeing themselves as a separate country.