The remarks made by US President Donald Trump regarding the option to sell the US overseas territory of Puerto Rico speak of his contempt for the nations of the western hemisphere, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Thursday
BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) The remarks made by US President Donald Trump regarding the option to sell the US overseas territory of Puerto Rico speak of his contempt for the nations of the western hemisphere, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Thursday.
Earlier in July, Elaine Duke, the former acting secretary of homeland security told The New York Times that after a devastating hurricane in 2017 that had caused significant damage to Puerto Rico, at a closed meeting Trump briefly voiced an idea of selling the island. However, this issue was never discussed after that, according to Duke.
"Recently disclosed attempt to sell #PuertoRico is gross evidence of #US President despise for nations of the hemisphere and explains adherence to Monroe Doctrine, a colonial instrument with a well-known history of death and hardships," Rodriguez said.
Puerto Rico, currently an unincorporated US territory, will hold a referendum in November on whether it should become a US state. It will ask one question: Should Puerto Rico be immediately admitted as a US state? The results of the referendum will be non-binding and will need approval from Congress. So far, Congress has never acted on the island's previous referendums, the last of which was organized in 2017.
Puerto Ricans are US citizens but cannot vote in US presidential elections. The island is exempt from the US Federal income tax, but gets less federal funding than US states. The status of the island nation ha been raising additional concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.
