The spirit of the demonstration was indicated by a variety of militant chants shouted in unison: "A Vietnam yo no voy, porque yanqui yo no soy" [To Vietnam I'm not going, because I'm not a Yankee]; "Si los yanquis no se van, en Boricua morirán" [If the Yankees don't leave, in Puerto Rico they will die].

The action was called by a coalition of pro-independence organizations to coincide with the discussion of the colonial status of Puerto Rico by the United Nations committee on colonialism. This committee, composed of 24 member-nations and headed by Tanzania, is now considering whether to discuss the question of placing Puerto Rico on its list of colonial territories.

In the past, attempts to have Puerto Ricós colonial status reviewed have been blocked by a U.S. veto on the grounds that in 1953 the UN declared Puerto Rico a "free associated state" of the United States.

The pro-independence movement sees the UN discussion on the status of Puerto Rico as a means to publicize the struggle against U.S. domination of the island. Cuba's ambassador to the UN, Ricardo Alarcón Quesada, submitted the original resolution to the committee. The representatives from Ecuador, China, USSR, Bulgaria, Syria, Iraq, and Czechoslovakia have spoken in favor of the resolution.

August 25, 1947
The second anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia passed Aug. 17 with Java in flames as the Indonesian freedom fighters continued putting the torch to immense stores of rubber, oil and other products to prevent them from falling into the hands of imperialist Holland's armed forces

The cynicism of the Dutch despots can be judged from the lying affirmation of Dr. Eelco van Kieffens, Queen Wilhelmina's chief delegate to the United Nations, that "all we want is to end anarchy and chaos." Van Kieffens, obviously imitating Nazi propaganda techniques, accused the Indonesian people of the very crimes committed by the Dutch imperialists - "rape, murder and arson."

He made this accusation while theaters in the United States began running newsreels from Indonesia.

The scenes of bombed villages show what the Dutch can accomplish with American planes and tanks. The long lines of starving Indonesian children, who look more like skeletons than living beings, rival any of the horror scenes ascribed to the Nazis.

The Dutch capitalists, equipped with the most modern instruments of slaughter turned out by American factories, have made swift gains against the ill-armed Indonesians. But they have far from won the war they started.

The resistance of the Indonesian people, particularly as they begin hearing of acts of sympathy from the labor movement abroad, will stiffen and gain in strength.  
 
 
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