August 12, 2005
Copyright © 2005 PUERTO RICO HERALD. All Rights Reserved.
Your Choice for a Permanent Political Status
In this last appearance of the Hot Button Issue in the Puerto Rico Herald, readers are asked to choose a permanent political status for the island.
The question is straightforward. It is unencumbered by partisan rhetoric. It is unvarnished by promotional language.
Do you want the Island of Puerto Rico to become a state of the United States, or do you want it to become a sovereign nation, independent of the United States, or do you want it to become a sovereign nation with a treaty of free association with the United States?
There is no option available for you to choose the status quo Commonwealth, because it is not a permanent political status and never can be one. It was seen by its architects in 1952 as a transitional status and that is what it remains today, over fifty years later. Called one thing in English (Commonwealth) and an entirely different thing in Spanish (Estado Libre Asociado) it is, in fact, neither. The linguistic doublespeak is intended to create the appearance of autonomy for a population living in a colony.
Neither is there an option to select the so-called "enhanced commonwealth" that many politicians of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) argue for and promise to their constituents. The enhancements that they seek; treaty powers, limits on federal law and Congressional authority will never be granted because the U.S. Constitution will not permit it and the American people will never allow four million of their fellow citizens to enjoy powers and privileges greater than their own. Enhanced Commonwealth is a "pipe dream" promoted by politicians. It is one of the great deceptions of Puerto Rican politics.
Nor is the notorious "none of the above" option available in this poll. That canard, used to legitimize a protest vote, reflects an attitude that has kept Puerto Ricans in a state of suspended political animation for centuries. It is time for Puerto Ricans to make a choice from among the realistic options. The alternative is to remain an unincorporated territory for another century. Most colonies remain suppressed by force. Puerto Rico has remained suppressed by choice. That choice is epitomized by the "none of the above" option.
This poll may be the last chance that you have to vote on status for a long time to come because, as things now stand, momentum for a process of self-determination is stalled both on the island and mainland.
In Puerto Rico, the power struggle being waged between a Legislature dominated by the statehood-supporting New Progressive Party (NPP) and an Executive Branch controlled by Commonwealth advocates has strangled any possibility for a status petition originating in San Juan, until at least after the 2008 elections. A chance slipped away earlier this year when Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá vetoed a bill -- unanimously agreed upon by all members of the Legislature -- that would have petitioned the U.S. Congress to begin a process.
In Washington, Puerto Rico is low on the radar screens of both the White House and Capitol Hill. The vaunted White House Task Force on Puerto Rico Status is creaking with old age and, when its report finally does come out in December of this year, insiders say that it will be pabulum, not granola.
Those following the task force’s deliberations predict that the report will likely throw a bone to every possible status option and will almost certainly keep the status quo Commonwealth arrangement in place. If it is puzzling that an administration that touts democracy around the world continues to tolerate four million American citizens living in a U.S. colony, then all one needs do is analyze the Commonwealth government’s lobbying budget in Washington.
Since 2000, very influential Republican paid lobbyists have been representing the agenda of Commonwealth advocates that for six years have worked to convince leaders in Congress and the administration that it would be politically unwise for the federal officials to take the lead on a permanent political status for Puerto Rico.
There are no votes in Puerto Rico!
So long as there is no congressionally authorized status process in place, Commonwealthers will try to convince gullible Puerto Ricans that they are living in "the best of both worlds."
There is nothing good about living in a colony.
Conversely, statehooders will crow about "second class citizenship."
There is nothing second class about Puerto Ricans, wherever they choose to live. There is nothing second class about the Puerto Ricans in the nation’s military uniforms that answer the call to service and risk dying in the process. There is nothing second class about the Puerto Rican engineers that are guiding the nation’s space program at NASA. There is nothing second class about the Puerto Rican athletes, artists and intellectuals who every day distinguish themselves in the world.
What is "second class" — and that’s being generous -- is the political establishment in Puerto Rico and the archaic system that perpetuates them.
It is not in the interest of Puerto Rican politicians to bring about a change in political status. The minute that such a change would occur, each would be "out of business." As long as Puerto Ricans are in an indefinite state they can use the status card to promise anything and deliver nothing.
So maybe for the last time in the foreseeable future you are offered the chance to express yourself on your preferred permanent political status for Puerto Rico.
Do you want the Island of Puerto Rico to become a state of the United States, or do you want it to become a sovereign nation, independent of the United States, or do you want it to become a sovereign nation with a treaty of free association with the United States?
Please vote above!
