| The nearly four million residents of Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens but they have no voting representation in the U.S. Congress, nor are they allowed to vote for the President of the United States. Recently, two prominent Puerto Ricans have spoken publicly on this issue.
In an interview with Deborah Ramirez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Governor Sila Calderon, when asked how she would deal with the Commonwealth’s inherent problem of lack of representation in Congress and the White House, answered, "We have to deal with it. How we are going to do that should come about as a result of dialogue. We need a solution to this problem of lack of representation. Which particular solution at this point, I cannot tell you."
Maj. Gen. Orlando Llenza, USAF (Ret) the new Chairman of the American Veterans’ Committee for Puerto Rico Self-Determination, (featured in this edition of the Herald) says that "this anomaly is particularly galling to Puerto Rico’s veterans, who have served under the flag of the United States, taking orders from a Commander-in-Chief whom they had no voice in choosing. Congress must provide a process leading to full civil rights for the American citizens of Puerto Rico." |
