|
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Will Puerto Rico ever be more
than a U.S. commonwealth?
About 50 Hispanic students like Joseph Medina sought answers
to that question during a political debate Tuesday night in U.
Florida's Levin College of Law.
"I'm undecided, so I'm hoping they can convince me,"
Medina said before the debate that was part of Puerto Rican Awareness
Week.
Kenneth McClintock of the New Progressive Party said statehood
is the only option because the nation's founding fathers acquired
territories with the intention of eventually making them states.
As a state, Puerto Rico would have access to the funds necessary
for promoting trade and creating jobs. Then, the United States
would not view it as a "welfare state," said McClintock.
Washington -- The White House indicated
Saturday that the "none of the above" winning vote
in the Dec. 13 island plebiscite has little or no meaning for
the ultimate outcome of Puerto Rico's political future.
"'None of the above' is not
an affirmative statement on status that helps move the process
forward," said Fred Du Val, deputy assistant to the president.
"It doesn't give us guidance" for the island's status
choice.
The White House and Gov. Rossello
were in sync Saturday on the confusion wrought by the Dec. 13
plebiscite results.
Rossello threw the status ball
into Washington's court. Congress, Rossello said, has the responsibility
to "actively take part" moving the process along.
"We'll certainly entertain"
the possibility of a new legislation, said Du Val.
"What must be present is honest,
realistic choices," he said, adding: "The administration
is open to instructions on how the bill should be updated."
Rossello, meanwhile, said that
Congress must "step in and recognize its responsibility"
because "local politics distorts the discussion and decision
on status. We have to make sure that Congress responds"
with clear status choices for island voters, the governor said.
-Robert Friedman, SAN JUAN STAR
|
GUTIERREZ URGING INDEPENDENCE
FOR PUERTO RICO LIVES PARADOX
An Open Letter to Congressman Gutierrez:
Sometimes you seem to be such a paradox.
While you obviously take pride in your job as an American
lawmaker, you seek independence for the people of Puerto Rico,
and would thus deny the nearly four million American citizens
living here the same rights and responsibilities that, as citizens,
you and your family enjoy.
If you truly feel that independence is the best option for
Puerto Rico and that being Puerto Rican and American are mutually
exclusive, then you really should put your money where your mouth
is and come live in Puerto Rico and fight for your ideals.
It seems somewhat hypocritical for someone who is living the
American dream to the extent you are to deny that same dream
to the millions of Puerto Ricans who do call this lovely island
home. Please stop undermining our struggle for equality. You
are not our elected representative. -Roberto Guzman, THE SAN
JUAN STAR
|
DANGERS
OF PDP "US" VERSUS "THEM" OPPOSITION TO STATEHOOD:
AN IDEOLOGY PREMISED ON MISUNDERSTANDING OF WHAT CULTURE MEANS
AND OF WHAT PUERTO RICAN AND UNITED STATES "CULTURE"
ARE
The Popular Democratic Party opposes Puerto
Rico becoming a state. It justifies its position in large measure
on the perceived notion that Puerto Rico's is a "Latin American"
culture, distinguishable from and therefore somehow incompatible
with U.S. culture. The present administration on the other hand,
that of the New Progressive Party, believes that Puerto Rico
and its citizens have embraced and share the culture of the United
States.
In the end, the culture that matters, that
describes the way in which people must be compatible in order
for political union between them to be possible, is political
culture; that is, we must focus on political culture when assessing
the cultural compatibility of Puerto Rico and the United States.
Since the signing of the Treaty of Paris brought
the war to its end, Puerto Rico has remained a U.S. territory
and its inhabitants have lived under the Constitution of the
United States of America. During that time, Puerto Rico and its
people have come to embrace the United States Constitution and,
in particular, the individual liberties protected by the Bill
of Rights. As a result, Puerto Rico has broken, culturally, from
its Latin roots over the last one hundred years. JAIME PIERAS,
JR., United States District Judge, Zappa v. Cruz
The movement to legislate English as the official
U.S. language is completely unnecessary and, at worst, inflammatory.
Americans shouldn't forget that this country has always been
a nation of immigrants who eventually learn English; legislating
an official language would only betray the xenophobia of a dwindling
majority.
English will likely remain the widespread
de facto language of choice because of its utility as a unifier.
No legislation is needed to create this condition. Alarmists
who politicize the issue merely betray another unfortunate trend
in American history: a rather inexplicable fear of outsiders.
-Brian Winter, Daily Texan (U. Texas-Austin)
The Land that Would be a State: Divided over
Statehood, Puerto Rico's Economy Shows It's Practically Joined
Up
"I see statehood and separate sovereignty
as acceptable alternatives for Congress," the Alaska Republican,
whose state entered the Union in 1959, said. "Because 'None
of the Above' received the majority vote, I intend to conduct
oversight hearings to see what led people to cast votes against
the only constitutional options available to Puerto Rico which
were on the ballot," he added. -CARIBBEAN BUSINESS
Congressional Sponsored Plebiscite
Necessary
The 1998 plebiscite confirms the need for
Congress to ascertain the will of the people of Puerto Rico among
options Congress is willing to consider. This can be accomplished
only if Congress sponsors a referendum under Federal law and
informs the voters of the terms for continuing the current status
or changing to a new status.
|
WASHINGTON - In the strongest Clinton administration message
on commonwealth status yet, both the State and Justice departments
have maintained that nothing has changed politically in the U.S.-island
relationship since 1952 and that "Puerto Rico remains a
territory" subject to the full powers of Congress.
"The status of Puerto Rico since the creation of the
commonwealth system is that Puerto Rico's status remains the
same," attorneys for both agencies said in a brief filed
in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The brief continued: "Although Congress, through the
1950 act, authorized the process for democratically instituting
a local constitutional government in Puerto Rico, Congress retained
the authority to legislate with regard to Puerto Rico."
The attorneys maintained that the courts also have indicated
that, "Puerto Rico's status in relation to the United States
remains the same following the establishment of the commonwealth
system."
ANOTHER
VIEW
The vote on the status of Puerto Rico was
a message that people there are unhappy with Gov. Pedro Rossello's
actions.
That's why 50.2 percent of the recent vote
went to ``none of the above''. People wanted to let the governor
know that they were unhappy with his actions, not that they were
against his party.
It boils down to a question of the people
feeling left out of important decisions and not being heard by
the governor.
Additionally, the pro-commonwealth party did
not like the definition given in the ballot under commonwealth
and campaigned to have their people vote for ``none of the above.''
Those supporting commonwealth sought inclusion of an ``enhanced
commonwealth'' on the ballot with all the privileges of a state,
while remaining separate and unique and without the burden of
federal income tax on the ballot.
Call it what you will, Puerto Rico is a territory
of the United States and has no voting representation in Congress.
The pro-statehood agenda wants equal representation, full participation
in the democratic process and guaranteed American citizenship
with all its responsibilities.
After all is said and done, it is unclear
whether the Republican controlled Congress would have moved forward
on the issue if statehood had carried the day. I think not.
For now, ``none of the above'' means business
as usual. -Lillyana Montanez, ORLANDO SENTINEL
As U.S. Attorney General under Presidents
Reagan and Bush, I urged Congress to sponsor a democratic process
to resolve the status of Puerto Rico based on constitutional
principles which favor equal rights and responsibilities for
all citizens, as well as government by consent of the governed.
Even though these basic values governed our nation's process
for resolving the status of 33 other large and populous territories
since 1789, in 1998 Congress again failed to take long overdue
action on Puerto Rico's status.
Yet, instead of asking why Congress still
has no plan to end Puerto Rico's current state of political limbo,
many pundits reacting to a recent status vote held under local
law in Puerto Rico seem puzzled because statehood supporters
in the territory have not abandoned their cause after failing
to win a majority.
(I)nstead of being puzzled because elected
statehood leaders in Puerto Rico are asking Congress to act on
the basis of the recent plebiscite, let's remember that America
became the greatest nation in the history of the world by empowering
people with the tools for informed self-determination. Sooner
or later Congress will have to do the same for Puerto Rico, and
the sooner the better for Puerto Rico and the nation as a whole.
-Dick Thornburgh
STATEHOOD ISSUE IS CAUGHT IN STALEMATE - PUERTO
RICO AND CONGRESS ARE WAITING FOR THE OTHER TO DEFINE THE POLITICAL
RELATIONSHIP
SAN JUAN: VACATIONER'S PARADISE
|
The Statehood
Movement
