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PUERTO RICO REPORT
Puerto Rico's Latest Five Minutes Almost in the Spotlight
by Lance Oliver
August 20, 1999
Copyright © 1999 THE PUERTO RICO HERALD. All Rights Reserved.
Most of the time, Washington ignores Puerto Rico and the muddy
waters of island politics roil on just the same, churning with
the usual energetic fervor and keeping the political writers busy.
But lately, the movers and shakers in the U.S. political firmament
have paid a flurry of attention to the island.
Bill Bradley is (he hopes) the mover and Jesse Jackson is the
epitome of a shaker, but more on them later. The top story came
from the White House, where President Clinton finally took action,
after years of lobbying and thousands of petition signatures,
on the issue of the Puerto Ricans in U.S. prisons for pro-independence
activities.
Some call them common criminals, some call them patriotic Puerto
Ricans who are political prisoners, but Clinton, following his
usual approach, waffled in between and managed to please very
few people. While the prisoners' supporters had hoped for a presidential
pardon, as Jimmy Carter gave to the independentistas who shot
at members of Congress in the Capitol in 1954, Clinton instead
offered parole.
The offer came with a long list of conditions typical of a
parole: reporting in regularly to a parole officer, holding down
a job, getting permission before traveling or moving, etc. Those
restrictions, while not unusual, are problematic enough for prisoners
who do not recognize U.S. jurisdiction over Puerto Rico and consider
it an illegal colonial situation under international law.
Other aspects are even greater sticking points, however. The
offer requires the prisoners to ask Clinton for the clemency.
Some see this as an apology for what they did. Other difficult
conditions include renouncing the use of violence for any purpose
and not associating with anyone convicted of a crime, which would
include other independentistas who have also engaged in civil
disobedience for their cause.
It may be weeks before the prisoners decide whether to accept
the terms. If they do not, the lobbying on their behalf will again
resume.
Meanwhile, Jesse Jackson wrapped up his Puerto Rico tour in
support of local efforts to get the Navy out of Vieques. Jackson's
landing on Vieques differed greatly in style from the usual storming
of shores that Navy troops practice. Four men carried Jackson
from boat to shore so he wouldn't get his loafers or pants wet.
His visit caused hopes to surge that finally the United States
would start paying attention to Vieques. How could they ignore
Jesse Jackson attacking the Navy?
The other visit was by former Senator and current presidential
candidate Bill Bradley, who made news by promising that as president
he would support the further development of the commonwealth status,
giving Puerto Rico greater rights and responsibilities.
Bradley's speech illustrated the hazards of the increasingly
common practice among politicians of endorsing a presidential
candidate very early.
Pro-commonwealth leaders who had already endorsed Al Gore suddenly
had reason to chew on their words and wonder, just as Republicans
in other corners of the United States will probably find themselves
losing enthusiasm for their endorsements of George W. Bush once
he finally takes some stands.
What's the lesson in these interventions from the north? Maybe
one lesson we in Puerto Rico need to learn (and re-learn, as we
periodically forget) is not to get our hopes up.
Over the weekend, I talked to a very knowledgeable man, a Puerto
Rican intellectual who lives in the states and therefore knows
how things work there. Surely, he told me, the confluence of
these events would force the media to cover Puerto Rico now.
The prisoners, Jackson, all of it. And he wasn't alone, as many
people in Puerto Rico were certain that Jackson's presence would
make Vieques the important issue in the states that it has been
here. Puerto Rico would absolutely be on the front page of the
Washington Post by Monday, he predicted.
Of course it wasn't. It almost never is.
Given the one-way mirror between Puerto Rico and Washington,
in which Puerto Rico minutely examines every eye-twitch in Washington
while Washington resolutely ignores Puerto Rico, it's easy to
expect imminent salvation from afar. Easy, but almost always
wrong.
If the political prisoners reject Clinton's terms, as is likely,
the years-long campaign to get them released will go on, little
different from before.
If the Navy leaves Vieques, it will not be because Jesse Jackson
chased them out, but because of the findings of the panel ordered
by the president and the political considerations surrounding
the issue.
And Bill Bradley is not likely to resolve Puerto Rico's political
status issue anytime soon, either as a presidential candidate
or even as president, should he be lucky enough to become one.
For the most part, when the honchos from up north stick their
toes in Puerto Rican political waters, it's just for a minute.
Then the current immediately fills the space as soon as they leave
and it's left to Puerto Ricans themselves to try to direct their
course toward the future.
Lance Oliver writes The Puerto Rico Report weekly
for The Puerto Rico Herald. He can be reached by email
at: loliver@caribe.net.
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