Why has the Puerto Rico colony issue not been resolved?

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Puerto Rico's Future: A Time to Decide
by Dick Thornburgh

Four million U.S. citizens live under the U.S. flag in Puerto Rico, yet they can neither vote for president nor have voting representation in Congress, which enacts the federal laws under which they live. Residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are deprived of basic rights of self-determination that U.S. citizens generally enjoy and that the United States has committed itself to achieving for peoples around the globe.

This volume provides a comprehensive historical and constitutional framework for addressing increasingly serious issues of national policy concerning the political status and federal governance of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. Political gridlock in Congress and in Puerto Rico has stymied efforts to put Puerto Rico on a path toward a permanent political status that ensures full self-government for its residents.

If Congress does not act soon, U.S. courts may be asked to give more serious consideration to whether the residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories have political and human rights under U.S. and international law that can no longer be ignored by the political branches of government.

About the Author

Dick Thornburgh is a former attorney general of the United States, a former governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and a former undersecretary general of the United Nations. He currently serves as counsel to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP in Washington, D.C.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico

http://welcome.topuertorico.org/government.shtml

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I know two women from Puerto Rico and it is the opinion of both that the residents of PR are best off under the present (for from ideal) circumstances.

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Dog

patiodog wrote:

I know two women from Puerto Rico and it is the opinion of both that the residents of PR are best off under the present (for from ideal) circumstances.

All research indicates that Puerto Rico citizens are divided on the issue.

BBB

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I was actually in Puerto Rico the day they were voting whether to become a US state or not. Apparantely they voted it down. It appears that the citizens of Puerto Rico do not want to be a state so it really is not Congress that is preventing it.

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Why does this issue remain unresolved?

1. Because it is not important enough for the rest of the country to get excited about.
2. Because the people of Puerto Rico get a very good deal in terms of economic subsidies and the political protection of the United States, without having to either pay their share for it, or even giv ing up their local autonomy.

The only way we will get a resolution is to give Puerto Rico a clear either or choice between application for statehood and complete independence. As long as they have the chance for a free ride they will take it. We certainly don't need them.

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georgeob1 wrote:

We certainly don't need them.

That might well be.

(What about the two other US-colonies in the Caribean, Navassa Island and U.S. Virgin Islands and the twelve or more further "dependencies"?)

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Well Navassa Island is uninhabited. We once operated some navigation beacons from there, but they have been out of use for decades. I believe the principal interest in this island is now echological.(I recall repeatedly flying over it, intrigued by the decaying old base facilities there.)

As for the Virgin Islands , I have more or less the same opinion. We bought them frfom Denmark, I believe. Unlike Puerto Rico they do not have the same degree of political autonomy.

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I'm not so sure it's a completely free ride. They don't receive the federal funds that states receive for things like schools and highways, so I imagine they are completely dependent on their own small tax base for these things. Though tourism helps, I guess.

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I'm not so sure about matching Federal highway & school funds. It would not surprise me to find they do indeed get most of these. I do know that the San Juan Tren Urbano metro system was build during the late 1990s largely with Federal funds.

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The Puerto Ricans are divided on this issue, but it's clearly a minority who wants independence, and clearly a majority who wants to keep the current status.
We may wish it to be otherwise, for ideological and cultural reasons, but that's the way it is, for more practical reasons ("a servitude of convenience", we say).

In my personal experience, Puertoricans get annoyed, and a bit ashamed, when confronted by other Latin Americans about their less than sovereign status. But they display their US passports way too proudly.

I have met Latin American leftwingers of practically all sorts, but I've yet to meet a Puertorican who is decidedly for independence.

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fbaezer
fbaezer, good to see you again,. Thanks for the information from one who know of what he speaks.

BBB

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Until the middle of the twentieth century, the island was one of the poorest in the Caribbean. In 1948 the U.S. government began Operation Bootstrap which infused millions of dollars into the Puerto Rican economy and made it one of the wealthiest. United States firms that are located in Puerto Rico receive tax incentives to encourage investments. Major exports include pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, sugarcane, and coffee. The U.S. is the major trading partner, 86% of exports are sent to the U.S. and 69% of imports come from the fifty states.

Puerto Ricans have been citizens of the United States since a law was passed in 1917. Even though they are citizens, Puerto Ricans pay no federal income tax and they can not vote for president. Unrestricted U.S. migration of Puerto Ricans has made New York City the one place with the most Puerto Ricans anywhere in the world (over one million).

In 1967, 1981, 1993, and 1998 the citizens of the island voted whether Puerto Rico should remain a commonwealth , become a state, or become and independent country. None of these referendums were binding and were for opinion purposes. In all four votes, Puerto Ricans voted to maintain the status quo.

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Puerto Rican citizenship will be granted to Puerto Ricans when the Puerto Rico State Department has developing the relevant protocol.

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Why has the Puerto Rico colony issue not been resolved?

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