|
SAN JUAN: VACATIONER'S PARADISE
-- With the exactness of a finger snap, San Juan's
weather takes a turn for the better in mid- December, as the
rainy season disappears into the dry, bright afternoons of winter.
There's a clear light in San Juan at this time of year. It enhances
the blues of water and sky along San Juan's beaches, which stretch
from Condado all the way out to undeveloped Piñones, and
turns iridescent in Old San Juan as it bounces from the sandstone
facades of historic fortresses and chapels, and splashes across
the pastel sides of old houses...
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
|
"English-only' Betrays
Xenophobia
AUSTIN, Texas -- "With statehood , we
will not become blue-eyed blondes.Neither will it snow in Puerto
Rico. We will remain as we are ... speaking Spanish, eating fritters."
This text, from a commercial on Puerto Rican television in September
of 1998, was designed to reassure residents of the commonwealth
that statehood would not mean the end of Puerto Rican culture.
Ironically, similar ads could prove necessary in the U.S. to
convince a paranoid majority that the country's growing number
of Spanish-speaking citizens will not result in economic and
cultural chaos.
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
San Juan - While Puerto Ricans remain split over whether they
want to become a U.S. state, their island's speedy recovery from
Hurricane Georges shows a paradox: When it comes to the economy,
Puerto Rico is practically a state already.
Integration into the U.S. system -- including the use of the
U.S. dollar, U.S. interest rates and U.S. bond markets -- helps
keep Puerto Rico 's economy humming along with 3 percent annual
growth, while many nations in Latin America and the Caribbean
now struggle to grow at all.
Long term, Rossello and others in his pro-
statehood party dream of a day when Puerto Rico would not just
resemble a state economically --but actually be the 51st star
on the U.S. flag.
"Statehood is a development tool," claimed economic
czar Vivoni. "It's not just because we'd get more federal
funds. It's for the perception of stability that comes with being
a state. Statehood would mean even more business and investment."
- Doreen Hemlock, SUN-SENTINEL
"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
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The people of Puerto
Rico are divided. Congress won't take a stand. How can Puerto
Rico resolve its decades- old debate over political status with
the United States?
The stalemate costs time, energy and money in San Juan and Washington,
with no end in sight for a political relationship that many describe
as the world's biggest colony or an island in limbo. -OSCEOLA
SENTINEL
Make no mistake about it, the prospect of federal taxation
for Puerto Rico's elite, not the voter's preference for the status
quo tipped the scales against an outright statehood triumph on
December 13th. Paying little or no taxes under the porous Hacienda
collection apparatus, the wealthy five percent among us feared
the efficiency of the Internal Revenue Service more than they
fancied commonwealth. -Miriam Ramirez de Ferrer
"Congress has full powers to tax the
US territories and there is nothing special under commonwealth
relationship to stop it. Taxation without representation is just
a slogan. There is nothing in the Constitution about it,"
said John Killian. -Robert Friedman, THE SAN JUAN STAR
|
The full meaning of the election is still
being sorted out, but because of the (Puerto Rican Cultural Society
of Dayton Symposium on Puerto Rico status) I have a better perspective
on why voters said `None of the Above.'
Why? None of the choices offered on December's
ballot represented improvements on the status quo. Arguments
seemed to be rooted in the past - often appearing stale by the
lack of relevance to the world we live in. Today we have increased
globalization of not only trade but also of ideas and how and
where we live. State boundaries are becoming less distinct as
national and international ties grow more dominant. One speaker
questioned if the U.S. Congress would accept Puerto Rico only
if Puerto Ricans looked and acted more like mainlanders. But
the truth is, demographics hint that the mainland may be growing
to look more like Puerto Rico , which includes a mix of cultures,
many based on Hispanic heritage.
Going in, I thought I would have picked statehood. But that choice
wasn't as clear-cut as it appeared. Limitations had been imposed
by Congress. And more troubling, pro- statehood Gov. Rossello
had spent more time building consensus in Washington than in
San Juan.
Imposing statehood by political maneuvering might have worked
in the19th century, as happened in Ohio. But today's voters in
Puerto Rico are sophisticated. It's essential to first build
consensus at home before Puerto Rico can move ahead. -Kay Semion,
DAYTON DAILY NEWS
|
The best tribute we could render De Hostos
today is to achieve what he sought 100 years ago and was ignored
by Puerto Rican political sectors at the time. That is, set aside
personal ambitions, grudges, bitterness, calumnies, vicious personal
attacks, distortion of facts, lies, and unfounded fear and false
nationalism, which flooded our political scenario during the
campaign leading to the December 13, 1998 status consultation.
Instead, let's keep in mind De Hostos' legacy to think intelligently
so as to achieve among us the unity and harmony in an embrace
of reconciliation so we could reach a consensus among us to ask
the 106 U.S. Congress this year to approve legislation establishing
a process under which we, in the exercise of our right to self-determination,
can vote in a status referendum for viable, legitimate and realistic
decolonization status options... But what cannot be included
as a decolonization option is our present status (which is the
problem) and a free association option like the one included
in the December 13 status consultation, which was bound to be
unacceptable to the U.S. Congress... By the same token, the plebiscite
cannot include as an option the announced new definition of the
commonwealth status which is the best of two worlds, already
rejected by the U.S. Congress. -Guillermo Moscoso
|
Arizona voters narrowly approved one sweeping initiative that
barred Arizona state workers from using any language other than
English while on the job or while performing official duties.
The Arizona Supreme Court declared that the law violates constitutional
free-speech and equal-protection rights. Last week, the U.S.
Supreme Court let stand that state court ruling without comment.
What else was left to say?
English's dominance as the world's premier language for trade,
finance and political discourse won't be damaged one iota. And
the United States will be ever stronger for such freedom. -Myriam
Marquez, ORLANDO SENTINEL
Congressional Sponsored Plebiscite
Necessary
Both the 1993 and 1998 plebiscites were conducted under local
law after Congress failed to approve federal plebiscite legislation
defining the available choices to achieve a permanent status.
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.
For Barbosa, "Americanization" was not incompatible
with island patriotism, but rather it was the vital instrument
by which to obtain social justice and economic progress. For
him, political unity with the United States did not imply dissolving
the cultural personality of the Puerto Rican people. Political
assimilation was not synonymous with cultural assimilation. He
was convinced that Calderón's native tongue could coexist
with that of Shakespeare, thus creating a more educated and dynamic
people. -Gonzalo F. Cordova
|
The
Statehood Movement