Time for Puerto Rico independence? …

Argenpress, Argentina

Puerto Rico Must Declare Independence to Restore Spanish to its Rightful Place

"Those who wish to remain isolated from the rest of the world, either by extending Puerto Rico's current colonial status or through annexing it as a U.S. state, care little about the fate of the Spanish language, because their worldview has shrunk."

By José R. Bas García

Translated By Halszka Czarnocka

December 28, 2007

Argentina - Argen Press - Original Article (Spanish)

In Puerto Rico, there remains a constant debate about language that has its roots in the inconclusive political status of the island. There are the same divisions on the issue of status as there are on the defense of Spanish or English. Those who favor independence [for Puerto Rico] see Spanish as an integral part and a unifying factor of the Puerto Rican nationality. Those statesman [those in favor of U.S. statehood] have adopted a seemingly pragmatic position, downplaying the importance of the cohesive value of Spanish and extolling the teaching and use of English as an instrument for achieving better economic conditions. “English is a universal language of business,” they insist. Many, following the false notion that if their children don’t learn English they won't be able to succeed in life, make great sacrifices to keep them in exclusive and prohibitively expensive private schools, where the teaching is done in English.

But the myth of English seems to be waning. According to a news article [ - in Spanish] published on a Web site devoted to the Spanish language, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the teaching of Spanish restored to her nation's public schools. Information has been circulated unofficially that suggests the teaching of Spanish in Philippine schools will begin in January 2008.

“The language of Cervantes  will return to where it should never have left, despite its ban by the Americans during the first 40 years of the twentieth century,” states the article.

Like Cuba and Puerto Rico, the Philippines were a colony of the Spanish Empire until 1898, when it became, along with the two Caribbean islands, the possession of the United States . The Spanish language has been banned in the Philippines ever since. But the use of Spanish among Filipinos became a form of resistance to the American presence. The ban on Spanish by the American authorities, and then after independence in 1946 through the actions of two of its presidents to remove Spanish from the public sphere, had the effect of dramatically reducing its use.

But despite the attempt to erase Spanish from the Filipino mind, a total eradication of the language has never been achieved. The truth is that, “the perception of the world, the sensibility and rationality in relating to one’s surroundings, and the management of time and space for Filipinos are anchored in two worlds: Asian on the one hand and Western rationality in its peculiarly Spanish form - on the other. This mentality has never been linked to the Anglo-Saxon view of the world," argues the article, in describing conditions similar to those in Puerto Rico. It adds that anyone who aspires to practice the profession of historian in the Philippines is obliged to be thoroughly familiar with Spanish, since over 80 percent of its historical documents are written in that language.

Beyond the historical and anthropological, there are other reasons for wanting to repair the consequences of the linguistic accident of the Philippines initiated by the United States Empire. The Philippines are not alone in reintroducing the study of Spanish. Brazil, which is a global economic power, made the teaching of Spanish compulsory in its schools in 2005. This raised the global potential of those able to communicate in Spanish to about 700 million people. Brazil was probably motivated for reasons similar to the Philippines: to better understand its trading partners. The Philippines aspires to be part of the Community of Latin American Countries [CIN], which is made up of countries that speak Spanish and Portuguese.

“The chances that the Philippines could become a member of CIN is small … as long as the link with the Spanish language remains broken. That limitation has created obstacles for the Philippines for opening up and gaining access to the market potential of almost 600 million people in over 20 countries on three continents,” points out the article.

Another interesting point is that, “young Philippines are pushing for the use of Spanish alongside English, since it raises their earning potential. For the Philippines, the recovery of the Spanish language means the potential for wealth, while allowing it to die out would be a factor in prolonging poverty.”

English is undoubtedly very important, but dismissing the importance of Spanish as a commercial link with the rest of the world, according to a certain school of thought in Puerto Rico, seems somewhat preposterous and absurd. The use of Spanish in the world, far from being on the decline, is increasing. This means that the global market is increasingly dominated by people who speak our own language. So a pragmatic response to that reality cannot be to give more importance to English at the expense of our own Spanish, but to strengthen the vernacular and educate ourselves in as many languages as possible, so as to be able to reach more people. This would be a different approach to the language issue.

For Spanish to take the place of importance in Puerto Rico as it has in other countries, as a means of communication for global commercial transactions, the island needs to have the authority and powers provided by national sovereignty, which at the moment it does not possess. Sovereignty would empower us to carry out these actions.

Those who wish to remain isolated from the rest of the world, either by extending Puerto Rico's current colonial status or through annexing it as a U.S. state, care little about the fate of the Spanish language, because their worldview has shrunk. They don’t need a language other than English to interact with the North American micro-world.

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