La Vanguardia, Spain

Puerto Rico's Dilemma: To Be Or Not to Be a U.S. State

"The primary has become a carnival of assimilation and annexation, with Puerto Rican politicians running like puppy dogs with rabies after North American candidates who come to tell us what we want to hear only to turn their backs on us, which is what has happened historically."

-- Fernando Marin, Executive President of the Puerto Rican Independence Party

By Eusebio Val

Translated By Barbara Howe

June 3, 2008

Spain - La Vanguardia - Original Article (Spanish)

San Juan, Puerto Rico: Put back on the map by the U.S. Democratic primary, Puerto Rico is a peculiar country that enjoys sovereignty only over sporting competitions and beauty pageants. So the devotion of puertorriqueños to their excellent boxing champions and beauty queens (the result of racial mixing that produces very beautiful women) is not at all surprising.

Since World War I, Puerto Ricans have generously given their blood in every war that the U.S. has taken part in. However the inhabitants of the island, although they are U.S. citizens, can't vote in presidential elections. Its status as a Commonwealth masks a situation of semi-colonial dependency. Satisfying to no one, the state of affairs is maintained for practical reasons and because it seems better than the alternatives. In a recent article in The New York Times, historian Michael Janeway put it graphically. He described Puerto Rico as a “special place, which landed in our lap as a stepchild of imperialism in 1898, and which we have never seen clearly. .

Separatists demonstrate on Democratic Party Primary Day in San

Juan, Puerto Rico, 2008.

[Editor's Note: Janeway refers to the Spanish-American War. The war with Spain lasted four months and marked the serious entry of the United States into global affairs. It also effectively brought to an end the Spanish Empire. The United States gained almost all of Spain's colonies, including the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Cuba, which had already been occupied, received its independence in 1902, except of course for  the now infamous, Guantanamo Bay ].

Walking through the old section of San Juan, the capital, or through the center of Ponce, Puerto Rico's second city, its Spanish heritage is evident. Spain's was a four hundred year presence. Catalan surnames are widespread: Rosselló, Prats, Pou, Pons, Mercader, Fábregas, Albors, Comas and many more. Among Puerto Ricans of a certain upbringing, the knowledge of Spanish current affairs is astounding. A married couple of a certain age, both Puerto Ricans going back several generations and who attended a rally for Hillary Clinton at the port of San Juan, surprised me with their understanding of the most recent difficulties Mariano Rajoy has had asserting his authority over the Partido Popular [Spain's ruling Party].

At the same event for the Democratic candidate [Hillary], Mario Ramos, grandson of a Spanish soldier who was stationed on the island when Spain lost the war of 1898 against the U.S., explained his version of the complicated Puerto Rican identity to us. That war ripped apart the population in a way that has never been resolved. Ramos, 47, with Corsican blood, is a casino inspector and author of a book of political essays.

The conversation took place following a simple observation: At the Hillary Clinton rally, contrary to the norm in the U.S., there was no giant flag of the bars and stars behind the stage. Surely this was a studied decision not to offend certain sensibilities.

Here are Ramos' reflections: “Ninety five percent of Puerto Ricans in their daily lives feel no inconsistency about valuing U.S. government institutions, being American citizens and defending United States democracy on the other hand, and expressing cultural nationalism on the other.” Our interlocutor summed up the great dilemma: Puerto Ricans want to maintain their ultra-idiosyncrasies, while not renouncing the social, economic and political benefits involved with being U.S. citizens. “There is (Puerto Rican) cultural patriotism and civil and political patriotism (to the U.S.),” insisted Ramos, with a growing passion in his words. It seems a dichotomy but it isn't. "Puerto Ricans do everything in Spanish. They even make love to the wives in Spanish. I love the Spanish language as if it were my mother.” 

Moreover, Ramos, despite his Hispanic pride, is in favor of incorporating Puerto Rico as the 51st U.S. state.

Two days later during the Democratic primary, separatist leader Fernando Marin participated in a march repudiating the vote, which he considered a “farce” and a “lack of respect for the dignity of the Puerto Rican people,” because it allows them to choose the candidates but doesn't entitle them to vote in the actual election. Martin, the Executive President of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, a law professor and a former Puerto Rican senator, argues that Puerto Rico's "path" should not be to more actively participate in North American political processes, but on the contrary, “it should lead to the recovery of our national sovereignty and down the road of independence.” In his judgment the primary, “has become a carnival of assimilation and annexation, with Puerto Rican politicians running like puppy dogs with rabies after North American candidates who come to tell us what we want to hear only to turn their backs on us, which is what has happened historically.”

"Is achieving independence realistic," we ask.

“What would not unrealistic would be to think that Puerto Rico, as a country, might have a destiny other than independence,” Martin replied. "Clearly, the twentieth century was the great American century, and Puerto Rico eagerly fell into North America's regional hegemonic net. But it’s an aberration to think that colonialism could have a place in 21st century life.”

For Martin, colonialism is something as repugnant as South African “apartheid” or slavery. His explanation of why independence is not today a majority force on the island was as follows: “Independence has always been associated with uncertainty. Those who favor independence are a numerical minority, but they are the tip of a great iceberg of Puerto Rican nationalism, which is a bloc without fissures. A natural majority that favors independence will emerge from this." 

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On Spain's role in the debate, Martin complained that what should have been two “pristine and clear” voices remained "silenced" because of short-term interests. “Spanish governments were very timid about the issue of Puerto Rico during the Cold War so as not to offend the U.S.; at other times they were silent because of domestic political concerns, such as the subject of Basque or Cataluña independence. These are issues that we know are very sensitive for the Spanish government and I think they preferred not to have them on the table.”

About the parallel between Catalonia and Puerto Rico, he wanted to make clear that the two are very different cases, and he remarked: “One may favor the independence of Catalonia, but after all, no one can say that Catalonia is a colony of Spain.”

[Catalonia is an autonomous region of Spain and France. Spanish Catalonia is an autonomous region of Spain and its capital is Barcelona ].

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US June 13, 10:13pm]