Leaders of the Puerto Rican diaspora in Florida reacted to a new proposal seeking statehood for the U.S. territory. The new legislation was introduced Tuesday by Florida Rep. Darren Soto and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González at a news conference.
Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Florida (PRFAA), Anthony Carrillo Filomeno, said the measure “is the right step to ensure the political equality of the 3.2 million American citizens on the island.”
Unlike the 1.3 million Puerto Ricans who reside in Florida, those living on the island “do not have the right to vote and equal representation in the federal government.”
The annexation debate resurfaced after a sixth consultation was held on the island: “Statehood: Yes or No,” where yes prevailed.
Furthermore, the reintroduction of statehood legislation to the U.S. Congress puts Puerto Rico back into the national spotlight at a time of increased awareness of its political status. Those born on the island are U.S. citizens but cannot vote in federal elections if they reside in the commonwealth.
The argument for electoral equality could be strengthened by legislation asking Washington, D.C. to be accepted in the American union.
“From a strategic standpoint, I would like to see Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico fighting hand-in-hand so that both receive admission simultaneously following a tradition of admission in pairs as was the case in Hawaii and Alaska. However, unlike D.C., Puerto Rico clearly enjoys the advantage of having bipartisan support,“ added Carrillo Filomeno.
The bill has the backing of Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. Sen. Martin Heinrich, a Democrat representing New Mexico, is expected to eventually introduce the bipartisan legislation in the Senate.
Representation in Congress is precisely what, according to Jimmy Torres Vélez, president of the Puerto Rican Action Initiative, considers will doom the process.
“There is no way. You cannot convince [Republican Senators] to pass the minimum wage. How will they get the votes [necessary for statehood]?“ he said.
Torres Vélez conceded the move can have a positive effect by sparking “the conversation [about Puerto Rico] in the United States Congress. The worst thing is silence.”
However, he warned that debate is “a serious process” that he considers is currently being manipulated “by the political parties of Puerto Rico.”
“[Congress] should have a serious conversation” Vélez said about status rather than allowing it to be a token to attract voters, a strategy he says was used in the 2020 general election by including a status plebiscite. “A question asked in the middle of the elections seeking to ensure that people who in good faith believe in statehood would vote because people did not feel energized to vote. Incidentally, it was the election with the least participation in the history of Puerto Rico.”
He advised Soto and 15 other Florida congressmen, including Stephanie Murphy (District 7) and Val Demings (District 10), who support the measure, not to fall into a “game” led by the political interests of Puerto Rico’s politicians.
In this regard, the activist criticized González and Soto for presenting their own proposal with a single choice — “statehood: yes or no” — instead of joining efforts to back a bill introduced by Democratic representatives Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Córtez providing other alternatives to the current status.
The Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act proposes delegates elected by Puerto Rican voters define the relationship with the United States and includes statehood, independence, free association “or any other option that is not the current territorial order“ as an alternative, said Velázquez and Ocasio-Córtez in an opinion column published on NBC News.
He also questioned the validity of the last two plebiscites that have been held on the Island of Enchantment since they did not have the endorsement of the “previous government of Donald Trump” or the Department of Justice.
Last July, the DOJ determined that the Nov. 3, 2020, referendum violated federal public policy by not including alternatives other than statehood.
That “is the type of situation that needs to be avoided because it is not going to lead anywhere. It will not lead to any solution,“ lamented Torres Vélez. “That is not what the people of Puerto Rico are looking for.”
Similarly, groups in the diaspora expressed their support for including other alternatives to Puerto Rico’s status beyond statehood.
As part of the campaign “Let’s end colonialism together,” a diaspora coalition including Vamos 4 Puerto Rico, Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora, Diaspora en Resistencia, and Nuestra Revolución Puerto Rico launched an ad in The New York Times supporting Bill HR8113 by representatives Velázquez and Ocasio-Cortez as a better option to resolve the island’s territorial status.
“True equality will only be achieved when Puerto Rico is free to decide its own destiny, armed with information and full understanding of all available non-territorial status possibilities. The Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act provides the appropriate tools to cope with this process,“ reads part of the message.
Former governors of Puerto Rico react
In a letter dated Feb. 18, 2021, former governors Sila María Calderón, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, and Alejandro García Padilla urged President Joe Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to direct a process of “self-determination” that includes all the options for Puerto Rico’s political status.
The leaders affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and the formula of the current Commonwealth (ELA) indicated to the Biden-Harris administration that the statehood seeking New Progressive Party (PNP) seeks “the support of liberals by framing statehood as a civil rights issue,” reads part of the document.
“The people of Puerto Rico are divided on this issue,” warned the former governors. “Taking into account the ups and downs of public opinion, the minimum majority of 52% obtained by the option of statehood.”
Zulma Vélez Estrada, an activist and political advisor, grew up “under the structure of the Commonwealth,” the island’s current political relationship with the United States, signed into law by President Truman in October 1950.
The Puerto Rico Commonwealth Bill enabled the island’s people to establish their own constitution.
“I believe that citizens should be given more rights in Puerto Rico maintaining a relationship with the U.S., but not with the disadvantages that we have. I don’t believe in 100% statehood, but I do believe in more rights for that territory and with the right to have representation with a vote [in Congress],“ said Vélez Estrada.
Marcos Vilar, president and founder of Alianza for Progress believes “the time has come to bury old ideas and build on new ideas. We all know that the issue of Puerto Rico’s status divides us.”
There is an agreement in the great debate, said Vilar.
“The vast majority of our Puerto Rican community wants the best for Puerto Rico. There is a great consensus that we must end the colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States, once and for all,“ he said.
Similarly, Emilio Ruiz, founder of the Puerto Rico Statehood Supporters of Florida & USA group said “Puerto Rico has been voting in favor of statehood since the 1990s and it is now time to listen to the people, who democratically exercise their right to vote, once again asked to become the 51st state of the nation.”
The disagreement on which path will lead to a better future for the U.S. residents living on the island remains.
“Unfortunately the project of our dear Congressman, Darren Soto, with all the respect it deserves, is wrong,” said Vilar. “His project imposes very limited solutions on this side of the pond and unfortunately fuels the division that exists in our town. He explains neither the process nor the implications of the options to voters. Faced with a decision that would instantly change our relationship with the United States forever, we deserve to know how such dramatic change would affect us economically and in other ways. It would be like buying a car or a house without knowing its price or interest.”
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