William Q
 |
All the answers given are quite simplistic, because Puerto Rico does not choose to do so, so goes to the conventional wisdom in PR. The fact is that the U.S. has been toying with PR since it acquired from Spain as a consequence of the Hispanoamerican war. Up to that point in time, every time that a territory came under the control of the U.S. it was understood that they will be given a chance to become a state. But right of the bat, the U.S. Supreme Court changed the rules in a series of cases known as the Insular Cases in which PR was classified as an unincorporated territory, meaning that it was not the intention of the U.S. to make PR a state of the Union. This classification was done mainly to prevent the Phillipines from ever becoming part of the U.S, since at that time, and even today from some of the discourse that you hear in politics, mixed raced populations, like PR, Cuba, and the Phillipines were deemed inferior to the WASP's. Thus, the politics of the time have permeated how the U.S. treats PR up to now. Regarding all the referendums held in the Island, Congress has never said that they will accept the results and act according to the wishes of the Puertorrican people. Take for example the 1998 referendum. The alternative that won, was None of the Above, what does that mean? Commonwealth got 1% of the vote, so clearly they lost, Independence got 2%, (in both varieties, associated and nonassociated with the US), statehood got 47% and None of the above got 51%. So right now in PR, taking those results, Nobody has a majority, so it is the duty of the U.S. to clarify what they are willing to give and what they are not willing to give to PR. I can guarantee you that if they say, Statehood, Independence and Associated Independence, (No commonwealth in the ballot), PR will choose statehood. It is a fact that the U.S. does not want a Puertorrican state, so they continuously steer PR toward Independence, notwithstanding that the vast majority of Puertorricans do not wish Independence. The Independence Party lost its franchise in the last election, since it got less than 5% of the total vote for governor and they had to ask for signatures to register the party for the 2008 election. So the U.S. does not make PR a state because they do not want to, to which I say, if you are not willing to accept us as full members of the Union, then let us go our own way and stop the charade. We are good american citizens when we join the Army, but we fight and die for the rights of all U.S. citizens and we as a territory do not have the same rights. It is time to speak clearly and say it the way it is, we are in (full members) or we are out, no more B. S. about being half way in like now. |
COOKIE
|
i will love to, but my people refuse. people in puerto rico has voted against becoming the 51st state. why, i don't know, but i think is because, even though we admire the us for what it is and what it stands for, we can't digest the idea of for example buying a house and if you don't pay taxes the government can take it away from you or you land. lot of puertoricans like me, have a house and some land, and whether we pay taxes or not is our home and our land. nobody has the right to take it away. |
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