Puerto Rico Could Soon Get Real Vote on Status

For the first time since this Caribbean island became spoils of the 1898 Spanish-American War, Washington has laid out the options for Puerto Ricans to decide what kind of relationship they want with the United States.

Whether there will be an answer is uncertain, given the political diversity of this island territory and the expected foot-dragging by the U.S. Congress.

A recently released White House task force report calls for Puerto Ricans to vote on whether they want to remain an American possession, become the 51st state or become an independent country.

The report has stimulated debate from coffeehouses to the territory’s seats of government over what course this island of more than 4 million should pursue.

Puerto Rican plebescites are hardly new. Four votes on status have been conducted since 1967, but they were neither requested nor accepted by Congress, which oversees the island.

Although Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, they can’t vote for members of Congress or president because the territory has no electoral votes.

They pay no federal income tax but contribute to Social Security, Medicare and other federal programs and pay about 32% of their salaries to the island’s tax collectors.

As a state, Puerto Rico would have two senators and six House members, and it would outrank 24 states and the District of Columbia in the pecking order for federal funding. And with its per capita income of $12,000 a year -- half that of Mississippi, the poorest state -- economists calculate that the island would receive at least $5 billion more in federal outlays per year than it would pay in taxes.

Puerto Ricans’ status sometimes grates on their pride, especially when they feel they are being treated like second-class citizens. The last U.S. president to visit was John F. Kennedy, in 1961. U.S. airlines handle San Juan-bound traffic out of their international terminals. Shipping companies charge overseas rates for deliveries to the island. Fifty Puerto Ricans have died in U.S. military service, including 16 in the Iraq war alone. Yet the 250,000 veterans here never had the right to vote for their commander in chief.

The task force report, released Dec. 22, calls for a two-stage decision. First would be a vote on whether to change the current territorial status. If the vote is yes, a second referendum would ask voters to choose between statehood and independence.

Since the report’s release, Puerto Ricans have been jawing anew over the pros and cons of their options.

Bernice Acevedo, a fourth-year medical student, recently tried to persuade an older colleague at the hotel where they work of the need for statehood. Her reason: to stem the tide of college graduates flowing to the U.S. mainland.

“We need better care for our old people, but everyone in the medical professions leaves for the states,” she said. “Nurses earn $22 an hour there, while here they get less than $6.”

Statehood advocates, somewhat surprised that a Clinton administration initiative emerged with solid Bush administration backing, are jubilant over the call for a vote this year.

Independence supporters -- estimated at 5% or less of the population -- also welcome the chance to voice their desire for their future.

One vocal group is angry that the report rejected populists’ idea for a commonwealth in which Puerto Ricans would have the powers of an independent nation while retaining U.S. citizenship. They dismiss the report as “lip service” to statehood supporters. Analysts predict commonwealth proponents will call for a boycott of the vote.

Bills now being drafted are likely to put the first question to voters May 1, said Juan Garcia-Passalacqua, a political science professor and commentator on the status issue for about 50 years. He predicted voters would choose statehood.

Garcia-Passalacqua said May 1 was being discussed because of its symbolism: It is the anniversary of the 1900 establishment of civilian government in Puerto Rico and of the 2003 withdrawal of the U.S. Navy, ending a century of military colonization.

In the last poll on status, an unofficial 1998 plebiscite arranged by Puerto Ricans, five choices were listed: U.S. territory, statehood, independent country, free state aligned with the United States but with limited sovereignty, or none of the above. With populists urging voters to hold out for the commonwealth option, 50.3% of voters cast their ballots for “none of the above,” 46.5% supported statehood, and less than 3% were for independence.

In the United States, some observers fear that if Puerto Rico became the 51st state, it would be a tax burden. Puerto Rican-born Maurice Ferre, a former mayor of Miami, also worries that the island’s Hispanic heritage will alarm those who fear rather than embrace the inclusion of more citizens whose first language is Spanish.

“It’s too late to be having this debate. It’s already happened,” retorts Garcia-Passalacqua. “Salsa has been outselling ketchup in the United States for a decade.” Independence advocates have latched on to anti-immigrant sentiments on the U.S. mainland to bolster their campaign for sovereignty and, in turn, protection of their culture.

“Puerto Rico is a noncompatible donor to the body politic of the United States,” insists Fernando Martin, head of the Independence Party. Even if statehood wins a majority, he expects that any application would be rejected by members of Congress who have constituencies subtly or overtly anti-Hispanic.

Statehooders, as they call themselves, disagree. They argue that multiculturalism is the bedrock of the United States and that statehood for Puerto Rico would allow the U.S. to rediscover its identity as a nation of immigrants.

“This can’t be viewed purely as a Puerto Rican issue. It’s a fundamental issue of American democracy. It has to do with the nature of the nation,” says Sen. Pedro Rossello, a former governor and leader of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party. “In the past, those who came into the culture had to be homogenized,” he said. “But in the 21st century, there’s a different paradigm. It’s more of a mosaic, with communities preserving their unique culture.”

Kenneth McClintock, a former governor and now president of the Puerto Rican Senate, is an ardent statehood advocate. He argues that admission of Puerto Rico would soothe often tense relations between Washington and Latin American countries. “There is no greater accolade than to admit someone into your family. It would have strong, positive foreign policy implications,” he said.

Those opposed to statehood may win by default. Even if approved by voters in Puerto Rico, getting Congress to schedule a statehood vote could be an uphill battle.

“Odds are nothing will happen. It’s not high in the priority list of anyone in Congress other than the Puerto Rican representative, and he has no vote,” said Ferre. He said there was a prevailing attitude among many U.S. lawmakers that “Hey, 50 is a nice number, why change it?”