Ny Safidinao

The pro-statehood governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, invited the people of the island to vote in favor of statehood on a plebiscite held on June 11, 2017. It was a nonbinding vote, held after the U.S. Department of Justice rejected the first proposed ballot for not complying with the Constitution and federal law, and then kept silent on the ballot that was offered to the people. Showing a great deal of political maturity, Puerto Ricans massively declined the invitation. Even though our rate of participation in elections and past plebiscites has been between 60 percent and 80 percent, this time 77 percent of those entitled to vote decided to pass.  The plebiscite was boycotted by the two major opposition parties and every important civic and political organization. The pro-statehood party spent millions of dollars on a fear campaign, telling people that if they did not vote for statehood they would be deprived of their U.S. citizenship and promising millions in federal...

There is a well-known and somewhat worn-out adage that warns against wasting a crisis, in great part because critical moments provide opportunities to take action on important issues that are commonly avoided and often misunderstood. But it seems like Puerto Rico’s political leaders are doing just that by opting to invest valuable political capital in Washington, D.C. on a recent referendum vote, while vital issues like budget cuts and fiscal consolidation threaten to compromise the socioeconomic prospects of generations to come. Much has been written on the impacts of the debt crisis that is crippling the island, but significant knowledge gaps remain. On numerous occasions, I have heard businessmen, politicians and others suggest, with conviction and authority, that we are too indebted because the government spent too much, and now, in order to solve the problem, we have to do the opposite: slash public budgets until a recovery is in sight. It is an appealing proposition, in part, ...

The current major push by the Island’s Governor and his party to make Puerto Rico the 51st state has created a new momentum for this movement - as well as an increased strong response by its critics. While we're aware of significant divisions in United States politics, this is no less the case among Puerto Ricans. But despite this divide on the status question, what is currently most interesting is whether or not the current statehood push will get a positive (or any) response from the U.S. Congress or the White House. If Congress does respond, will that put an end to the debate or fuel further divisions? If it doesn’t, would that mean the end of the statehood movement and the opening to a renewed focus on the possibilities of independence? An American flag and Puerto Rican flag fly next to each other in Old San Juan.   Joe Raedle / Getty Images What are the elements of this current statehood push? First of all, the statehood movement has, since 1973, tied its argument...

In the midst of an unprecedented economic and fiscal crisis, Puerto Rico held its fifth status referendum in 50 years last Sunday. Producing a 97 percent victory in favor of statehood, New Progressive Party (PNP) Gov. Ricardo Rosselló has made it clear that he will lose no time leveraging the mandate to push Congress to admit Puerto Rico as the 51st state. Despite this, Rosselló will surely exclude from his sales pitch any reference to the successful electoral boycott organized and supported by practically every movement, party, and sector other than the PNP. Though Puerto Rican voters traditionally churn out en masse for electoral events, only about a quarter of voters participated in Rosselló's referendum. Turnout rates for previous votes on the matter in 2012, 1998, 1993 and 1967 boasted participation rates of 78 percent, 71 percent, 74 percent, and 60 percent, respectively. The boycott, in effect, was thus successful. Though turnout tends to be low in the U.S., such organize...

The United States citizens of Puerto Rico have spoken, loud and clear. We want statehood and we wanted it now. This past Sunday, Puerto Ricans went to the polls in an historic status referendum in which the people decided to end more than a century of colonial rule by joining the union as its fifty-first state. In a resounding fashion, almost 98 percent of the voters cast their ballots for statehood. In all, 512,000 U.S. citizens voted for the admission of the Island, a U.S. territory since the end of the Spanish-American War of 1898. It is now up to the Congress and the White House to pave the way for statehood with the enacting of legislation conducting towards the admission of Puerto Rico. There are simply no more excuses for delaying the will of the people, which was expressed freely and democratically this past Sunday. The numbers gathered by the statehood option, 512,000 total votes, represents more than 24 percent of all eligible voters in Puerto Rico. By compari...

32 territories became states of the U.S. in the first two centuries of our history. For those territories that were organized under the  Northwest Ordinance , statehood was the future planned for them by the federal government from the beginning. The  unincorporated territory doctrine  means that Congress has not been required to adopt any real plan for the future status of Puerto Rico. That means a Tennessee Plan strategy for Puerto Rico might be different from the Tennessee Plan for territories organized under the Northwest Ordinance. To begin with, a Tennessee Plan for Puerto Rico would mean that Puerto Rico would no longer be an unincorporated territory waiting patiently for Congress to decide it fate. A Tennessee Plan for Puerto Rico might even require a proclamation that U.S. citizens in the territory no longer consent to unincorporated territory status so it is no longer legitimate on a particular date, just as Tennessee declared that their incorporated territor...

A little more than one hundred years after being granted U.S. citizenship, Puerto Ricans will go to the polls on Sunday to decide the next step in their country’s history. Three options present themselves in the nonbinding referendum: joining the U.S. as the 51st state, retaining the status quo or voting for independence, a choice made possible after a bill passed in February called the Law for the Immediate Decolonization of Puerto Rico 2017. The ruling New Progressive Party is a staunch supporter of the statehood option, while the opposition Popular Democratic Party and the Puerto Rican Independence Party disapprove of the vote to the point of boycotting it. Supporters of the boycott have called for a march on Sunday, which is also Puerto Rico’s National Day, to protest  the $7.8 million referendum . The boycott is, however, likely to backfire: This is the fifth of such plebiscites over the island’s status, and this time victory for statehood looks likely as support for th...

IO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — A wall in the living room of Martin Benítez Torres’ childhood home is adorned with almost 400 black and white photos that show the best moments he spent with his loved ones. His bedroom, filled with all the costumes he used to create for Halloween celebrations and beauty pageants, remains untouched. “I will never move anything here,” said his mother, Myriam Torres. “I just come here to clean and sit in his bed. I feel him right next to me. It is the only comfort we have, ourselves and these memories.” Twenty-three of the 49 people gunned down a year ago at the Pulse nightclub were from Puerto Rico. For their families living on the island, grief has been a solitary affair. “I have just spoken briefly to some moms, but not like in Orlando. I read in the paper that they get together, they attend events together -- but not here. In here is like nothing ever happened; we have to cry alone,” Torres said. “I would love to be able to see them and hug them. W...

Puerto Rico’s government is banking on a push for statehood to solve the structural issues that led to its financial crisis. Puerto Ricans will vote Sunday to decide the territory’s status. If statehood wins, as expected, the island will enact what’s known as the Tennessee Plan, an avenue to accession by which U.S. territories send a congressional delegation to demand to be seated in Washington. Puerto Rico will send two senators and five representatives, chosen by Gov. Ricardo Rosselló (D), later this year, once the plan is put into action. Statehood remains a long shot as many Republicans are wary of adding a 51st state that could add two Democratic senators and seven Democratic electors to the Electoral College. Others, noting the examples of Alaska and Hawaii, both added to the union in 1959, say it can be difficult to predict how territories will vote as states. “Those are the same people that 60 years ago said that Hawaii was going to be a super Republican state and ...