I told my cousin in PR that I didn't hear any news about it here. She said: you have to listen to the news in PR. But NO. If its going to be a state of the US it should be news here in the US. It's our news. The 51st state? Then it's US news.
According to news reports, Puerto Ricans were jubilant after this election with cars honking their horns and people waving Puerto Rican flags. Yes, you read correctly. PUERTO RICAN flags. Seems strange. If they want statehood they should be waving the US flag.
Look, I'm pro-PEOPLE. If the Puerto Ricans vote to become a state then so be it. The PEOPLE's voice should be heard. This is where it gets murky.....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/puerto-rico-statehood-vote_n_2088254.html
This is the deal with PUERTO RICO statehood. simple terms. ***be still my beating heart***
PR voted on a referendum saying YES to statehood. The next step is to pass it along to Congress. If they approve it then there will be another star on the stars and stripes. SIMPLE.
However, they also ousted the incumbent governor who was pro-statehood and voted for the the dude who says PATRIA first.
Hmmm..... how is that even possible, mi gente?
Well, let's start at the beginning... What is the current status of Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico is technically, legally, constitutionally... any kind of "-ly" that matters... a COLONY, colloquially known as a "COMMONWEALTH".
The interesting thing is that the RICANS don't know this because in Spanish they are called ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO. Loosely translated - but a translation is unwarranted because the translation is supposed to go the other way - from english TO spanish-- anyway- it means FREE ASSOCIATED STATE.So people on this banana republic are walking around like we are "FREE" but just "Associated" with the USA. Nice! But nowhere near true.
Understanding the VOTE in PR asking for STATEHOOD
Every few decades the people of PR get a chance to have their voice heard.
If the people vote "sovereign nation" then Congress would have to approve it and then bam! They become a separate country. Same with statehood.
Usually the vote is as follows: would you like a) to be a state b) to be your own nation or c) to remain as is. Most of the time the choice is C- no drama - let's leave everything alone.... But now they changed the question---
The new vote broke it down into a 2 part question.
Part 1. Do you want the status of PR to change? Y or N
Part 2. Regardless of how you voted for PART 1, do you want
a- statehood b- independence or c- a free associated commonwealth with more autonomy
Keeping the status quo- the PDP party - Partido Popular Democratico
None of the choices is exactly - "let's keep the status quo". Therefore many people left part 2 BLANK.
Problems with the election in PR concerning STATEHOOD
1- many people left question 2 BLANK
2- the people voted for the other guy- Alejandro Garcia Padilla- as governor. NOT the statehood one.
The new governor is part of the PDP party in Puerto Rico, the party in favor of keeping the status quo. Their motto is: PAN TIERRA Y LIBERTAD
Libertad? What liberty if the referendum in not binding to congress?
Garcia Padilla has already stated that he will PAY NO MIND TO THE REFERENDUM stating statehood.
Sigh! So anti-climactic, right? Such is politics. Especially in PR!
The truth is why shouldn't Puerto Rico be a state?
Holymoly!!!!! Seguro que YES! That would be Un-American to say no. Of course. Absolutely. Its the Democratic way.
See? Easy. Now you're on the statehood side.
There are many other issues. but if we can start with that premise then YESSSSS dammit! They should have the basic unalienable right to vote! Then Statehood it is!
Moving onward.....(PS I will NOT be discussing anything further on statehood. if you are for statehood it's really that basic.)
How the vote is being interpreted
According to ABC news:
The preference of many voters is to consider a report by the Obama administration that lays out several noncolonial options before choosing an alternative status, said Jorge Benitez, a political scientist at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. This option, which is supported by the party that won the governorship, did not appear on the ballot.
"This isn't to say that support for statehood hasn't increased; it has," Benitez said. "But the only thing we can decipher with certainty from the vote is that the people of Puerto Rico want a change to the current status.
"It isn't clear what change we want, but we want change," he said.
Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/election-2012-puerto-ricans-favor-statehood-for-first-time#ixzz2BfPMPIW1
“Statehood didn’t win,” Bonilla (a Rutger University professor) said. “There was a vote of whether people wanted to change the current status or not and the majority voted for change in current status. However, that wasn’t a win for statehood.”
“If you take into account the number of people who want to continue with the status that they have now and the amount of people who voted for an option other than statehood, then statehood doesn’t have a majority vote,” she said.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/11/puerto-rico-statehood-experts-challenge-results/
What would I vote if I was in Puerto Rico?....
If I was on the island, I would vote for INDEPENDENCE.
Puerto Rico can stand on its own. They have the resources to do it. They have natural resource,. political resources, commerce, universities, banks, engineers, scientists, you name it, PR has it. To say otherwise would be to negate the entire history of Puerto Rico and as well the history of other sovereign nations when they became free, including the USA. When the USA broke free from England, what did they have? Just land. Nothing else. No real structure. But I digress... [yes they made a constitution but PR has one too]I also believe however that if thru self-determination, the people decide to become a state, I would support them 100%. I believe in the peoples' right to self-determination. As such I think that PR as a "nation", as ONE, as a people, need to do something NOW. Don't allow yourself to be ignored any longer!
Mi gente, the time is now! If you don't want statehood, guess what? Your independence is almost taken right from under you with this referendum. If you do want statehood... then what is this talk about "non-binding"? DEMAND it. On that note.... why would you want to be part of a nation that won't even take your vote seriously. "non-binding"? That's an insult! If you want statehood, you must DEMAND it.
The best argument is the voice of the PR people was heard. Which makes this even more important. Because if the majority of the people don't want it - then STAND UP. Deje ese 'ay bendito' and get the political system working AHORA. Cuz they just about took your independence right from under your 'ay bendito!'