Posted on 06/06/2006 3:19:30 PM PDT by Teófilo
Folks, sorry I've taken so long to post, but I've been pretty busy and, as you know, Vivificat! is my banner-blog, the one I update regularly.
The hiatus has allowed me to keep an eye on developments in Puerto Rico since the government shutdown. The Island is under the microscope by Mainland politicians and economists, as well as by international economists. The next few years, may be even months, can make or break the future of our Island.
The latest issue of the The Economist, dated May 25, 2006 contains a hard-hitting analysis of Puerto Rico's economic crisis. The article's title is Puerto Rico: Trouble on 'Welfare Island´. This is how it starts:
As the mayor of Aguadilla on Puerto Rico's northwest coast, Carlos Mendez is proud of his town. He likes to take visitors onto the balcony of the town hall and challenge them to spot a scrap of paper in the plaza.You may read it here if you have a subscription.There are none; but here, and all around the centre of town, there are no busy people either.
The shops and offices are shabby, with little going on in them. The buildings along the beautiful beachfront look rundown. A few men sit in the shade and have apparently been planted there as long as the tree has.
Puerto Rico has been a United States territory for more than a century and its people have been citizens since 1917. They do not vote in national elections or pay federal income taxes, but those are not the biggest differences between Puerto Rican residents and their fellow U.S. citizens.
The island is distinguished by its poverty and joblessness, which are far worse than in any of the 50 states. The territory's economy, moreover, has fallen further behind the national one over the past three decades. Bad government -- not just locally, but also federally -- is largely to blame.
Yet most Americans are oblivious to the Caribbean island's problems.
Also, from a more technical viewpoint, Mr. Carlos Marquez of Caribbean Business warns us that the Island's fiscal crisis represents our Final wake-up call. This is the beginning of his essay:
NEW YORK CITY—By now, most people in Puerto Rico, even those who had never heard the names Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, know how the island’s credit rating agencies feel about the government’s fiscal crisis and what should be done to fix it. This time, CARIBBEAN BUSINESS traveled to New York City , the world’s financial capital, to get a first-hand impression of Puerto Rico’s credit future from the people who really matter, the investors who throughout the years have put up the money to buy Puerto Rico debt.Read the entire piece here.The feeling among the bondholders interviewed is one of frustration, disappointment and concern over the lack of progress and cooperation they have seen over the last months. Most of them are not confident island politicians can reach agreement on how to put Puerto Rico ’s finances in order before June 30, the end of the fiscal year.
The consensus is that politicians are the problem:
“It looks like a political circus with politicians bickering and putting their own personal and political ambitions ahead of the public good. They definitely have the solution but they are putting the island in a no-win situation, just to make sure they win the next election,” said Rafael Costas, senior vice president & co-director of Franklin Templeton and Templeton Investment’s (FTI) Municipal Bond Department .
Folks, in my opinion, there are "leaders" and demagogues out there who want to save the patient (Puerto Rico) by killing it. They seem to be getting their way.
What are we to do? Frankly, no politician, no senior decision-maker in the Mainland is in the mood to listen to a petition for Statehood from Puerto Rico, as long as the Puerto Rican themselves embrace the Welfare State as their ideal body politic, and as long as the impression persists that Puerto Ricans want all of the benefits of being Americans and none of the responsibilities. Senior politicians and decision-makers will not even consider a peition for admission into the Union as long as they believe that a firm majority of Puerto Ricans does not desire it.
Let's clean our own house in order before we petition for admission into the Union or else, let's be prepared for a rejection.
PING!
2. Then there is the fact that the majority islanders receive food stamps.
PR should throw the corrupt punetas of both parties (statehood and commonwealthers) into the Carribbean and give up their ghetto Caribbean Spanish. ;-)
Very "well argued," Clemenza. As always.
-Theo
As you have seen in the recent debate over immigration and assimilation, the American people WILL NOT accept Spanish as an everyday language. Those who continue to use said language will NEVER be viewed as "cultural Americans."
Wow. And categorical, prophetic statements to boot. I'm impressed.
-Theo
Only a territory until 1952. A COMMONWEALTH since then.
"Prophetic" statements? No, just stating the fact that, as a mainlander, I know that my fellow gringos/blanquitos (what PRs on the mainland call Americans of the European-descended persuasion), Americans want their fellow Americans to SPEAK ENGLISH!
BTW: In Jersey City, about a half mile from where I am typing these words, there is a street called "Luis Munoz Marin Boulevard." Of course, the train conductors do not have a clue who the former PR Governor was, so they always call out "MAHHHH-Rehn" Boulevard.
Luis Munoz Marin was pals with my father. And I'm NOT kidding. He had him over to the Fortaleza and his country estate on NUMEROUS occasions. One reason is that I think my father amused him with his colorful stories about his many adventures. Also my father, who has an AMAZING talent for languages, actually spoke Spanish with a Castilian (not American accent). That impressed quite a few folks in PR since it is the equivalent of a high class English accent here made even more amazing by the fact that it was spoken by a Gringo. My father also speaks flawless Russian without accent so when a Soviet ship once came into port, he took the crew all over the island. I do remember my father giving an ultra-large size bra as a gift to a corpulent female member of that crew.
Was you dad with a certain "company" headquartered in Langley, VA?
At one time he did walk around with a brown bag full of cash in Montevideo. I know. I was with him once while on a visit there. I actually saw from start to finish how those brown bag ops worked. Basically ensuring some legislators vote the right way. Down there it is a way of life.
Never?
California was admitted as a state in 1850 with Spanish and English as its official languages.
Another interesting story. My dad used to have a good friend in West Palm Beach who also spoke perfect Russian. He was introduced to me and I noted his name...and then just as quickly forgot about it until years later when his obituary was published. It was the nephew of Prince Yusupov, the guy who killed Rasputin. The nephew later escaped Russia when the Bolsheviks took over and later even because a U.S. Marine.
Uh huh. Yeah.
-Theo
I hate to say it, but you're 100% right. Unfortunately for the island, a vast majority of those of us who are in a position to do something positive for the island have already voted with our feet and left. I fear that those who are left are unwilling to make the changes that are sorely needed.
Gracias, amigo!
I sincerely hope and pray that Puerto Ricans can fix the messed up government on the island and come to a solid consensus about statehood. Unfortunately, I have seen up close how hard it is to repair a liberal-dominated government - I live in the People's Democratic State of Maryland.
Here is what I posted to another forum member with regards to a change in status for the island.
My understanding of the situation is something like this.
The residents of the island cannot vote on changing the status of the island, they can only vote to petition the government of the United States to change the islands status.
So let's assume that a referendum is held and 80% of the residents chose one of the available options. The results would then be presented to the U.S. to show the residents of the island are in agreement and to petition a change in status.
A change in status is not automatic upon completion of the referendum, it must be approved by the U.S. government.
Let's say the residents of the island voted for Independence. It would not be granted because the U.S. doesn't want the bad publicity that comes from allowing over 3 million former citizens to slide deeper into poverty, corruption, and lawlessness. Even though the residents of the island wanted Independence, the U.S. government will be blamed for any negative consequences that occur as a result.
Let's say the residents of the island voted for statehood, it would also not be granted. The addition of Puerto Rico as a state would also mean an additional 2 senators and 5 representatives. If the seven new congress critters lean Democrat the Republicans will vote against statehood. If the the seven new congress critters lean Republican, the Democrats will vote against statehood.
Given this scenario, IMHO, just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the status of the island will not change in the foreseeable future.
I told my dad and brother, who live in Aguadilla, that change would not come by way of the islands government, but by way of Wall Street.
Dad tells me all the professionals, (doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc), are making an exodus from the island.
Sad, but until the current crop of politicos is sent packing, I don't see a change happening.
Best Regards
Sergio
I see no fundamental incompatibility between Puerto Rican and mainland culture. We've been part of this for almost 110 years and both have survived, heck, increased each other good and badly, but that's humanity for you.
Nationalism is impracticable. One has to hate "the foreigner" in order to be a "nationalist." I don't want a Puerto Rico ruled by the whims of nationalists any more than I want to see the USA in the grips of the same ilk.
The true future is in the Union, Cooperation, and Interdependence that only admission to the US as a state can bring. Ergo, the only conservative, morally consequent position that is true to our founding ideals is to admit Puerto Rico as a State, the sooner the better.
-Theo
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