In a much-heralded White House Roundtable Discussion today with journalists from Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL, President Obama offered his views about Puerto Rico’s quest to finally resolve its 113-year-old status debate. Here is the video of what he said:
Although President Obama said “the key here is that the status of Puerto Rico should be decided by the residents of Puerto Rico,” he also said that it comes with certain conditions:
- Puerto Ricans must show an overwhelmingly majority for one option.
- In the end, the US Congress is the FINAL VOICE of determining Puerto Rico’s political future. A plebiscite vote will only “influence” Congress to act.
- If the island is split on status options, “it is hard to imagine that Congress would be wanting to impose a single solution on the island.”
The reality is that President Obama, even with his actions to form a new White House Task Force on Puerto Rican Status behind him, has basically reiterated the truth about Puerto Rico: Puerto Ricans on the island do not have the right to self-determination — the final voice and authority on determining Puerto Rico’s status is and always will be Congress.
The colony of Puerto Rico is alive and well, even after the world has seen cosmic changes in new governments being formed in places such as Cairo and Tripoli.
Puerto Ricans, according to President Obama, can vote for their future, but Congress will have the final say. And if the next non-binding plebiscite is not a slam dunk for one of the four options (independence, statehood, the commonwealth status quo, or free associate state), then nothing will happen and Puerto Rico will still be stuck, as it has been so ever since 1898, the year the United States invaded the island during the Spanish-American War.
This kind of reminds us of that famous line from The Who: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
When will Puerto Rico wake up and realize that leaders from the United States and the island’s own leaders from all three major political parties are just feeding into the current status quo? When will the island and its people say that they won’t get fooled again?
Franky Benítez 
Nada, estamos jodidos. Esto a pesar que Obama prometio descolonizar la isla. Otra promesa incumplida, por ahora, pero no veo la luz al final del tunel.
El destino se controla entre nosotros ahora.
Cuando Obama prometio descolonizar?
https://juliorvarela.com/2011/03/16/white-house-task-force-on-puerto-rico-recommends-two-vote-status-plebiscite/
El informe de la Casa Blance inició el intento pero es obvio que todo esto ha sido una ilusión.
It will not take just one majority vote for a status, but an onslaught of a continuos “grito” from the island for the whole world to hear through international news medias! When the American people hear what Puerto Rico wants then they in turn will put pressure on Congress to make a decision. That is how it will eventually get done. But so far their has been no clear and consistent screaming from Puerto Rico for anyone to hear. Congress is not going to make the tough decision on their own. And don’t hold your breath waiting for the UN to intervene.
Because it is obvious that the three major political parties in PRico play into the same system.
Uno de los factores medulares del asunto es el siguiente: ¿Cuándo un poder metropólino-colonial ha cedido sus diversas esferas de poder ocupacional sobre un territorio de forma voluntaria? En muy pocas ocasiones, por no decir nunca. Nos corresponde a los puertorriqueños hacer una convocatoria para seleccionar los delegados a una convención constituyente para que redacte la constitución de la república. Esa es la única voz que es final y que vadría por ser nuestra. A la misma vez que se convoca esa constituyente se le debe dar una mandato a una comisión que negocie el tratado de transición y las condiciones de transferencia del poder con una comisión que igualmente saldrá de Washington.
Totalmente de acuerdo, José. Tenemos que controlar esto en vez de depender, porque es obvio que Washington no hará nada.
And the million dollar question is…..how do you get everyone on the same sheet of music? If anyone finds the answer then maybe one clear and constant voice will be heard. The 3 parties have learned well how to keep the voices fragmented. It certainly plays in their favor.
#OccupySanJuan? But seriously, a new party needs to be formed.
Yes, a party that is for a true Free Association with the United States. It should be made clear to the people exactly what the relationship with the U.S. will be. Is there a constitution available that can be viewed now? I hate to say it but a “dumbed down” version of that constitution should be made available, and not one designed to “stump the chumps.” Remove the “lawyerese” from the document and write it at a typical 10th grade level reading skill. Take a page from the army manuals. I remember as a helicopter mechanic reading comic book style manuals with color pictures and all. Laugh, but it sure worked.
My native Puerto Rico is no stranger to this status quo situation, but thanks to the Political parties that rules the island, like the Populares and Nuevo Progresistas, the 113 year old colony remains the same. What changed? The 1952’s constitution of Commonwealth or Estado Libre Asociado they call to Puerto Rico. Nothing new, nothing old!
Great point.
I’m sorry Carol but you make it sound like those ruling political parties are just machines (literally.) The parties are made up of Puerto Ricans who believe their party goal is what’s best for them and their family’s future. It is the “same old same old” because the people have kept it that way. Change can be a scary thing for most people so having things stay the way they are is just like a comfortable old shoe. The majority of people know what they have now and they seem to be alright with it. And if nothing changes then congress will not get the over whelming vote on one status needed for congress to act. So please do not blame the US congress. If anyone is to blame it is the voters of Puerto Rico. I don’t know why this seems to be difficult to grasp.
“The task force leans slightly toward a two-tier plebiscite process that “allows the people of Puerto Rico first to vote on the question of whether they wish to be part of the United States or wish to be independent, and then to choose between the available status options, as limited by the outcome of the first vote.” Caribbean Business PR
Unless it is explained clearly to Puerto Rican voters the options they will be given if they vote for Independents, they will most likely vote for staying with the United States. As in Commonwealth, colony status. There is ample time between now and November of 2012 for the ELA and the ALAS to get the information out to the people so they understand exactly what choices they have. It will be the failure of the leadership in the parties concerned if the people of Puerto Rico are unsure what voting for independents means come election day. It also needs to be made clear by next year what it would mean for Puerto Ricans if they chose independents then Free Association. I know the one thing many Puerto Ricans are fearful of is losing their US citizenship. It needs to be made clear that the Free Association option would allow folks to keep their US citizenship.
Great point
Unless the option becomes Statehood or Independence, Puerto ricans will always choose the status quo…aka Commonwealth aka Free Associated State (Estado Libre Asociado) The Free Association is what they already have aka colony.
Thanks! BTW, it is clear that the US Gov’t doesn’t care anyway. Why depend on them? Wait, because we as a people are engrained colonialists who are afraid of rocking the boat because the last time we did, we got hit hard by the federal govt. Thanks for the comment!