Today, I'll be discussing the current state of government in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico's government is an interesting form of government. Puerto Rico is its own island, but it's not a country, it's a commonwealth. Puerto Rico is self-governing, but many aspects of their government are in association with the United States. Their chief of state is Mr. Obama himself and as United States presidents alternate, so do Puerto Rican chief of states. The head of government in Puerto Rico is an elected governor.
Puerto Rico has authority over all of their internal affairs (unless it's something that involves United States law, like pollution and public health). The United States has authority over...everything else. This includes control over: interstate trade, foreign relations and commerce, customs
administration, control of air, land and sea, immigration and emigration,
nationality and citizenship, currency, maritime laws, military service,
military bases, army, navy and air force, declaration of war,
constitutionality of laws, jurisdictions and legal procedures, treaties,
radio, television, and all other aspects of communications, agriculture, mining and minerals,
highways, postal system, Social Security, and anything else that is generally
controlled by the federal government of the United States.
So basically, what differs mainly from Puerto Rico and any of the 50 states is that Puerto Rico has no control over what goes on in the United States government. Citizens have no voting rights in the United States presidential elections. Puerto Rico has one resident commissioner ,who has voice, but
no vote, in the Congress of United States.
The United States gives Puerto Rico just enough power to have a bit of control over their island, but not enough to be their own country. Because it's not its own country, many of Puerto Rico's injustices are based on United States law. This largely affects people of African descent in Puerto Rico. Discrimination is alive and prominent in the United States, therefore it's just as prevalent in Puerto Rico. Discrimination towards Puerto Ricans of African descent is even greater because Puerto Rico is such a concentrated area. With the combination between discrimination based on U.S. law and embedded racism on the island from times of African enslavement, discrimination towards Puerto Ricans of African descent is at an all time high.
In order to begin working towards ending discrimination towards Puerto Ricans of African descent on the island, I believe that Puerto Rico needs to become its own country.
While looking up news articles about Puerto Rican's government, I clicked past numerous articles about Sonia Sotomayor's connection to the island and violence towards the Puerto Rican judicial system. Since Sotomayor became a member of the supreme court, many articles have been written about her being of Puerto Rican descent and if that would change government on the island or not. So far, nothing has changed. As for the violence in Puerto Rico, as of today, the courts have granted protection for workers of the Puerto Rican justice system along with their families. Many Puerto Ricans are unhappy with the justice system and are becoming violent. I read about it here. The article is in Spanish, but google translate is an amazing source of assistance.
The article that surprised me the most was a fox news article about Puerto Rico now being considered a "narco-state" because of it's involvement with drugs. Government officials are doing everything they can in order to deny these statements. Officials claim that drugs need to be embedded in Puerto Rican government in order for Puerto Rico to be considered a "narco-state." So as of now, that's a big government priority. They're trying to protect the integrity of the island.
Don't believe me? See for yourself here.
Sources:
"Puerto Rico Government." Welcome to Puerto Rico! History, Government,
Geography, and Culture. . http://www.topuertorico.org/government.shtml
(accessed February 17, 2012).
"Exjueces del Supremo aseguran que alguaciles también deben proteger a
su familia - El Nuevo Día." El Nuevo Día - Noticias de Puerto Rico,
información de última hora y multimedia - El Nuevo Día.
http://www.elnuevodia.com/exjuecesdelsupremoaseguranquealguacilestambiendebenprotegerasufamilia-1192229.html
(accessed February 17, 2012).
"Puerto Rico Government Denies Island Is 'Narco-State'." Fox News
Latino.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/12/13/puerto-rican-govt-denies-island-is-narco-state/
(accessed February 17, 2012).
I found the article on Puerto Rico being called as a "narco-state" an interesting one. If what Somoza said is true, that means the whole local state of the country is involved in the trafficking of the drugs which means that local officials are being control by the drug lords. This would lead to a whole big mess of all the corrupted officials if it is true. I just find it very interesting how the country is going to deal with this issue. It's crazy how based on past results, there were corrupted officials so if they are label as a "nacro-state", what would happen? I'll definitely look around onto this in the future.
ReplyDeleteNayumka, I really enjoyed and was intrigued by your critical analysis of the US’ role in Puerto Rico’s system of government. While I previously knew that Puerto Rico was a US territory, I had no idea that this territory status had such vast implications in terms of how little freedom Puerto Ricans have to control their own affairs. It was very helpful that you listed the areas that the US controls in Puerto Rico. The ones that I found to be most alarming were agriculture, mining and minerals, citizenship and nationalization, and immigration/ emigration. These areas seem like very basic practices of a country, such that they would be “internal affairs” and under the jurisdiction of the governor of Puerto Rico. It would be interesting to see a list of what types of things are considered internal affairs.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, this blog makes me wonder what the advantage is for the US in controlling Puerto Rico. Admittedly the island is very close to our border so it is important that they are on our team and do not become a security threat. However, there are numerous other countries in the Caribbean that we do not control that have not posed serious problems (other than communist Cuba). Furthermore, the military tactics and missile capabilities of today do not require enemies to be close to us to do damage; long-range missiles take care of that. Therefore, if the stated benefit is that enemies cannot use PR as a land in which they can set up a base and attack us from close range, that is no longer even something worth worrying about.
Economically, is the control of Puerto Rico beneficial to the US? Considering that it is such a tourist attraction, I would assume so. However, you explained that the US imposes social welfare programs in Puerto Rico such as social security, and I know that many conservative politicians would argue that these programs are unnecessary and a drain on the US budget, so does the fact that those programs exist in Puerto Rico add to our national debt?
The final question that comes to mind as I read this is whether or not Puerto Rico benefits from being under US control. Obviously the United States probably does not care whether or not Puerto Rico benefits because the US only cares about if we benefit, but it also is interesting to consider what would happen to Puerto Rico if the US withdrew its influence and authority. Would the economy be able to sustain itself? I know that Puerto Rico is not a booming place economically, so I wonder if they could possibly fall into second or third world status like other Caribbean islands.
Huy, I definitely agree. I also think the current claims that Puerto Rico is a "narco-state" is extremely interesting. I definitely hope that the government continues to investigate citizens involved as well as those in higher places that may be corrupt.
ReplyDeleteJacqueline, I'm glad you enjoyed my analysis. I think it was so successful because many of the things I wrote about I knew little about before research so I got really involved in it. As for your question about the advantages the US gets, I think the best way to begin answering is to investigate your use of the word "control." Although I said the US has control over a large portion of Puerto Rican laws and associations, the US doesn't have control of the island itself. Puerto Rico is self governing with a strong United States influence. That being said, I don't think it's a question one can answer with a bit of research.
It's clear that the US benefits from the many riches on the island (riches not meaning money), but the question of what Puerto Rico gets from it is a mystery to me as well.
I do think that if Puerto Rico withdrew from all partnerships with the United States, the economy would definitely change. I don't think it would be drastic enough to label them a third world country, but I do think the economy would not be as booming.