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Grant Puerto Rico Independence From U.S.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 13, 2008

Updated: 02/12/2008 07:11 pm

At long last, some truths about who or what is a Puerto Rican is beginning to surface, as propounded by Dennis Freytes in his MY Word essay in the Orlando Sentinel, Feb. 5, objecting to Puerto Ricans being called "foreign." The resulting backlash reminds me of the Muslim agitators responding to the publishing of the Danish Cartoons.

What are the facts? After the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded to the United States, for a payment of $20 million some islands among which were the islands of Cuba, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. Cubans who had been fighting Spain for independence continued to fight the United States for independence, and they got it. The Filipinos who had been fighting Spain for independence continued to fight the United States for independence, and they got it. Many brave Puerto Ricans continued to fight the United States but were subverted by the military, the police and the FBI into submission. Then, by the so-called Jones Act, Congress shrewdly decided in 1917 to call Puerto Ricans "citizens." After all, how can a man who is a citizen fight for independence from a country of which he is already a citizen. Clever of our Congress, yes?

Mr. Freytes resented Puerto Ricans being called "foreign." It is easy to see why U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, used that term. Most Americans - and especially Puerto Ricans - have no idea that the form of Puerto Rican citizenship is at the pleasure of Congress, called "statutory," as distinct from "constitutional." Puerto Ricans who know better gloss over the distinction or don't like to talk about that too much, hoping for the island to be granted statehood simply as "citizens" are merely merged into "citizens." The rub is the "foreign" Puerto Rican "citizens" can be made foreign tomorrow. All it takes is an act of Congress. One long overdue.

I can see why it was natural for the congresswoman to use the term "foreign." Puerto Ricans talk about "their country." There is no country called Puerto Rico. For example, a German has a country called Germany and Frenchman has a country called France and a Floridian a country called the United States and so forth, but a Puerto Rican has no country called Puerto Rico. As a recently published letter to the editor to the Orlando Sentinel stated, "If the people from Puerto Rico do not want to be thought of as foreign, maybe they should fly the American flag instead of the Puerto Rican flag and speak English instead of Spanish. Just a thought."

Puerto Rico is an island owned lock, stock and barrel by the United States. It is a possession of the United States. True, the inhabitants are not strictly "foreign" but it is also true they are not exactly the same sort of "citizens" we imply when we use the word "citizen" either.

But here's where I differ from Mr. Freytes. It's time for Puerto Ricans to continue to fight for their country - not another country - if they want one, or stop calling themselves Puerto Ricans as if that is the name of their country.

I believe Puerto Rico should be granted independence, not statehood. One hundred years of occupation is enough.

In 1917 Congress, without feeling the need to obtain the pleasure of the Puerto Ricans in the matter, unilaterally granted statutory citizenship to Puerto Ricans. Why should there be a need now to hold a vote in Puerto Rico to see if inhabitants of the island want to continue their status as a commonwealth or become a state or be granted independence? No! No vote is necessary. One was not necessary in 1917. One is not needed now.

The President's Task Force on the Status of Puerto Rico slipped in without too much publicity by presidential directive as a result of proponents hoping to make Puerto Rico a state of the United States, and carried forward by President Bush, should be disbanded as a useless exercise and Rep. Brown-Waite, should simply move to have Congress grant independence to the island and be done with it!

It will have the added benefit of saving the treasury of the U.S. the expense of maintaining the territory, which the U.S. no longer needs or from which it derives any benefit and is a burden to the tune of about $30 million per day.

Don't cry for Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Libre!

Martin Kessler

Winter Park

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