Posts Tagged ‘Puerto Rico Status’
Puerto Rico is a Natural Resource that Should Determine It’s Own Fate
7:24 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Puerto Rico · 1 Comment
25 Jul 2009
Ah the politics of colonization. I shouldn’t be surprised that The Natural Resources Committee of Congress, a committee that deals with fisheries, wildlife, Native Americans and possessions of the U.S. (aka colonies), approved a proposal Wednesday that would let Puerto Ricans decide their island’s political status. What are Puerto Ricans and Indigenous people if not dehumanized things that need protecting and caretaking?
Voters would choose between keeping the island’s commonwealth status, adopted in 1952, or to opt for something different. In the latter case, a second plebiscite would let them decide whether they wanted statehood, independence or independence with a loose association to the United States.
Not All Americans Welcomed at the Summit of the Americas
6:49 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Cuba| Latin America| Obama| Politics| Puerto Rico · 2 Comments
17 Apr 2009
A poet friend of mine invited me to join a Facebook Group called , “AMERICA” is not U.S.A. AMERICA is the name for a whole continent”. This US-centrism has been a peeve of mine for at least ten years now, specifically from when I lived in Chile and found myself in the very difficult position of defending my Latina/Puerto Rican identity (Yes, Kai I’m talking about being Rican again, sigh).
Now the idea of who is “America” comes up again against the context of The Summit of the Americas, which started yesterday in Trinidad. Love him or hate him, President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua raised a good point at the start of the Summit, saying:
“It is not of the Americas , because Cuba is missing, Puerto Rico is missing,”
So how can you have a Summit of the Americas without two nations facing important challenges rooted in colonialism?
Read more…
April is Freedom Month
8:03 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism| Justice| New York City| Puerto Rico · Comments Off
8 Apr 2009
Most know that April is Poetry Month (and really we’ll get on that) pero did you also know that April is Freedom Month? Specifically focusing on the case of the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners, April is period of time to raise awareness about the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and the Independence of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican Political Prisoners are Oscar Lopez Rivera, Carlose Alberto Torres ,and Avelino Gonzalez Claudio.
This April marks the 29th anniversary of the capture of the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners! The Puerto Rican Political Prisoners were incarcerated for their actions in support of the Independence of Puerto Rico; a colony of the United States for 110 years. The Political Prisoners were never charged with any violent crimes, but were given unjust sentences and incarcerated in the worst prisons in the United States.
The month is filled with activities that are not just educational and serve justice, pero are also fun. While the events listed are in the NYC area, that shouldn’t keep you from being inspired to perhaps make your own event or take one small action.
For more information on Freedom Month and the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners visit ProLibertad.
Obama Wants to Resolve Puerto Rico’s Colonial Status While Saying Nothing on Assault on Occupied Palestine
11:03 am By Maegan La Mala · Gaza| Palestine| Politics| Puerto Rico · 17 Comments
4 Jan 2009
President Elect Obama sent a message to Puerto Rico for the swearing in of the new, pro-statehood governor, Luis G. Fortuño.
President-elect of the United States Barack Obama reiterated that he will try to resolve the colonial case of Puerto Rico during his first term and explained that self-determination is a “basic right” of Puerto Ricans, for which reason he will undertake responsibility for seeing that Puerto Ricans have “a voice” in the solution.
Wait, a voice in the solution? Am I wrong in thinking that if self-determination is a basic right, then shouldn’t Puerto Ricans decided the solution, not just have a voice?
What a U.S. Passport Won’t Get You As a Rican : A Vote!
3:21 pm By Maegan La Mala · Puerto Rico| US Presidential Race 2008 · 7 Comments
14 Oct 2008
Not all U.S. citizens can vote. Specifically I am referring to Puerto Ricans. Pero before I am accused of bringing up my background, I direct you to the words of another Rican:
In October of 2008 I have discovered yet another off-putting situation. The other bearers of this passport are receiving their ballots this month, a head start to this November election. It’s an ex-pat party: the hitchhiker who went south from Recife and voted in Salvador, the old roommates from Buenos Aires, the new friends in Recife. All of them received their absentee ballots or voted at the embassy. Friends, acquaintances, strangers: all American citizens.But, somehow, I am different than them. I cannot vote. Though I am weighed down by the negatives of carrying the same passport, I do not have the same rights. Why? The last address I registered with the IRS (and the American government in general) is in Puerto Rico, my home (non) state. And Puerto Ricans, though US citizens in paper, are second class citizens in practice. Therefore, I am not allowed to vote in the presidential elections, unless I move and prove that my current legal residence lies in of the (actual) 50 states.
I carry the weight of this passport because I have no option. There is no Puerto Rican passport; I am a second class citizen with no alternative.
Read the entire post and the struggle that the colonial status creates at Zerotres
y mil graciaa a Elenamary for sending me the link.
Puerto Rico Gov. To Take Enhanced Commonwealth Argument to U.N
1:31 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Politics| Puerto Rico · 2 Comments
19 May 2008
I’m with Latino Pundit. I just don’t get how Puerto Rican Governor Anibal Acevedo can claim that “an enhanced Commonwealth” = a more sovereign Puerto Rico. And yet that is exactly what he will argue when he appears before the United Nations Decolonization Committee on June 9th.
Puerto Rico is not a colony as per a 1952 United Nations decision based on compact between the U.S. and Puerto Rico establishing the Estado Libre Asociado or Commonwealth. Commonwealth and colony have alot more in common than starting with the letter C.
NY Puerto Rican Activists Targetted by Feds
11:56 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism| Justice| New York City| Puerto Rico · 1 Comment
31 Dec 2007
Targeting activists who promote the independence of Puerto Rico isn’t something new but it is no less concerning especially when it hits close to home. Hector Rivera, a founder of the Welfare Poets and others were subpoenaed to appear before a Federal Grand jury investigating the Puerto Rican Independence Movement in general, and in particular, the Ejercito Popular Boricua (EPB: Popular Boricua Army) aka the Macheteros.
Tania Frontera, Christopher Torres and Julio Pabon Jr. are scheduled to appear before a Federal Grand Jury on January 11, 2008. Hector Rivera,co-founder of the cultural institution The Welfare Poets, is also expected to be served with a subpoena to appear on that day. In the past, due to the fact that some pro-independence activists have traditionally refused to receive the subpoenas from the Grand Jury or to respond to its questions, many have ended up behind bars.
Puerto Rico’s Status Debated (again) in Washington
1:11 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Politics| Puerto Rico| history · Comments Off
27 Apr 2007
Yet again the issue of Puerto Rico’s status was debated on Wednesday on the floor of Congress with little progress in any direction. Three positions are being argued for. One being to maintain the current Associated Free State status with Ricans on the island granted U.S. citizenship but without being able to vote for members of Congress or the president. They pay no federal income tax but pay about a third of their income to island tax collectors. The second option is to make P.R. the 51st U.S. state. The third option would leave the island an independent country. The reality of the situation is that all the debate of the world doesn’t change the fact that the U.S. Constitution only allows for two options: statehood or separation. So while many tout that fact that the people of Puerto Rico have voted in four plebiscites on their status since 1967, none were authorized or recognized by Congress, which the Constitution charges with overseeing territories.
After so many years of debate and with nothing changing, when will Ricans realize that the the U.S. has no interest in changing the status of the colony?
Via / The LA Times
Latin America Calls Out Puerto Rican Colonial Situation
11:00 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Puerto Rico · Comments Off
20 Nov 2006
Yesterday the Latin American and Caribbean Congress for Puerto Rico´s Independence closed in Panama, with the participation of more than 200 delegates from 22 countries.
“Puerto Rico is the only Latin American region remaining under colonial regimen. For Latin Americans, helping to correct that anomaly should be a matter of principles, a continental priority,” stated Panamanian President Martin Torrijos.
Puerto Rico, legally is known as a “Free Associated State” of the United States (which I would argue translates colony) and has been occupied by the United States since 1898.
So Puerto Ricans, on the island and in the diaspora know that many Latin American nations understand the true nature of the situation. Too bad the U.S. and its government hasn’t accepted it.
Via / La Prensa Latina
NYT Looks at Puerto Rico
10:49 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Newspapers| Puerto Rico · Comments Off
24 Oct 2006
An editorial in yesterday’s New York Times looks at the dire situation the colony/nation of Puerto Rico finds itself in and why. The article points to a study — “The Economy of Puerto Rico: Restoring Growth” — from the Center for the New Economy, a nonpartisan Puerto Rican research group, and the Brookings Institution. The study doesn’t point the finger for the island’s problem on the people of Puerto Rico but rather at the U.S. government and its’ policies.
Much of the blame can be put on Washington, which has been tone deaf to the island’s needs and has miscalculated where help was needed. Even a good idea, like the Section 936 program of tax incentives, was mismanaged. Before it was phased out last year, it had succeeded in bringing many pharmaceutical concerns to the island, but produced relatively few jobs and at so high a cost that a $40,000 position cost the government $70,000.
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