Makini Thomas Professor Andino

5/14/12

PUERTO RICANS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

Today, Puerto Rico is considered to be a Commonwealth of the United States, so they are counted as part of the United States. The people who live on the island are U.S citizens and they serve in the military, but they are not allowed to partake in any of the presidential elections. In Micheal Gonzalezs Latin American Perspective, he describes the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States as one of Colonization. I absolutely agree with Gonzalez. I believe that the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico is one of Colonialism and imperialism. For years, the US exploitation of the Puerto Rican nation has been disguised with the flowery term, Commonwealth.

Commonwealth is the word used to describe the political relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico. The presence of the United States Government in Puerto Rico began in the year 1898. This was after the Spanish, Cuban-American War; a conflict between Spain and the United States. Before the Spanish, Cuban-American War, Puerto Rico was a Spanish Colony. The signing of the Treaty of Paris put an end to this relationship. The Treaty of Paris ended the war and took Puerto Rico out from under Spains rule into US possession

Puerto Rico went from being under the possession of the Spanish crown, to being under the possession of the United States Government. On July 25 th 1898, thousands of U.S troops invaded Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican people welcomed the troops at first because they knew that the United States was once a colony and they believed that the US was there to end the oppression Puerto Rico suffered under the Spanish rule. It was not so. While the tiger was

driven out the front door, the wolf had slipped in the back (Maoist revolutionaries). The US takeover freed Puerto Rico from Spanish rule, but it also ended the brief autonomous government and marked the beginning of a new restrictive colonial relationship for the island. (Edna Acosta and Carlos Santiago, Puerto Ricans in the Unites States, p.24)

The United States Governments possession of Puerto Rico also meant the United States Governments exploitation of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican people. Under US rule, Puerto Rican Farmers had their land taken away and converted into sugar factories. Having nowhere else to go, farmers were forced to move into the already crowded city slums of Puerto Rico. Jobs became scares on the island and the people werent making enough money to feed themselves and their families. Farmers had their only means of support taken away from and were left with nothing.

In the year 1917, the United States Government established the Jones Act. The Jones act gave the Puerto Rican people limited citizenship; they were considered United States citizens but were not permitted to all the rights that the people in the US were given. Puerto Rican people on the island did not have the right to vote in any US presidential elections, even though they were considered a part of the US and the people had US citizenship. The Puerto Rican people had no say in the government they were supposedly a part of and had no input in the decisions that shaped their everyday lives.

It can be said that the Jones Act of 1917 was established only because of the United States need of cheap labor. In the 1920s, the United States began Operation Boot Strap, a move to industrialize the island of Puerto Rico and in the process further improving their own economy. Through this project, a rural agricultural society was transformed into an industrial working class. The United States government gave US corporations permission to expand their businesses to the island. They enticed US companies by providing labor at costs below those on the mainland, access to the US market without import duties, and profits that could enter the country free from federal taxation. The Jones Act, in addition to imposing US citizenship upon all Puerto Ricans, formalized commercial relations between the island and the Metropolis. (Micheal Gonzalez, Latin American Perspectives, p.12)

Puerto Ricos dependency upon the U.S economy became clearer; the large corporations set prices for bread and gas and established salary levels.( Micheal Gonzalez, Latin American Perspectives, p.12) Michael Gonzalez described the Sugar Workers Strike of 1934 as the mark of a new level of struggle on the island. The people were being exploited by the US government as well as US corporations, and werent making enough money to support themselves and their families.

The US industrialization of the island came at a price. The US was aware of the large and still increasing Puerto Rican population. They began to worry that the over population of the small island would lead to a social and economic decline. This is why by 1965; one-third of the female population on the island had been serialized. Not only were t the women forced to be sterilized, the Puerto Rican people were being treated as test subjects for US corporations; they tested birth control on Puerto Rican women before they were sent to market. They island itself was also exploited; the US military used the island as testing grounds for bombs and missiles, in the process destroying a great portion of the islands farmlands.

The Jones Act of 1918 not only gave US corporations cheap labor for their businesses on the island, it also allowed them to bring workers from the island to work in the U.S. Since the Jones Act gave Puerto Ricans US citizenship, they could migrate to the States without needing documentation. This is why Puerto Rico came to be known as a Commuter Nation. (Edna Acosta-Belen and Carlos Santiago, Puerto Ricans in the United States, chapter 1)

In the 1920s Puerto Ricans began to migrate from the island into the United States in order to work on US farmland and in factories. In the mid 1900s, Puerto Ricans began migrating in large numbers. They seeked a better life than they lived on the island and wanted to find better and higher paying work. They migrated into cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco. This wave of migration came to be known as the Great Puerto Rican Migration.

Life in the U.S did not prove to be any better than the life they led on the island. The Puerto Rican immigrants faced discrimination and were not welcomed by the U.S people. They worked menial jobs like factory and cleaning jobs. Not making much money at these jobs, they were forced to live in the crowded city slums, much like they did while living on the island.

Now in 2012, Puerto Rico is a still a Commonwealth of the United States. The people who live on the island are considered US citizens, they serve in the military, but they are not allowed to partake in any presidential elections.

This year might just bring a change to Puerto Rico and the United States long standing 112 year relationship. The US is currently debating on weather Puerto Rico should take the path to statehood or independence, or whether they are content with their common wealth status. This decision is to be made after the 4 million residents of Puerto Rico expresses to government officials how they see their political future. This also includes those who were born on the island but reside in the states.

This will be the first time Congress has ever authorized a process in which the Puerto Rican people will get to give their opinion on whether they want to remain a U.S territory, or claim their independence. The American way of governing has always been that the people are

allowed to vote and express their opinions to their elected officials about how they feel about their political arrangement. America is known for its democracy; so its ironic that the Puerto Rico as a US territory, for 112 years has not been given the chance to participate in the decisions that shape their daily lives. This to me sounds nothing like democracy.

While some Puerto Ricans believe that Puerto Rico should push for their independence and preserve their national identity, some fully support the Bill because for the first time in 112 years, the people of Puerto Rico will have the opportunity to express themselves.

There are also those in the US government who oppose the bill because they are concerned that Spanish as well as English will become the official language of the United States. Another concern is that Puerto Rico as one of the largest states will get six seats in the House of Representatives at the expense of other states. There are people within the U.S government that would rather Puerto Rico keep their common wealth status that become a state or claim their independence.

There are good things as well as bad that can come from Puerto Rico becoming a state. Good being that, as a state Puerto Rico will contribute nearly 2 billion dollars the U.S. treasury each year. Today, almost fifty percent of Puerto Rican live in poverty. Full integration to the national economy will create jobs and income benefits. He current commonwealth status of Puerto Rico

does not allow them to vote for the President of United States or have any say in the making of the laws and statuses that apply to them, statehood can change all of this. If Puerto Rico leans towards statehood, it will become one of the biggest states in the US, therefore giving it more representatives in House. This will take Puerto Rico from not being allowed to vote in presidential elections, to being one of the key voting states that will have a huge influence in the presidential elections. Becoming a state will also give Puerto Rico an open market to trade with all nations that are in alliance with the United States.

The negatives of Puerto Rico becoming a State is that Puerto Ricans are concerned about losing their Spanish heritage more than they already have, If Puerto Rico becomes a state, they will no longer recognized as an individual nation, but just as another Hispanic minority in the U.S. If they become state, there is a chance that English will be expected to be primary language in Puerto Rico; this would be a problem because fewer than twenty percent of Puerto Ricans on the island speak English fluently. Puerto Rico becoming a state also means that they will no longer be exempt from federal income taxes.

There are many questions being asked about this situation. The first being; is it important that Puerto Rico become a state, and is statehood better than them claiming their independence.

Those who opt for statehood believe that this is a way for the Puerto Rican people to finally express themselves to their government about their political arrangements, something they have never been given the chance to do. But cant independence also give them this opportunity?

The thing that scares most Puerto Ricans away from the idea of independence as opposed to Statehood is that, they have always been a dependent country; they have never been on their own. Puerto Rico went straight from Spains rule to becoming U.S territory. Without U.S support, most are not sure how the country will stand. Today, Puerto Rico receives federal aid from the U.S w/o paying federal income taxes. Most of the jobs in Puerto Rico are created by U.S corporations. The majority of Puerto Ricans like being U.S citizens, however some still fight becoming a states because they are afraid of losing their culture more than they already have.

There are also positives and negatives to Puerto Rico claiming their independence. The good being; they will be allowed to run their own government in their own way. Puerto Rican men will no longer be drafted into the U.S wars. They will be allowed to vote for their own president. Most importantly, they will get to preserve their culture. The Negatives of Puerto Rico claiming their independence is that they will no longer have protection from the U.S, and no federal aid. Puerto Ricans as well as Americans will no longer be able to enjoy the no passport traveling between the island and the States.

The way I see it, the US has made Puerto Rico way too dependent on them. If they had give Puerto Rico its independence after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Puerto Rico probably wouldve become an independently developed nation by now and they wouldnt be in this situation. Instead the U.S chose to exploit Puerto Rico and the people, taking their land and their recourses for their own benefit. Now they treat the political situation in Puerto Rico as a problem that they need to be fixed, but it is a problem that they created. This is why I agree with Micheal Gonzalezs claim. I believe that the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico is one of Colonialism and imperialism, the exploitation is only disguised by the term Commonwealth.

Micheal Gonzalez - Latin American Perspectives, Issue 201, vol 25 No.5, September 1998 (Blackboard pdf.)

Edna Acosta-Belen and Carlos Santiago- Puerto Ricans in the United States a Contemporary Portrait, 2006