Popular Party leadership qualifies for Guinness recognition

“The Popular [Democratic] Party leadership does not use coercion, but it attempts to convince its electorate that having a federal government without consent is a good thing,” contributing columnist Gregorio Igartúa De La Rosa writes.

By GREGORIO IGARTÚA DE LA ROSA

Special to The STAR

Guinness world records are continually recognized around the globe for extraordinary and verifiable events ranging from human feats to global natural phenomena. Once recognized, they are recorded and published by the famous Guinness World Records organization.

In Puerto Rico, there is a political party whose practices certainly qualify for Guinness World Record recognition. This is the Popular Party, which seeks a federal government arrangement for the American citizens of the Puerto Rican territory that operates without the consent of the governed. Since its inception, it has promoted a status that has never held legal recognition, neither under the national constitutional system nor under the international legal framework of free nations. No state or country advocates for its citizens to exist without the consent of the governed with the exception of totalitarian and communist regimes that subject their citizens to the leader’s will. The Popular Party leadership does not use coercion, but it attempts to convince its electorate that having a federal government without consent is a good thing.

This is not a personal matter directed at the Popular Party leadership. The fact is that many of its leaders genuinely believe the indefensible can be defended. Their actions are irrational, driven by a logic that defies reason. They fail or refuse to acknowledge that the political relationship with the United States they sell to the people lacks any constitutional validity. It does not fit within the current federal constitutional framework. There is no legal validity to the desire to be an American citizen while simultaneously seeking more federal aid, exemptions from certain federal laws, greater autonomy, and the power to enter into treaties with other countries. It is an extraordinary political path to pursue within the realm of the legally impossible. The United States cannot grant Puerto Rico or its citizens what it cannot grant to the states or their citizens. Doing so would spark a revolution, as everyone would demand the same privileges. Furthermore, such a claim is constitutionally untenable. Consequently, the Popular Party cannot call itself democratic, for that is the very last thing it is. They promote a form of American citizenship that proposes … accepting that Congress legislates for Puerto Rico without us having representation in the enactment of laws that apply to us selectively; that the executive branch makes decisions regarding Puerto Rico without us voting for the president; and, that the Supreme Court resolves cases concerning Puerto Rico without us having a voice or vote in the appointment of its justices. All this is considered «good government» by those seeking to hold onto power.

The Popular Party leadership’s undemocratic insistence on the Commonwealth (ELA) status is delaying our attainment of full equality within the nation of which we are citizens (3.2 million people in Puerto Rico). This stance costs us $25 billion annually due to the differential treatment afforded to states but denied to the territory. It costs us our full democratic rights. It costs us the state of bankruptcy in which we find ourselves. Consequently, after 128 years of being part of the nation, we still lack representation in Congress, whereas Hispanics (10 of Cuban origin) hold 55 congressional seats.

However, it is important to consider that the Popular Party’s undemocratic politics exist within the context of Puerto Rico having been gradually assimilated to the point of functioning (de facto) like an incorporated state. We have been shaped by federalism. Yet, the Popular Party leadership turns a deaf ear and remains stubborn regarding the viable constitutional reality of our relationship with our nation. They ignore the fact that, in 1963, then-Gov. Luis Muñoz Marín requested the presidential vote in Congress and stated, «...we are not pro-American; we are American. ...» They ignore that the late Gov. Rafael Hernández Colón (R.I.P.) said before his death that Puerto Rico was in line to become a state.

Instead, the Popular Party leadership seeks to maintain a captive electorate blinded by an American citizenship obscured by the Commonwealth (ELA) veil of «wanting to be» solely to retain political power, even at the cost of being undemocratic; INDEED, THEY SEEM TO BE CHASING A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD!