
By The Star Staff
In the year 2000, then-U.S. District Judge Jaime Pieras issued a ruling, which later would be overturned, stating that Puerto Rico residents had the constitutional right to vote for the U.S. president. It was one of the cases that pro-statehood lawyer Gregorio Igartúa took to court to show the inferiority of Puerto Rico’s current territorial status.
Igartúa, who has a master’s degree in international law from Georgetown University, has published a book detailing the cases he has taken to court titled “My Struggle for Equality.” His fight against the illegality of the current status quo began in the early 1990s with a suit seeking the presidential vote.
The courts, however, have not been Igartúa’s only forum, as he has also taken his fight to the Organization of American States (OAS). The book focuses on five cases, three seeking the presidential vote and two challenging the federal government’s decision to not apportion Puerto Rico any representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives as unconstitutional.
In an interview with the STAR, Igartúa, who has litigated in federal court for over 30 years, said he wanted to write the book for posterity, to make people aware of the fight for statehood from a legal perspective, all of which he has done ad honorem.
“The purpose of the book is to be a source of constitutional law on our right to vote in federal elections as interpreted by judges, whose opinions were valuable,” the author said.
As an example, federal Judge Juan Torruellas revoked Pieras in the case on the presidential vote but in another similar case, upheld the ruling “with a precious interpretation of the law.”
Igartúa said he wants to promote solutions to the legal and economic problems of Puerto Rico in a manner that is compatible with the island territory’s relationship with the United States. He has said in the book and in interviews with the STAR that Puerto Rico is a “de facto incorporated territory” and not an unincorporated territory as the courts have established.
Statehood is one of several competing options for the future political status of Puerto Rico, including maintaining its current status, becoming fully independent, or becoming a freely associated state. Igartúa believes it is illegal for Puerto Rico to negotiate to become a freely associated state because that is a negotiation the U.S. territory must do as a sovereign nation.
Puerto Rico has held six referendums on the topic of political status. They have all been non-binding, as the power to grant statehood lies with the U.S. Congress. The most recent referendum was in November 2020, with a majority 52.52% of those who voted opting for statehood.
Although the previous two referendums, one in November 2012 and another in June 2017, also had ostensibly pro-statehood outcomes, critics have said the language in the vote was biased and marred, with ballot language phrased to favor the party in office, which was the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.
Igartúa believes that Puerto Rico should focus on promoting territorial incorporation in Congress, which would put Puerto Rico on the path to statehood.
The book is available at Libreria Norberto or by contacting Igartúa’s law office in Aguadilla.
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