Puerto Rico: On July 25th, let’s celebrate federalism

The flag of the United States is raised over San Juan on Oct. 18, 1898. (Wikipedia)

By GREGORIO IGARTÚA DE LA ROSA

Special to The STAR

The fact is that several plebiscites have been held, all won by the statehood movement yet they have yielded no results in Congress. We do not vote in federal elections. One must therefore ask: Why haven’t we moved toward achieving statehood?

There are several reasons, but they largely stem from the misconception that a plebiscite is required for statehood to be granted. In Puerto Rico, a plebiscite process is both unnecessary and questionable. Furthermore, there is the issue of protagonism and in many cases, ignorance even among the top political leadership of the parties. This is the case with U.S. Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (both D-N.Y.), who are pushing for Congress to pass legislation authorizing a plebiscite. Neither possesses the legitimacy or the mandate from the people of Puerto Rico to make such a proposal (mere manipulation).

Why hold another plebiscite? Why not simply assert our rights in Congress as American citizens, a status we have held by choice since 1917? It is discriminatory and shameful to subject ourselves to a process that includes the option of a republic, which would mean leaving the nation (taking 3.2 million American citizens with us) or the «free association» alternative proposed by the Popular Democratic Party, which seeks an association with our nation on undefined terms that the United States cannot grant, just as it would not grant them to an existing state.

We statehood supporters who are already citizens of our nation and for whom the only remaining step in the assimilation process is certification as an incorporated territory in transition to statehood (a status we already hold “de facto”) oppose any further plebiscites.

A plebiscite should not be viewed merely as a tool for winning elections. (Such a notion is wrongly conceived -- consider the 2012 elections: the plebiscite was won, yet the general election was lost.) Moreover, it opens the door for an alliance of parties to unite against statehood.

Congress has before it a request for a plebiscite bill backed by the two aforementioned congresswomen, a measure they use as a veil to mask their intention of securing independence for Puerto Rico. Regardless of whether it determines that the plebiscite should proceed, Congress faces an ongoing obligation to evaluate the legal status of Puerto Rico within the correct legal context of our actual relationship with the United States, rather than what we might hypothetically become (unlike the conclusion reached in Sánchez Valle).

The fact is that Puerto Rico is the territory that has most closely assimilated to the status of a state and is already, “de facto,” an incorporated territory. Any congressional resolution must be issued within the correct legal and political framework; that is, with an understanding of how far we have come along the path toward the elements that constitute statehood.

The reality is that, since 1898, Puerto Rico has been the U.S. territory most gradually assimilated to the status of a state in our nation’s history. Our ancestors voluntarily renounced their Spanish citizenship in 1898; we have met all the requirements of the Northwest Ordinance of 1789, the criteria of which served as the basis for transitioning over 30 territories into states; we have been U.S. citizens by consent since 1917; we have elected our own governor since 1948; and since 1952, we have had a Constitution governing our internal affairs approved by the people and ratified by Congress. Our Constitution affirmed our loyalty to the U.S. federal system of government, the democratic system of government by consent, U.S. citizenship, and the U.S. Constitution (Preamble, Constitution of Puerto Rico). We pay various federal taxes; we have defended democracy in military conflicts; we meet the minimum population threshold to vote

for the president and members of Congress; and the federal Constitution and federal laws are applied daily in federal courts and throughout Puerto Rico, just as they are in the states.

Former Gov. Rafael Hernández Colón quite rightly and honestly stated during a law conference: “The Commonwealth is heading toward statehood within 15 years.” He had previously advised Don Luis Muñoz Marín that, with the 1952 Constitution, we had fulfilled the requirements for statehood (Puerto Rico Bar Journal 207, 1959).

What, then, is the true perspective, one that causes no confusion among American citizens in Puerto Rico, members of Congress, or the courts regarding affirmative, correct action to advance equality? It is not to demand a hypothetical alternative (such as a republic or the commonwealth status), because the request must be directed to the indispensable party, the United States, and grounded in the reality of who we are: American citizens.

In other words, the demand must align with the parameters of the American system itself, parameters understood by Congress rather than voting on whether or not we are granted the right to equality. As American citizens, we already possess that right; one would not ask slaves to vote for their freedom.

The true perspective is to promote, persistently and tirelessly, congressional certification that Puerto Rico is an incorporated territory in transit toward statehood, which is the correct and secure path to follow (see G. Igartua, The U.S. Incorporated Territory of P.R.; see Judge G. Gelpi, Consejo de Salud Playa de Ponce v. Rullan).

After 128 years, Congress faces an obligation to make history by adopting a resolution that grants equal rights to the people of Puerto Rico. It must certify us as an incorporated territory undergoing a process of assimilation toward statehood.

Gregorio Igartúa de la Rosa is an attorney and longtime advocate of statehood for Puerto Rico.