Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 15, 1993 TAG: 9308150150
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LARRY ROHTER THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO LENGTH: Long
Ever since the United States seized this lush Caribbean island in 1898 as booty of the Spanish-American War, the relationship between the mainland and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has been marked by ambivalence on both sides. Puerto Ricans have often seemed unsure whether to regard themselves as Americans, Latin Americans or both.
Many on the mainland evidently find it difficult to regard a mixed-race, Spanish-speaking society with a per capita annual income of just over $6,000 as truly being part of America.
If it were a state, Puerto Rico would have more members in Congress than 25 states. Because its 3.7 million people do not live in a state, they do not pay federal taxes and they have their own Olympic team. But they still can be drafted.
The plebiscite comes at a moment when Puerto Ricans are being sharply reminded of their second-class colonial status. With only symbolic representation in Congress and unable to vote in federal elections unless they live on the mainland, they watched impotently as the Clinton administration and Congress, intent on reducing the budget deficit, hacked away at the corporate tax exemptions that have been the backbone of the local economy for the last 40 years.
As a result, Puerto Rican subsidiaries of mainland companies saw the reduction of the 100 percent wage credit that encouraged many to locate here.
The companies will now be expected to pay $3.75 billion in federal taxes during the next five years, which, leaders here fear, could encourage them to shift their operatons to Mexico to benefit from the North American Free Trade Agreement. Washington has offered little in compensation from the expected losses.
Furthermore, the Nov. 14 vote is not binding, so that even if the statehood option wins narrowly, as many here predict, Congress could reject the island's petition to join the union.
From 1989 through 1991 both the Senate and the House, urged on by the Bush administration, debated legislation that would have established a binding plebiscite.
In the end they failed to take action, fueling the suspicion here that Congress is simply unwilling to add a 51st star to the flag. "Statehood is contrary to the national interest of the United States," said Ruben Berrios, head of the Puerto Rican Independence Party. "That is why there was no plebiscite."
Largely because of that experience, Puerto Ricans cannot even agree what to call the upcoming vote. Gov. Pedro Rossello of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party has called it both a "plebiscite" and a "referendum."
On the other hand, the Popular Democratic Party, which favors commonwealth, refers to it as an "opinion poll" or "consultation," implicitly downgrading its importance. Carlos Noriega Rodriguez, head of the Puerto Rico Bar Association, dismisses it as "a sterile exercise," while some independence supporters recently complained to the United Nations that the vote is "a colonial mechanism" and "an attempt at deception."
Every president since Harry Truman has supported the notion of self-determination for Puerto Rico, but then again, the White House would only have to make a decision on Puerto Rico's status should Congress approve statehood.
"Whatever they decide, I will support," Clinton said last month on "Larry King Live." "I think they, the people of Puerto Rico, should decide."
But exactly what constitutes "the people of Puerto Rico" is the subject of some debate. Rossello wants to limit participation to Puerto Ricans who live on the island.
Both the commonwealth and independence parties argue, however, that the 2.6 million Puerto Ricans who live on the mainland, more than half of them in New York and vicinity, must also be granted voting rights if the result is to have any meaning.
"We believe that Puerto Ricans are a nationality apart and distinct from the rest of the world," said Sen. Eudaldo Baez Galib, a commonwealth supporter. "It doesn't matter whether they live in San Juan, New York or Timbuktu."
Not surprisingly, many mainland Puerto Ricans agree. "This is not an election for state assemblyman or to raise taxes," said Rep. Jose Serrano of the Bronx, one of three Puerto Ricans in Congress. "This is a vote that may determine for all time the future of an entire people."
Puerto Ricans on the mainland "are as much Puerto Ricans as people on the island," he said. "Some of us were born on the mainland. Some of us came with our families. But all of us who live on the mainland do so as a result of the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico, and we deserve to have our voices heard."
(STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS)
nn
NYT-08-09-93 0935EDT BC-PUERTO-RICO-REVIEW-2ndTake-NYT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: voices heard." (Repeating from Saturday's file)
Opposition parties have a vested interest in that position because they believe that support for commonwealth and independence is even stronger among mainland Puerto Ricans than here on the island. Differences of class and race further cloud the issue: A slogan proclaims that "statehood is for the poor."
Rossello says the issue is a matter of residence, not nationality. Explaining why he intends to exclude Puerto Ricans on the mainland from the vote, he said, "You would not expect people born in California who now live in New York to get on a plane and go to California and vote in whatever referendums are decided there. That is not acceptable."
But Rossello and his party risk alienating mainland Puerto Ricans, who they expect to lead the charge for statehood in Congress after November.
"Some of us are kind of ticked off by all of this," said Angelo Falcon, director of the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy in New York.
"How can the government of Puerto Rico ask us to support them on the tax benefits program and then go back to Puerto Rico and draft a bill that does not allow us to vote? It makes us feel like the black sheep in the family."
by CNB