Washington – The Bush administration on Thursday gingerly stepped into the debate over Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States, asking Congress to set yet another vote for the island’s citizens to voice their opinion about their future.
Puerto Rico has been a U.S. commonwealth since 1952, when Congress approved the relationship. Puerto Ricans voted to keep that status quo and reject statehood in nonbinding referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998.
But deep divisions remain, with a sizable number supporting the call for statehood and a much smaller group backing full independence. Statehood would bring the right to vote for president and voting representation in Congress. Full independence would require some Puerto Ricans to relinquish U.S. citizenship.
The issue also raises tricky political questions in the United States – for instance, admitting Puerto Rico as a state could affect the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.
President Bush’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status concluded that another vote by Puerto Ricans is the best next step. Releasing its final report Thursday, the task force urged Congress to set a vote, or at least hold hearings on the issue, by the end of next year.
The task force took no position on which of the three options – continued commonwealth status, statehood or independence – is preferable. It said the vote should ask Puerto Ricans to choose between remaining a U.S. territory or moving toward a permanent solution.
If Puerto Ricans supported a permanent status option, another vote should be set to choose between statehood and independence, the task force said.
“The hot potato … someone has to put it in the kitchen,” said Ruben Barrales, a task force co-chair and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. “The people that are going to cook it are the people of Puerto Rico.” The island’s nearly 4 million people have been U.S. citizens since 1917. Islanders can serve in the U.S. military but are barred from voting for president, have no voting representation in Congress and pay no federal income taxes.
The Caribbean island has become one of the wealthiest places in Latin America, though poverty remains more severe than on the U.S. mainland.
