[Rockingham]

Sadly, Costa Rica is very nearly the only enduring example of Latin American democracy.

Fairly or not, the Vieques business has soured me on Puerto Rico, especially when added to the liberal tendencies of most Puerto Ricans and the island's endemic corruption. I am open to being proved wrong as to Puerto Rico's capacity for democratic responsibility and virtue.

I do not see a principled basis for objection to my formula of independence, with an option for eventual statehood by petition. I do see Puerto Rico's politicians running the numbers and feeling faint when they calculate the loss of US cash and tax benefits that independence would bring. Given Vieques, they and most of the island seem to view statehood as mostly a way to open the spigots on cash from the federal treasury on the basis of Hispanic political power.

[cll]

Vieques - I've posted many times here about the fiasco that was this affair. I will dare say that it has also left most locals with your sour feelings. But all the blame cannot be laid on Puerto Ricans. Who was the Attorney General that refused to uphold the law and remove the global leftists from the range before it got out of hand? Janet Reno. Who was the Commander in Chief that tied the Navy's hands on the affair? Bill Clinton. Why did the U.S. Senate scuttle the Puerto Rico Status Bill, forcing our then Democrat governor to use Vieques as his wild card? If it is of any consolation the feds have not given up on Roosevelt Roads NAS. It is now being transformed to support the Air Force and the Army. Camp Garcia and the Vieques range are now in the hands of the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

"I do not see a principled basis for objection to my formula of independence"

Less than 3% of eligible voters support the Puerto Rico Independence Party. Consistently.