Posted on 04/18/2003 5:08:38 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
In recent years Puerto Rico received much publicity as its islanders insisted on ending more than 60 years of U.S. Navy bombing on Vieques. For many, these often-confrontational efforts have hurt the U.S. territory's relationship with the United States, exposing the existence of a volatile bond between the two.
National Geographic magazine fell victim to the U.S. -- Puerto Rico drama in reporting on this phenomenon as the Navy prepares to withdraw from Vieques island in May. In its March issue, the feature True Colors: Divided Loyalties in Puerto Rico generated great consternation within the Puerto Rican community.
In an open letter to the magazine, Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner -- the island's nonvoting delegate in the U.S. Congress -- and Puerto Rico's Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce expressed their indignation and views on the U.S.-Puerto Rico relationship:
MUTUAL BENEFITS
''In addition to our strong culture, Puerto Rico also boasts a dynamic business community that is inextricably linked with and mutually beneficial for the United States,'' they wrote. 'As the United States' eighth-largest trading partner and the world's fourth-largest purchaser of U.S. goods per capita, Puerto Rico buys more products than many larger countries such as Italy, Russia or China. In 2001 alone, Puerto Rico purchased $16 billion worth of U.S. goods, fueling the creation and maintenance of over 270,000 U.S. mainland jobs.''
As a U.S. commonwealth, Puerto Rico is probably the best kept secret for 53 of the U.S. Fortune 100 companies already operating there as well as for the U.S. Armed Forces.
With a buying power of more than $25 billion a year, Puerto Rico offers an unrivaled market for U.S. goods and services. With a population larger than half of the U.S. states, it also has a readily available, skilled and mostly bilingual workforce of U.S. citizens.
Such is the availability of human resources that the U.S. Army's two recruiting companies on the island consistently are tops in recruiting worldwide. Close to 40,000 Puerto Ricans currently serve on active duty or reserve status in the U.S. Armed Forces.
EXPORT GENERATOR
More than 100 of the U.S. Fortune 500 multinationals operate out of the island, generating more than $47 billion in exports in 2002. Twenty-five percent of all pharmaceutical products manufactured in the United States are shipped from Puerto Rico, and 16 of the country's top-20-selling prescription drugs are produced there. Puerto Rico is the fifth-largest exporter in the entire hemisphere after the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Commonwealth officials note that Florida is Puerto Rico's No. 1 trading partner, ranking as the largest consumer of Puerto Rico's exports. It's also the No. 1 destination for Florida's exports.
With almost as many U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico living in the United States -- more than 3.4 million -- as on the island, National Geographic clearly missed the ''true colors'' and ''loyalties,'' which are clearly those tied to U.S. opportunities, jobs and dollars.
As a territory of the United States, Puerto Ricans on the island should be the ones asking where are the true colors and loyalties of the United States toward the island?
Raúl Duany is chairman of the Puerto Rican Professional Association in Miami.
In the mean time, whatever actions that are taken by our Federal Government should be geared to assure that they have a strong private sector rather than dependency on socialist welfare.
To that end, I would favor projects for infrastructure development for which Puerto Rico, as an island economy with constrained natural resources, has special considerations.
First and formost would be energy resources. Currently, 99% + of Puerto Rico's electricity is generated from imported fossil fuels. This could easily be displaced by nuclear power, although some utilization of wind/solar is also worthy of consideration as supplemental sources.
Puerto Rico is also too small to require/support Interstate style freeways for transportation, but it would be an ideal location for construction of a modern, electricly-powered mass-transit system to enable both residents and tourists easily travel about the island.
Fresh water resources are also a concern, so any infrastructure requirements for wastewater treatment or desalination are also worthy of consideration for high priority.
Finally, although it is not infrastructure, would be an effort to solidify economic ties to the mainland and promote commerce through tourism. Congress and Dubya should exert what influence they have over Major League Baseball to locate a permanent franchise in San Juan. Regular televised games from San Juan would serve as a constant reminder to us mainlanders of the close proximity of Puerto Rico as a hospitable vacation destination.
Puerto Ricans are American citizens who lack a representative vote in Congress.
Any complaints you have regarding the disparity of federal taxation and benefits are the result of the legislative actions of OUR elected representatives, not theirs. Kindly restrict your disparaging remarks to the U.S. Congress, not the fine American citizens who reside in Puerto Rico.
Excellent comments, Brian. Willie still doesn't understand that the almost 4 million Puerto Ricans living stateside give Puerto Rico all the voting represention it needs in our national elections.
Willie, who do you believe U.S. Congressmen like Luis Gutierrez really represent? ;^)
Brian, I notice that Willie didn't take issue with your $25 billion dollar estimate of U.S. Taxpayer's dollars extorted by the ingrates in Puerto Rico in 2001.
Where did that number come from? What went into the calculation? Were the federal income tax dollars lost to the U.S. Taxpayers from companies in Puerto Rico avoiding 90% of their taxes under PR's Section 936 tax scheme taken into consideration?
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