America’s confused foreign policy in the post-Soviet sphereby jpicard@thehill.com (Jason Katz)
As the tragedy of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 showed, one needs to look no further than the pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists’ own Facebook pages to identify the culprits of these murders and the supporters empowering them. The separatists’...
Mexico launches new police force to guard commerceby Joshua Partlow, Gabriela Martinez
MEXICO CITY — Mexican avocados, on their journey to guacamole bowls the world over, often first pass through cartel-controlled farmlands, where extortion can raise prices, drag down the economy and put farmers at risk.
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The Mexican drug lord Chapo Guzman is in prison. But he might live by his own rules. by Joshua Partlow, Gabriela Martinez
MEXICO CITY — Lawyers who visit their clients in the Altiplano, Mexico’s highest security prison, say they must leave behind their wallets, pens, tie clips, shoelaces. They complain that guards check inside the men’s underwear and women must take off their bras.
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Al ser oficial su expulsión, los exagentes tienen derecho a apelar la determinación ante la Comisión de Investigación.
El vídeo comenzó a circular a través de la aplicación de comunicación “Whatsapp”.
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A new law would allow public corporations to go into default. That has investors worried about the territory's $73 billion in debt.
Reid Wilson | July 24,2014
The Philippines may have beaten only one of its five opponents and been eliminated at the group stage of the Basketball World Cup but they have won over a country that can sense the rapid progress of the sport in the nation.
Associated Press | Wizards & NBA | September 5,2014
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- subject to all federal taxes, unlike US territories such as Guam and introduced by Holmes Norton in 1993 in the only vote on District
- gained 61 percent of the vote versus 33 percent for sovereign free association, under which terms of the relationship between a sovereign
- over the island's status has long dominated politics in
- Puerto Rico rejecting constitutional changes
- Both proposals had wide support among
- Sun Aug 19, 2012 8:13pm EDT
- Ricans reject constitutional changes in upset vote
- Both proposals had wide support among
- they do not cut along well-worn political divisions in or remaining
- status of
- would be asked whether they want to change political status ask them to choose among three nonterritorial options -- US
- who recognize both English and Spanish as their official languages, will vote in November in a
- Puerto Rico votes in Republican presidential primary
- on the island led by Governor Luis Fortuno, seized on his opponent's misstep by declaring that he would assist in pursuing if that's what
- Sun Mar 18, 2012 12:32pm EDT
governor Luis
governor Luis
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- Puerto Rico turnaround boss targets 'fair plan' for utility
- NEW YORK - The new turnaround chief of power authority said on Friday she was targeting a "fair plan" in the restructuring of PREPA, with all
- Fri Sep 5, 2014 7:24pm EDT
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- Puerto Rico economic activity drops to 20-year low
- Puerto Rico says the index strongly correlates to the island's gross national product. Puerto Rico's economy has been in or near recession since 2006.
- Tue Sep 2, 2014 1:52pm EDT
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80°
No baje la guardia con el chikungunya
Con tantos casos reportados y dos muertes bajo investigación es imperativa la prevención.
Luto en LA por la muerte de Joan Rivers
Aficionados de Joan Rivers dejaron flores y mensajes de condolencia en honor a la comediante que...
- Primer Infarto presenta los peores retosPara morir de la risa con estos intentos fallidos del famoso Ice Bucket Challenge
- Juanma Londres París entrevista a La Rata¡Qué graciosito es! El presentador se luce en su entrevista a la rata de las Tortugas Ninjas
- Hay que subir las ventas del "fast food"Las chicas aprenden a tratar con clientes disatisfechos. ¿Lo lograrán?
- Lo que pasó en la lectura de sentencia“Dígale a su cliente que se deje de changuerías”, dijo el juez. ¡Qué clase de pantalones!
- No baje la guardia con el chikungunyaCon tantos casos reportados y dos muertes bajo investigación es imperativa la prevención.
- Lo Que la Vida Me Robó - 4 de septiembre"Te quería matar a ti, José Luis. Ahora vas a tomar la desición que Alejandro tenía que tomar".
- Qué Pobres Tan Ricos - 4 de septiembre¡Una final de telenovela! Miguel Ángel Ruiz Palacios y Guadalupe Menchaca sellan su amor eternamente.
- De Que Te Quiero, Te Quiero - 4 de septiembre“¿Quién prefieres que sea, Diego, tu amante casado o Rodrigo, tu amante soltero?"
- La Hora Del Chavo – 4 de septiembreEdrian Alexis, Jinelys Borerro Aponte, Darlos David Hernández, James Steven Marrero, Cataleya Ocasio Martínez, Dereck Yadiel, Ezequiel Rodríguez.
- Juventud, voluntad firmeEl proyecto pretende orientar a los jóvenes para prevenir conductas de alto riesgo.
- Ya está todo listo para las audicionesDecenas de chicas llegarán al teatro de Univision Puerto Rico para luchar por un pase al reality.
- Estrena “La Vaca con Gafas”El filme puertorriqueño se presentó en decenas de festivales y finalmente llega a la isla.
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Viewpoint: Don't forget that Puerto Ricans are Americans, too
The Republican - masslive.com Citizenship issues have been tested in court for decades, with varying results. On the island itself, a debate continues over whether Puerto Rico would best be served by statehood, independent nation status or its current place as a commonwealth – not ... |
Puerto Rican Senator Proposes Making Country's First Language Spanish
Hispanically Speaking News The pro-statehood sector of the island's population generally supports the predominant use of English and independence-minded members of the Puerto Rican public generally prefer Spanish. The senator making the proposal is Antonio Fas Alzamora, with ... |
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Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla has been considering three strategies for defeating not only statehood but the “Sovereign Commonwealth” advocated by many in the ‘Commonwealth’ party he heads in a plebiscite provided for by a Federal law enacted in January. The alternatives have become clear through recent statements of the party’s Federal affairs representative, Jose Hernandez Mayoral.
The schemes would maintain Puerto Rico’s current territory status championed by Hernandez Mayoral’s father, former Governor Rafael Hernandez Colon. The party’s dominant thinker on status and other political matters for 45 years, Hernandez Colon continues to refuse to accept that Puerto Rico is a “territory” and insists that it has “commonwealth status.”
Two of the plans are based on the status choice process for which President Obama’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status expressed “a marginal preference” in its only report, issued in 2011. As worded in the report, Puerto Ricans would “first vote on the question of whether they would like to be part of the United States or would like to be independent, and then choose between the available status options, as limited by the outcome of the first vote.”
The report inaccurately identified “Commonwealth” along with statehood as the part of the U.S. options. It included independence and “free association” — nationhood in an association with the U.S. that either nation could end — as the independence options.
One of the plans would include the national sovereignty called “Sovereign Commonwealth” advocated by party leaders such as San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, House of Representatives Majority Leader Charlie Hernandez, former Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila, and a majority of the party’s members of the Senate, as the “free association” option.
Recognizing that the vast majority of Puerto Ricans prize U.S. citizenship and other aspects of being an area of the U.S., the Governor’s team reasons that the first vote in the presidential task force suggested process would be handily won by the part of the U.S. option. It would be backed by proponents of statehood — the option with the most support in the territory — along with people who accept their status quo “Commonwealth.”
“Sovereign Commonwealth” would lose along with independence because, for example, it could at most preserve U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans alive at the time of a transition to nationhood, as recommended by the Obama Task Force. It could also, however, result in Puerto Ricans alive at the time of nationhood having to choose between U.S. citizenship and citizenship in the new nation. And, in either case, it would not enable individuals born in Puerto Rico after nationhood to have U.S. citizenship.
Garcia’s team thinks that most ‘Commonwealth’ party voters and even some true nationalists would then cast ballots for the “Commonwealth” option in the second-round vote to try to defeat statehood, with other nationalists simply not voting.
The Obama Task Force’s report’s identification of “Commonwealth” as a part of the U.S. option, however, is inaccurate because, as the Obama Justice Department made clear in a court filing two weeks ago, Puerto Rico is a “possession” that has not been made a permanent part of the U.S. If Puerto Rico had been made a part of the United States by Congress — an ‘incorporated’ territory vs. the unincorporated’ territory it is — it could not become a nation, it would be indisputably destined for statehood, and there would be no question of its ultimate status.
The Federal plebiscite law requires the U.S. Justice Department to agree that the vote’s options can resolve the question of Puerto Rico’s ultimate status and do not conflict with the Constitution, laws, and policies of the United States. The Federal agency can, therefore, be expected to disagree that “Commonwealth” can be a part of the U.S. status.
So, a revised version of the Obama Task Force’s marginally preferred status choice process would make the first vote choice between Puerto Rico having a “permanent relationship” with the U.S. and national sovereignty. The Garcia team assumes that the “permanent relationship” with the U.S. option would win overwhelmingly because the “Sovereign Commonwealth” proposal would supposedly make Puerto Rico a nation in a permanent association with the U.S. (which is not a possible status because nations can end associations with other nations).
The team thinks that many “Sovereign Commonwealth” voters could be persuaded to vote for the permanent relationship with the U.S. option and only true nationalists would vote for national sovereignty. The Garcia team hopes that, then, again, some nationalists would join with most ‘Commonwealth’ party voters to try to defeat statehood in what the team sees as a second-round choice between statehood and “Commonwealth,” with other nationalists not voting.
The process would, therefore, also outmaneuver the ‘Commonwealth’ party’s “sovereigntist’ leaders.
Since their party’s “sovereigntist” leaders may see through both processes inspired by the Obama Task Force, the Garcia team has a different plan to defeat “Sovereign Commonwealth” as well as statehood. In this case, all four status options — statehood, independence, free association but called “Sovereign Commonwealth,” and “Commonwealth” as they claim it exists — would be options in a first-round plebiscite. There would then be a run-off vote between the two options with the most support.
An argument for this approach is that ‘Commonwealth’ party “sovereigntist” leaders could be told that “Sovereign Commonwealth” has an equal chance on the ballot with the Hernandez-Garcia vision of “Commonwealth.” But the Garcia team expects that its “Commonwealth” would get into the second round with statehood instead of “Sovereign Commonwealth” and hopes that most ‘commonwealthers’ and some nationalists would then join to defeat statehood.
The plan counts on the “sovereigntists” betting the opposite: that it is “Sovereign Commonwealth” which ultimately squares off against statehood.
A major weakness in all of the Garcia team’s strategies is that the presidential task force accurately explained that “Commonwealth” would mean, “Puerto Rico would remain, as it is today, subject to the Territory Clause of the U.S. Constitution” — a finding of the George W. Bush and Clinton Administrations and congressional committee leaders of both national political parties as well.
The Territory Clause empowers Congress to govern territories as it wishes in matters that States handle as well as in matters that are considered national in the States.
Hernandez Colon and Garcia Padilla argue that the Federal government has ceded to the Commonwealth government the Congress’ power to govern Puerto Rico in even more matters than States govern in a grant of power that “cannot be altered except by mutual consent.” But this is not possible, the Obama Task Force correctly pointed out, “because a future Congress could choose to alter that relationship unilaterally.”
Thus, “Commonwealth” cannot be a “permanent relationship” with the U.S. option in the first place as well as cannot be a part of the U.S. option. It also cannot be a status that partially exempts Puerto Rico from Congress’ Territory Clause power to govern territories in all matters.
And advocates of “Sovereign Commonwealth” and other nationhood proposals reject the current status as “colonial” and cannot be counted on to vote for such a “Commonwealth.”
Another part of the strategy involves timing of the two-vote plebiscite. The Garcia team is inclined for it to occur next year not long before the statehood party has what it now seems will be a hotly contested primary election for its nominee for governor. Garcia’s team believes that this would divert money from the statehood campaign for the plebiscite and prevent pro-statehood leaders from unifying for the campaign.
It could also result in some statehood champions urging a boycott of the plebiscite for internal party reasons.
Garcia tentatively plans for the ‘Commonwealth’ party’s Governing Board to meet next week to discuss its strategy for the plebiscite. From a statement he made last week and other reports, he does not yet have the votes to push through a plan that would out-maneuver the effort to have the party stand for national sovereignty.
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A new report from the Pew Research Center shows that the number of Puerto Ricans who have ‘voted’ for statehood for themselves by moving to a State has grown enormously during the 21st century. As the chart above shows, net migration from Puerto Rico to the States during the last two decades of the 20th century averaged a loss of 12,000 people per year. What’s more, the net population loss was slowing at the end of the 20th century.
In the past three years, however, Puerto Rico’s net migration has deepened to an average of 48,000 people each year — four times the number lost in the final decade of the 20th century.
In fact, according to Pew Research’s report, a combination of U.S. Census data and earlier Spanish counts suggests that Puerto Rico’s population had been growing from the 1700s until the current loss.
In the States, the Puerto Rican population is growing. In 2012, there were 4.9 million Puerto Ricans in the States, and just 3.4 million in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans are now the second largest Hispanic group in the United States, second to Mexicans.
The most recent wave of migration is a little different from earlier migration to the mainland. Puerto Ricans are heading to the Southern states rather than to the Northeast, with 30% of Puerto Ricans in the States living in the South, particularly in Florida. Half still live in the Northeast.
Economic reasons are cited as the main impetus for moving to the mainland. Puerto Rico’s levels of unemployment and of poverty are high, and the recent downgrading of Puerto Rico’s bonds to junk status has brought the severity of Puerto Rico’s debt problems to light.
Where a few years ago young, educated people were the majority of the migrants to the mainland, people from all walks of life are now leaving for the States. Puerto Ricans living in the States are better off financially than those living in Puerto Rico, the report confirms.
A recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York concludes that “there are no strong signs that a meaningful recovery is taking hold [and] serious fiscal challenges have surfaced.”
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The ‘commonwealth’ party’s Governing Board could not reach agreement Saturday on a new proposal for the territory’s status between two main ideas that Federal officials have previously rejected.
A “commonwealth” proposal is needed for a plebiscite provided for bya Federal law enacted in Januarythat Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla wants to hold, reportedly shortly before an island-wide primary in the statehood party.
The meeting, held after a postponement intended to give Gov. Garcia time to obtain enough votes to settle on his proposal, did agree on one point for the definition: Individuals would have to be able to obtain U.S. citizenship based on birth in Puerto Rico.
This is currently the case under Federal law but not under the U.S. Constitution itself, as it is in: the States; territories that have been made a full and permanent part of the U.S.; and the district that serves as the headquarters of the Federal government.
It was not clear whether the Board was referring to a continuation of the Federal law or to an interpretation of the U.S. Constitution that the party has made in the past but that the Federal government denies.
Two other agreements were reached. Both concern how a new status proposal could be determined.
- A committee of four former party presidents would try to draft the proposal. The committee includes: the author of Gov. Garcia’s “autonomist” proposal, which is similar tothe definition the party developed for a 1993 plebiscite under local law, Former Gov. Rafael Hernandez Colon; the leader under whom the current proposal was drafted for a 1998 plebiscite under local law and a leader of the “sovereigntist” faction that wants a similar proposal, ex-Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila; Former Senate President Miguel Hernandez Agosto, who advocated a national sovereignty proposal in the 1998 plebiscite; and Ex-San Juan Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Hector Luis Acevedo, who tried to obtain Federal acceptance of the 1993 plebiscite definition.
- The other agreement was that a new proposal would have to be adopted by the party’s General Council or its General Assembly. There are some 600 members of the Council and 5,000 members of the Assembly. The Board, which first adopted the current proposal, has 30 members.
Under Gov. Garcia’s proposal, which reportedly had the support of 13 of 22 Board members at the meeting:
- Matters that State governments handle and taxation of Puerto Ricans would be exempted (by law) from Congress’ Territory Clause power to govern in Puerto Rico.
- Puerto Rico would be funded equally with the States in all Federal social programs.
- Income that companies in the States claim from manufacturing in Puerto Rico would be exempted from Federal taxation.
- Trade law would protect Puerto Rican agricultural products from foreign competition.
- Foreign built, owned, flagged, and crewed ships would be able to carry cargo between Puerto Rico and the States.
- The Commonwealth government’s approval would be needed for international airline routes that involve stops in Puerto Rico.
Federal officials of both national political parties have turned down similar proposals for constitutional as well as policy reasons.
Federal officials of both national parties have also rejected the party’s current definition as impossible for constitutional and other reasons. The proposal, which had the support of nine of 22 Board members, calls for:
- Puerto Rico to be a nation but in a permanent association with the U.S.
- Puerto Rico to be able to limit the application of Federal laws and court jurisdiction.
- Puerto Rico to be able to enter into international agreements and organizations that require nationhood.
- The U.S. to provide a new subsidy for the Commonwealth government.
- The U.S. to give up ownership of most Federal property in the territory.
- The U.S. to continue to provide all program benefits to individuals, citizenship, and free entry to goods shipped from Puerto Rico.
- Puerto Rico’s consent to be required for changes in the arrangement.
One of Acevedo Vila’s ideas for developing the proposal further would have the U.S. assume theCommonwealth’s debt, which is about $73 billion.
Under the Federal plebiscite law, the U.S. Justice Department has to agree that the plebiscite options would finally resolve the question of the territory’s ultimate status and do not conflict with the Constitution or existing laws and policies of the U.S.
Neither of the proposals would meet these tests.
Garcia has called for the Legislative Assembly to act on a plebiscite law during its current session. Senate President Eduardo Bhatia and House Speaker Jaime Perello, however, have not been planning for it.
Puerto Rico held a plebiscite under local law along with the 2012 elections. It defeated Puerto Rico’s current territory status, for which Garcia urged support, by 54%. It chose statehood among the possible alternatives by 61.2%
Nationhood in an association with the U.S. that either nation could end — which is generally called “free association” but was called “Sovereign Commonwealth” for the plebiscite and was advocated by Acevedo Vila and others in the “sovereigntist” wing of the party — obtained 33.3%. Independence was selected by 4.5% of the vote.
The Federal plebiscite law was enacted because Garcia and the ‘commonwealth’ party members who were also elected in the 2012 elections dispute the Commonwealth’s plebiscite.
The Obama White House, which had supported the 2012 plebiscite and hailed its results, was concerned that lobbying by the Governor would cause Congress to not take more positive action on the people of Puerto Rico’s self-determination decision.
A plebiscite under Federal law would be more difficult for the ‘commonwealth’ party to argue against with any credibility.
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Puerto Rico's Spanish-First Legislation Is Divide and Conquer Politics
PanAm Post (blog) EspañolThe Popular Democratic Party (PDP) in Puerto Rico is at it again. In what appears to be a concerted effort to dismantle what is left of the commonwealth, the party has once again brought up the “Spanish only” issue. This isn't the first time the ... |
 New York Times |
Puerto Rico Luring Buyers With Tax Breaks
New York Times While there is much to recommend Puerto Rico as a tax haven — it has better beaches than Switzerland, no immigration hassles like Ireland and is a lot closer than Singapore — there are the undeniably distasteful politics of fleeing New York to save ... |
Puerto Rican politics can be viewed as the unfinished business of the 1898 Spanish American War. That year, four centuries of Spanish colonialism came to an end in Cuba and Puerto Rico as military forces sent by US ...
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Regional news archives from Caribbean News Now!: The source for the latest news throughout the Caribbean.
Agent Geniel Amaro-Fantauzzi of the Puerto Rico Police Department succumbed Monday to gunshot wounds sustained one week earlier when he and several other agents were conducting a narcotics investigation. ... Top News. Puerto Rico Officer Dies from Wounds Sustained in Drug Raid ...
SAN JUAN -- Sixteen former Puerto Rico police officers have pleaded guilty for their roles in a criminal organization run out of the police department. The officers used their affiliation with law enforcement to commit robbery ...
Agent Geniel Amaro-Fantauzzi succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained one week earlier when he and several other agents were conducting a narcotics investigation at the April Gardens 1 public housing complex, ...
By PoliceOne Staff LAS PIEDRAS, Puerto Rico A Puerto Rico officer has died from gunshot wounds sustained during a narcotics investigation August 19. ODMP reports Agent Geniel Amaro-Fantauzzi, 35, was.
MIAMI — A Coast Guard commissioned officer charged with sexually assaulting the wife of another Coast Guardsman is scheduled to face General Court Martial at Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen inPuerto Rico, Thursday.
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When Stephen McGarva and wife Pamela decided to move to Puerto Rico because of her job, he jumped at the chance to A explore the sun-soaked islands.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Three Puerto Rico police officers, Erick Rivera Nazario, Angel Torres Quinones and Antonio Rodriguez Caraballo on Monday pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges in connection with the fatal beating of 19-year-old Jose Luis Irizarry Perez.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Alberto Bac-Bagu, the Secretary of Puerto Rico's Department of Economic Development and Commerce , on Tuesday spoke to business leaders and start-ups at the National Black and Latino Council's Black, Brown and Green Sustainability Summit about Puerto Rico's entrepreneurial business growth and idea cultivation.
San Juan, Sep 2 .- Puerto Rico on Tuesday presented its strategy for promoting itself as a medical tourism destination, especially among the Hispanic population of the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast, to whom it will offer medical care ranging from dental treatment to liposuction or weight-loss surgery at prices that can be as much as 60 percent ... (more)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The World Economic Fund's newly released Global Competitiveness Report for 2014-2015 ranks Puerto Rico first in Latin America and behind only the United States and Canada in the entire Western Hemisphere in terms of its pro-business climate. "The latest WEF report offers more confirmation that Puerto Rico is a great place for business investment," said Alberto Bac Bagu, Puerto Rico's secretary of economic development and commerce.
