Puerto Rico Status
One of the main issues in Puerto Rico today is the problem of status. Currently, Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth, or an organized incorporated territory. Under Commonwealth, it has control of its internal affairs, has its own constitution, flag, anthem, and elected governor. According to Senator of Puerto Rico Charles Rodriguez, "the reality is that this status, supported strongly by powerful American corporations who benefit from it financially, is that its simply another form of old fashioned colonialism." The three status options for Puerto Rico approved by Congress are independence, associated republic, and statehood. Puerto Ricans today face the problem of choosing the option out of these three that would be the best one for their country. I understand that the wisest decision Puerto Ricans can make is to vote for statehood since it would benefit greatly in almost every aspect of our lives. Becoming a state would give Puerto Rico the opportunity of improving its economic situation. Many people argue that if Puerto Rico becomes a state, we would have to pay Federal income taxes and therefore we would have to pay more money to the government than we do now. But what they don't know is that, since we don't pay Federal taxes, Co
If we w!ere to vote for a candidate for Presidency, the actual candidate would come to us to try to gain our vote and he would have the initiative of trying to fulfill our needs. Our official languages would be Spanish and English. Some people feel threatened by statehood because they believe that it will alter and eventually make our culture disappear. What statehood will do is to provide the framework with which to develop sound economic policies that will create a strong economy to support one of the highest population densities of the world. Other people state that the United States doesn't want us anyways since we would cost them much more than we give them. Right now Puerto Ricans have what might be called a second-rate citizenship. Public school teachers in Puerto Rico are underpaid; many of these teachers lack the encouragement to do their job effectively. Well, if you see culture as a snapshot in history, then yes, of course, the culture will change. Not only that, but we would also gain the right to vote for the President, which in my belief is a right that has been deprived from us for too long. This commissioner has voice but no vote in the House of Representatives.
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Acceptance Essays
