Los boricuas quieren seguir siendo puertoriquenos, pero también ser americanos.

por Olga L. Miranda

El año pasado, en el mes de Junio, el actual presidente estadounidense visito  Puerto Rico, siendo el primero que lo hace en los últimos 50 años. 

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/president-obama-visits-puerto-rico-13837638

En  esa ocasión Obama prometio al pueblo boricua que si ellos decidían en un referéndum nacional, por voto mayoritario, que querían convertirse un estado mas de los EUA, el les garantizaba su apoyo.

Actualmente, Puerto Rico es un estado libre asociado y parte del territorio norteamericano.  Desde 1917, bajo la ley Jone Act y a sugerencia del presidente Theodore Roosevelt,  a los puertoriquenos  se les concedio el derecho de ser considerados ciudadanos estadounidenses. En agnos posteriores, y como resultado de la dura lucha del movimiento independentista y de las historicas demandas del pueblo, la nacion adquiro nuevas ventajas legales, como han sido; el derecho a tener su propia constitución, su bandera, su himno, el español como idioma oficial, y también a elegir a sus gobernantes. Pero, todavia los que viven en la isla no pueden votar en las elecciones federales, lo cual es un derecho demandado por muchos puerto riquenos, aunque es compensado por el hecho de que no tienen que pagar taxes federales. Es decir que, el estatus legal de este país es bien complicado, con sus aspectos positivos y negativos. A todo esto se le suma, una critica situacion económica, caracterizada por alto desempleo, y un peligroso nivel de criminalidad. 

El pasado 6 de Noviembre, se efectuo finalmente el citado referéndum, y los puertoriquenos decidieron por mayoría que querían convertirse en el estado 51 de la unión americana. La elección daba 3 opciones: convertirse en una nación independiente, continuar mas o menos como hasta hora siendo un estado asociado, o convertirse en en nuevo estado de los EU. Esta ultima fue la que recibio mayoría de votos.  Según  datos que arrojo una encuesta y fueron publicados en Internet por la agencia EFE, un 50% quiere la anexion a Estados Unidos, un 32% apoyo el Estado libre Asociado Soberano, y un 4% la independencia, mientras que el 14% de los encuestados dijo haber dejado las papeletas en blanco( tomado de http://noticias.latino.msn.com/eeuu/primeros-datos-aventuran-un-resultado-cerrado-en-las-elecciones-de-prico )

Los analistas dicen que ahora habra que recorrer un largo camino para que esto se convierta en realidad. La decisión tiene que ser legalmente elaborada y presentada ante el congreso y el senado del gobierno federal estadounidense, y allí se debatira y votara la final aplicación practica de la propuesta legislativa. Este proceso tomara un largo tiempo de espera por los pobladores de la isla caribeña. 

A continuation reproducimos un articulo publicado por Scott Bomboy, jefe editor del National Constitution Center, donde se explica todo el complicado proceso que seguirá a la decisión electoral del pueblo puertoriqueno. Asi también, se ofrecen datos mas fidedignos y recientes sobre la votacion. El 61% voto por convertirse en un nuevo estado y el 5% por la independencia. Se agrega también otro dato no muy alentador. Alaska tuvo que esperar 13 agnos para recibir su estatus como estado de la unión.Esperemos que Puerto Rico no tenga que esperar tanto 

el ultimo 6 de Noviembre 

Puerto Rico’s bid for statehood seems like a long shot

By Scott Bomboy

Posted 7 hours, 19 minutes ago.

Lost in Tuesday’s election night chaos was a decision in Puerto Rico to seek statehood in a nonbinding referendum. But the odds seem stacked against that happening.

Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state would be a big constitutional development, which weprofiled back in August. It’s far from a done deal, but few people outside of the early part of the Baby Boom generation have experienced the political drama in the statehood process.

That’s because aside from the tenuous decision in Puerto Rico to investigate statehood, the reality is that a second state would need to be in the mix to get Congress bite. And the logistics of congressional compromise seem truly daunting.

Puerto Rico also would bring more potential Democratic votes into the Electoral College and Congress. The House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Republicans, would need to approve such a move.

However, even predicting how Puerto Rico’s electoral and congressional votes would go is a difficult process, at best.

Puerto Rico has the highest voter turnout of any state or territory: voting is a rite of passage on the island. And political polls there are notoriously tricky because the electorate is so volatile.

There are three major political parties in Puerto Rico, none of which align directly with the Democrats and Republicans–they are aligned to statehood, independence, and territory factions.

In Tuesday’s two-part referendum, nearly 54 percent of voters agreed to change Puerto Rico’s status as a territory, and statehood was preferred by 61 percent of voters if Puerto Rico chose to change its territorial status. Independence was only favored by 5 percent of the voters.

The next step would probably be for Congress to agree to a joint resolution with the details of Puerto Rico’s statehood requirements. In 1959, it was called the Admissions Act.

If Congress were to pass the act, it would go back to Puerto Rico for a binding vote to accept it.

However, a look at a 2010 fact sheet from the office of Doc Hastings, the Republican chairman of the House’s Natural Resources Committee, shows the steep barriers Puerto Rican statehood faces in Congress.

Hastings projects that Puerto Rico would add at least $7 billion annually to the federal budget as social programs were extended to the new state, and that House Republicans may ask Puerto Rico to adopt English as its official language.

And because of its population of 3.7 million people, Puerto Rico would be entitled to eight electoral votes, including six seats in the House of Representatives.

Unless Congress agrees to add the six seats, they would need to be taken from other states. Hastings says the votes would come from a pool of six states, four of which are controlled by the Republicans.

It took Alaska 13 years to become a state, with the approval of Congress, after it passed its referendum in the wake of World War II. That came only after Hawaii, which was seen as a GOP-leaning state, was added to the bargain.

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But in 2012, there doesn’t seem to be a potential Hawaii to add to the mix, or a way to create a new state from an existing one.

In Article IV, Section 3, Congress is given the power to decide what states and territories are, but state legislatures would have to approve any act that would combine two existing states or form a new state from parts of other states.

A long-shot compromise could come in the form of the 23rd Amendment, which was passed in 1961. That gave the District of Columbia three electoral votes, but no voting representation in Congress.

Would Puerto Rico get three votes in such an amendment, or at least eight electoral votes?

Adding a new constitutional amendment is even more difficult than adding a new state, so that seems unlikely.

A more likely option would be for the Democrats to agree to surrender four House seats through redistricting in New York and Washington, assuming they believe Puerto Rico’s two senators would be Democrats. That would be another tough sell in Congress.

Scott Bomboy is the editor-in-chief of the National Constitution Center.