2024-01-18 09:00:59
Ariel Veles Torres is very proud of the small square in the municipality of Adjuntas, in southwest Puerto Rico, a vibrant place with a fountain and benches, surrounded by a church and the hotel city. No doubt, the vestiges of Spanish colonialism are evident there.
Until 1898, it was Spain that ruled Puerto Rico. This island became a territory of the Commonwealth of the United States that year, when they acquired it during the Spanish-American War.
At 24, Ariel Veles Torres feels fundamentally American. He is entering politics this year so that Puerto Rico becomes a state like the 50 others.
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Ariel Veles Torres is a candidate in the elections next November to represent the territory in a symbolic way.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Frédéric Arnould
This is the second time I’m running for the shadow delegation to Congress, he said, and it’s symbolic.
Symbolic, because, as Puerto Rico is a US territory and not a state, its inhabitants are not represented by any elected representative in Congress; they have neither senator nor representative.
No supreme voting rights
While there is a lot of talk these days in the United States about the primaries for the presidential election next November, the island, like other territories, is organizing primary elections in the spring, during which the parties choose the delegates to the Republican and Democratic national conventions.
Although these delegates vote for the candidate they chose at their respective conventions, this marks the end of the territory’s participation in the presidential election since its residents cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections.
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Former local senator Jose Garrica Pico teaches political science classes at the University of San Juan.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Frédéric Arnould
For former local senator Jose Garrica Pico, who teaches political science at the University of San Juan, the Puerto Rican capital, the subject of Puerto Rico’s future constantly comes up in his class.
Puerto Ricans are not treated equally under the Constitution, he explains. This concerns in particular economic aid to the government and social benefits.
This situation of inequality causes an exodus of islanders. Today there are six million Puerto Ricans living outside their island, while just over three million reside there. A phenomenon that Ariel Veles Torres observes day after day.
I saw my family leave for the United States because there are no opportunities on the island. My grandparents, for example, now live in Pennsylvania to get better Social Security benefits.
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The report by our correspondent Frédéric Arnould
Republicans and Democrats united against the project
There have been several referendums on whether Puerto Rico should become a U.S. state. A majority of Puerto Ricans supported this project.
However, for the island to become a state, the US Congress must give its approval. In the Senate, for example, 60 senators out of 100 would need to agree, support almost impossible to obtain in the current context of political division.
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The people of Puerto Rico would like to be part of the United States as citizens of a state.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Frédéric Arnould
Professor Garrica Pico deplores this inaction on the part of Washington. Each time, Congress finds a different excuse to do nothing about the wishes of the people of Puerto Rico. For the moment, it is the Republicans who are blocking the file, but the Democrats have done the same at other times.
Ariel Veles Torres believes that Washington’s fear has to do with the balance of power in Congress.
This is an argument made particularly by Republicans, who say that Puerto Rico would be a blue state, which is not necessarily the case. I don’t believe Puerto Rico would be a red or blue state, I believe Puerto Rico would be more of a moving state. That’s the message I try to convey to legislators when I go to Washington to lobby, he explains.
And sovereignty?
Those who are content with the status of Puerto Rico as a simple territory see no way out of this issue. In his hairdressing salon which seems frozen in time on the island of Vieques, Hector Legrand discusses the future of his territory with one of his clients.
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Some Puerto Ricans favor the status quo for their territory.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Frédéric Arnould
If I had to choose, I would prefer Puerto Rico to become a full U.S. state rather than becoming an independent country, Mr. Legrand said.
This statement makes Ariel Veles Torres jump.
Independence is a better option than remaining a colony.
However, the idea of creating a sovereign state has a hard time on the island because, among other things, some or all Puerto Ricans would probably lose American citizenship and the right to reside in the United States.
The result: support for independence is low because it seems unrealistic to many people. Jamaica is about the same size as Puerto Rico, while the Dominican Republic is three times our size with the same population, so we too could become a nation. But it’s difficult to separate Puerto Rico from the American economy, and it’s very difficult to maintain the standard of living we have and the lifestyle we currently enjoy, explains Professor Jose Garrica Pico.
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Ariel Veles Torres is running in the island’s elections this year as a representative of Puerto Ricans, a symbolic office.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Frédéric Arnould
Hence the urgency for change for young aspiring politician Ariel Veles Torres, eager to soon bring the cause to Congress with the other Puerto Rican delegates. The current situation no longer works. It was supposed to be a transitional status and it has now been more than 75 years since nothing has changed. It is time to move on.
He hopes the Puerto Rican diaspora will lobby in all 50 states so that the island can finally get a star on the flag, as was the case for Hawaii and Alaska, which became states a few decades ago.
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