What's behind calls for Puerto Rico statehood? Here are 4 things to know.



Nicole Acevedo
Wed, March 3, 2021, 

Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., and Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez, Puerto Rico's nonvoting member of Congress and a Republican, introduced new legislation Tuesday to make the U.S. territory a state.

The Puerto Rico Statehood Admissions Act seeks to establish "a framework for admission, including a presidential proclamation upon its passage, a ratification vote, the election of U.S. senators and representatives and the continuity of laws, government, and obligations," Soto said at a news conference.
Why now


The bill comes amid renewed efforts from pro-statehood Puerto Ricans to pressure Congress after passage of a nonbinding referendum in November that directly asked voters whether Puerto Rico should immediately be admitted as a state. With nearly 55 percent voter turnout, about 53 percent of Puerto Ricans who voted favored statehood while 47 percent rejected it, according to Puerto Rico's Elections Commission.

The new legislation was introduced Tuesday on the 104th anniversary of the Jones Act, the first piece of legislation that opened a pathway for Puerto Ricans to earn U.S. citizenship.

"But still it's not a first-class citizenship," Gonzalez, who represents 3.2 million Puerto Ricans on the island, said. "We cannot vote for our commander-in-chief, we do not have four members of Congress, and yet Congress has all power over us."

The bill has the support of at least 49 House members, 13 Republicans and 36 Democrats, according to Gonzalez. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., is expected to eventually introduce a version of the bill in the Senate.
Why statehood

Puerto Ricans living on the island are U.S. citizens who are unable to vote for president. They don't pay federal income taxes, since they don't have voting representation in Congress. But they do pay payroll taxes, helping fund federal programs such as Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which often serve as lifelines in a territory where 44 percent of the population lives in poverty. But as a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico has unequal access to these programs compared to states.

While similar versions of the Soto-Gonzalez statehood bill have unsuccessfully been introduced in Congress since at least 2015, the newest version is different because it seeks to mirror the process used to bring Hawaii and Alaska into the union, said Soto.

Soto said there's a renewed sense of urgency to advocate for statehood as Puerto Rico works to resolve the compounding crises that have been heaped on the island over the last few years.

The island is still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017 — the deadliest U.S.-based natural disaster in 100 years, which led to the deaths of at least 2,975 people — while simultaneously working to get out of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history and survive the pandemic.
An opposing bill wants more options

The statehood bill was met with opposition from four Puerto Rican advocacy groups Tuesday. They bought an ad in The New York Times calling out statehood supporters such as Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi for their use of "cherry-picked statistics."

"If you're only listening to the governor of Puerto Rico, you're not even getting half the story," the ad reads. "True equity can only be achieved when Puerto Rico is free to decide its own destiny, armed with information and a full understanding of the entire range of nonterritorial political status possibilities available."

The four groups — Vamos Puerto Rico, Boricuas Unidos in the Diaspora, Diaspora in Resistance and Our Revolution Puerto Rico — argue in the ad that a bill that Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both Puerto Rican Democrats from New York, are seeking to reintroduce in the House is a better option to resolving Puerto Rico's territorial status.

Related: The election on the island follows the historic protests following the scandal that led to Gov. Ricardo Rosselló's resignation.

The Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act of 2020 initially proposed creating a "status convention" made up of delegates elected by Puerto Rican voters who would come up with a long-term solution for the island’s territorial status — whether it be statehood, independence, a free association or any option other than the current territorial arrangement.

During Tuesday's news conference, Pierluisi said that proposals advocating for "a new process with other options, because some didn't like the result, show a lack of respect to the people's vote."

Puerto Rico has held a few other referendums in recent years.

In a 2017 plebiscite, 97 percent of those who voted favored statehood but opposition parties boycotted the vote, resulting in a record low turnout of 23 percent. In another 2012 plebiscite, 61 percent of voters sided with statehood, but that referendum was also mired in controversy over the way the choices for voters were phrased.

Independence didn't have 'fair chance'

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., recently said that Puerto Rico's debate over statehood demonstrates that Puerto Ricans are divided on issues surrounding their territorial status.

Most Puerto Ricans favor statehood or its current territorial status. Historically, the island's chances to meaningfully explore independence as an option were often met with roadblocks.

A 1948 Gag Law made it illegal for Puerto Ricans on the island to display the Puerto Rican flag, and a government-sanctioned surveillance program known as "las carpetas," (the binders) illegally tracked Puerto Ricans advocating for independence for about 40 years. Especially during the Cold War, Puerto Rico was of strategic importance to the U.S. and the nation's military.

"There was not a fair chance for Puerto Ricans to explore independence as an option, because both the government of Puerto Rico and the United States government did not allow that option to be on the table," Puerto Rican photographer and journalist Chris Gregory-Rivera, whose six years of reporting on "las carpetas" is also being showcased in an exhibition in Abrons Arts Center in New York City, previously told NBC News.

Related: The divide reflects the ongoing debate about how to best vote on the U.S. territory's future.

"What does that do to a country's ability to participate in civil society and self-determine? As we're talking about another referendum, taking statehood to Congress and a myriad of legal issues about things that have happened over the last few years, you can't ignore that part of the situation that we're in now has links to this moment in history," Gregory-Rivera said.

Pro-independence groups organized counterprotests in Washington on Tuesday as lawmakers announced their pro-statehood bill.

Monday was the 67th anniversary of an armed attack on Congress by four Puerto Rican nationalists who fired on the House as it was in session. Five members of Congress were hurt and recovered; the attackers' prison sentences were commuted in the late 1970s by President Jimmy Carter.

The attack came two years after the 1952 agreement that made the island a commonwealth.

"The political purpose of that military attack was to draw the world's attention to the U.S. colonial situation in Puerto Rico and the repression against the Puerto Rican independence movement," Ana Lopez of the Boricua Independence Front said in a statement.

Puerto Rican independence bill goes to U.S. House vote on Thursday



Wed, December 14, 2022 at 5:03 PM·2 min read
By Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Puerto Ricans could move a step closer to a referendum on whether the island should become a U.S. state, an independent country or have another type of government when the House of Representatives votes Thursday on a bill outlining the process.

A House committee approved the Puerto Rico Status Act on Wednesday, paving the way for the full House vote.

The legislation lays out terms of a plebiscite as well as three potential self-governing statuses - independence, full U.S. statehood or sovereignty with free association with the United States. The latter is in place in Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands.

Puerto Rico, which has about 3.3 million people and high rates of poverty, became a U.S. territory in 1898. Activists have campaigned for greater self-determination including statehood for decades.

There have been six referendums on the topic since the 1960s, but they were nonbinding. Only Congress can grant statehood.

"After 124 years of colonialism Puerto Ricans deserve a fair, transparent, and democratic process to finally solve the status question," Representative Nydia Velazquez, a Democratic cosponsor of the bill, said on Twitter.

The Caribbean island's citizens are Americans but do not have voting representation in Congress, cannot vote in presidential elections, do not pay federal income tax on income earned on the island and do not have the same eligibility for some federal programs as other U.S. citizens.

If the bill passes the House, it will need 60 votes in the closely divided Senate and Democratic President Joe Biden's signature to become law.

The legislation has the support of lawmakers of both parties and Puerto Rican officials.

But time is running out as lawmakers have a full agenda before a vacation at the end of next week. A new Congress with a Republican-controlled House will be sworn in on Jan. 3, at which point any legislative process would have to start over.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

With the clock ticking, Puerto Rico status bill faces uncertain prospects


Rafael Bernal

The Hill
Wed, December 14, 2022 

A bill to allow Puerto Ricans an open vote on their status is up in the air, as competing political forces from San Juan to Washington wrestle over a dying deal that months ago was hailed as a generational breakthrough.

The Puerto Rico Status Act cleared the House Natural Resources Committee in July, raising hopes among supporters that it would quickly receive a House vote and go to the Senate.

The bill has sat on the back burner for months, and now its proponents face a choice between a likely symbolic House floor vote and a full reset as Republicans take over that chamber.

At the bill’s core is a deal between Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón (R-P.R.) to hold a binding referendum for Puerto Ricans to choose between statehood, independence, or independence followed by free association with the United States.

That deal — a historical first between people who represent opposite ends of the Puerto Rican political spectrum — was brokered by outgoing Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), for whom the bill is a legacy item.

But as the last chance for the bill to see a House floor vote approaches, new pressure points are breaking out and putting the vote at risk.

For one, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who played a role in negotiations in Velázquez’s corner, has irked González by proposing amendments perceived as poison pills by many of the bill’s supporters.

That’s led to recriminations from González against Ocasio-Cortez.

“We arrived at agreements, and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t respect or validate or validate those agreements, after having been there for two press conferences — I think that’s an intention to water down the project so nothing is passed,” González-Colón told The Hill last week.

“It’s sad for a person who lives in New York, who doesn’t live in Puerto Rico, keeps in suspense 3.2 million U.S. citizens who live on the island, in a permanent colony,” she added.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response that if González “has something real to say she can tell me in person.”

Still, the bill’s key proponents are pushing for a vote despite the infighting.

“We finally have real momentum to bring this bill to the floor. Yes, of course we should still pass it out of the House during this Congress. It’s critical to move this bill as far as we can. Americans in Puerto Rico deserve nothing less,” said Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.), a statehood supporter who backed González in negotiations.

And many statehood proponents outside of Congress are eager to see the bill pass, if only to keep the status conversation alive.

“There’s an opportunity for the broader American public to be aware of this as an issue that needs to be addressed, and so that people in Puerto Rico as well as stateside Puerto Rican voters, can know that Congress is really interested in doing something about this,” said George Laws García, executive director of the Puerto Rico Statehood Council.

But some in the statehood movement are getting cold feet, arguing that the bill’s core deal could lead voters astray.

The bill allows for a self-executing, binding referendum — if the bill became law the referendum would go ahead as a matter of federal law — that would give Puerto Ricans the opportunity to choose between statehood, independence and independence followed by free association with the United States.

Under the bill, most Puerto Ricans would keep their U.S. citizenship under any of the choices, a provision that many detractors say might not be enforceable.

The bill also lacks detail on a number of issues, like the language of business in Puerto Rican courts and schools if statehood were to win.

“I think it’s a missed opportunity, not because it’s a bad bill, it just has incomplete information in the process that led to it. Again, so rushed, no hearings, no complete discussion on amendments, really has brought us here. So maybe that’s a recognition that they just rushed it through in a bad way,” said Federico de Jesús, the chief lobbyist for Power 4 Puerto Rico.

But for some statehood proponents, offering U.S. citizenship with the two forms of independence was a mistake.

“The practical effect of that is you can have many young people, particularly followers of Bad Bunny, who might believe that utopia. It’s not that free association or independence will win, it’s that it will take votes away from statehood,” said Andrés Córdova, a law professor at Inter American University of Puerto Rico.

Rapper Bad Bunny has come out as a top voice against statehood, essentially arguing that joining the United States in full would harm Puerto Rico’s national identity.

And two prominent supporters of statehood who requested anonymity to speak frankly told The Hill the political timing no longer made sense for passage of the bill.

Those statehooders said a bill passed by an outgoing Democratic House majority was more likely to alienate Republicans than keep the issue alive in Washington, all the while agreeing with Córdova that the bill’s concessions unnecessarily weaken the argument for statehood.

Still, the bill’s proponents want to see a House floor vote, regardless of its slim prospects in the Senate, among other things to prove that the United States is moving in the right direction to respect the right to self determination for its colonized citizens and nationals.

“You know, there’s slim prospects in the Senate, always. We passed a bill, as you recall some years ago, at my instance when I was majority leader the first time. That bill passed the House, it did not get consideration in the Senate. I think the bill has greater prospects in the Senate today. But at bottom is the principle that Americans and our country support, and that is the self-determination of peoples,” Hoyer told reporters Tuesday.

“It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing. I want to do the right thing,” added Hoyer.

Puerto Rico statehood is on the ballot again
By Ray Sanchez and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

© Ricardo Arduengo/AP For the third time this decade, Puerto Ricans will vote on statehood.

Michelle Rodriguez Olivero's social media feed hasn't been buzzing about Tuesday's nonbinding vote to make Puerto Rico the 51st star on the American flag. Nor has there been much dinner table talk about it among her many pro-commonwealth relatives in the northern coastal town of Dorado.

After all, the island's been here before. And nothing has changed, since the referendums are nonbinding.

"We've had five votes with no political consequence," said Rodriguez, 31, a poet who works for a nonprofit and supports independence for Puerto Rico. "It has not led to more funding for the island. We still cannot vote for the President. People have no respect for this process."

For the third time this decade, Puerto Ricans will vote on statehood, which is ultimately in the hands of the US Congress. This time, however, voters on the island will simply be asked, "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?" Yes/No.

But the island's history is far from simple.

As a US territory, Puerto Ricans are natural-born US citizens and can vote in presidential primary elections, but not in the general election, unless they live on the mainland. They don't have a vote in Congress.

"You know how I see the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States?" said Luis Martinez-Fernandez, a history professor at the University of Central Florida. "It's a couple and they've been dating for over a century. But they're not married and neither side is convinced strongly enough they want that marriage. Because if at least one side wanted it, and the other not, well that side could try to seduce the other side. But in the case of Puerto Rico, there is no consensus."

The island has voted in favor of statehood twice before

It's a love-hate relationship dating to the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the US invaded and acquired the small Caribbean island. It's been a US territory since 1952.

The issue of statehood has always been a point of contention. Of the five nonbinding referendums since 1967, the 2012 vote was the first in favor of statehood. Political analysts at the time said the outcome likely reflected an overwhelming desire for a status change in general, whether it be statehood, independence or some other solution. No action was taken in Washington.

In 2017, Puerto Ricans voted overwhelmingly for statehood in yet another nonbinding referendum. But only 23% of eligible citizens voted after opposition parties urged a boycott of an election they said was "rigged" in the way the ballot was worded. Again, no action was taken.

On Tuesday, residents will again consider statehood the same day pro-statehood gubernatorial candidate Pedro Pierluisi faces Carlos Delgado Altieri, candidate of the pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party, in a tight race.

But analysts said Pierluisi's governing New Progressive Party -- beset by corruption scandals and criticized for bungling the aftermath of Hurricane Maria after plunging the island into economic collapse -- organized the statehood vote to animate its base at a crucial moment.

"The catastrophe left behind by Hurricanes Irma and Maria unmasked the reality of the unequal treatment of the American living in Puerto Rico," resident commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican and the island's sole, nonvoting member of Congress, said when she launched the new statehood effort in 2018.

The statehood ballot measure, González-Colón promised, would finally put the island "on the path towards the political equality we deserve."

Support for statehood among Democrats

That road to the great state of Puerto Rico is pitted and complicated.

The referendum would need Congress' approval to establish Puerto Rico as the newest state — and that all depends on how the November elections shake out.

Congressional Democrats have led the push for Puerto Rico and Washington, DC, to be admitted as states, but Republican leadership opposes the idea, arguing it could give Democrats four seats in the US Senate and allow them to push what the GOP calls a socialist agenda.

So while a statehood measure might fare better in the Democratic-controlled US House, legislation for Puerto Rico statehood is unlikely to advance in the Republican-led US Senate, and President Donald Trump has said he would be an "absolute no" on statehood for the island.

Puerto Rico has a likelier chance of becoming a state if Democrats win control of the Senate in November, keep the US House and Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins the White House — giving Democrats complete control of the federal government.

"I happen to believe statehood would be the most effective means of ensuring that residents of Puerto Rico are treated equally, with equal representation at the federal level, but the people of Puerto Rico must decide, and the United States federal government must respect and act on that decision," Biden said in September while campaigning in Kissimmee, Florida.

The Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, who could be the next majority leader if Democrats win the Senate, has voiced support for Puerto Rican statehood and suggested his party would consider the island's status if it takes back the upper chamber.

Bills address pathway for Puerto Rico

Still, even if Democrats retake the Senate, it won't be an easy ride to statehood.

A Democratic majority in the chamber is likely to be slim, which could mean that Senate Republicans opposed to statehood would be able to block any measure with a filibuster. Some Democrats, however, are already suggesting the filibuster be eliminated if Republicans stonewall their every move.

And while Democrats in the House passed a bill in June to admit DC as a state, they seem split on Puerto Rico.

Rep. Darren Soto of Florida, a Democrat, and González-Colón have introduced a bipartisan bill establishing a process to admit Puerto Rico as a state.

The bill garnered support from a handful of House Republicans, including Rep. Don Young of Alaska, a longtime advocate of Puerto Rico statehood, and other GOP lawmakers from Florida and New York.

Soto said in an interview that the "votes are there" and most House Democrats support statehood, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Democratic Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed a bill in August calling for a status convention where delegates, elected by Puerto Ricans, develop an option for the island's status with the intent that it be voted on. The bill by the New York congresswomen -- which has no Republican co-sponsors -- hints at the Democratic divide on the statehood issue.

"If the people of Puerto Rico vote yes, that bill's unnecessary," Soto told CNN. "We don't need a constitutional convention to slow down the will of the people should they vote that way. If the people vote no, that may be another option, certainly. But it starts with the election."

He added, "If the people vote yes, they'll be hard pressed to find a lot of support among House Democrats to ignore an election and stand in the way of a majority-Hispanic island becoming the next state of the United States."

'We would be like New Jersey, my dear'

But many Puerto Ricans as well as political observers on the island and the mainland are wary of the statehood effort.

Pedro Cabán, a professor of Latin American, Caribbean and US Latino studies at the University at Albany-SUNY, dismissed the referendum as political "pageantry."

About 3.1 million people live on the island, and more than 5.6 million Puerto Ricans live on the mainland, according to 2017 data from the Pew Research Center.

"I get the sense that when Puerto Ricans leave the island, they're even more nationalistic than when they're on the island," Cabán said. "If they're more nationalistic, that means it's harder for me to believe they really are into statehood."

Some Puerto Ricans fear the cultural implications of statehood, particularly losing a sense of national identity and Spanish as the official language.

"We love to participate in the Miss Universe pageant and the World Baseball Classic," said Cynthia García Coll, a psychologist who teaches at the University of Puerto Rico. "That unites us like nothing else. All that would be gone under statehood. We would be like New Jersey, my dear."

Many island residents doubt the United States -- long indifferent to their plight -- would accept a 51st state that is Spanish-speaking and poorer than the poorest US state, Mississippi.

"The United States opposition to Puerto Rican statehood has been based upon a racist concept, actually beginning with the idea of giving statehood to Spanish-speaking, brown skin Catholic foreigners," Cabán said. "The fundamental opposition is based upon this notion of Puerto Ricans being other than."

Martinez-Fernandez doubts the latest statehood push will succeed even if all the political stars align in its favor.

"The atmosphere in Washington is not propitious for that at all," he said. "You know, in this country we can't come to an agreement about whether to wear masks or not. Imagine inviting a new state that is going to push the balance of power further into the Democratic side. There's no chance that the Republicans will stand for that."

Statehood is unlikely even if Democrats take the White House and Senate, he said.

"It would be way down in the stack of papers on Biden's desk," Martinez-Fernandez said. "He has to reconstruct this country."

'Love always triumphs over status politics'

Rodriguez, the poet in Dorado, said most of her relatives -- concerned about preserving their national identity -- are pro commonwealth, or the status quo on the island. She said she supports independence because it would allow the island to finally break the chains of US colonial control. They all plan to vote no on statehood.

Other Puerto Ricans are throwing their support behind the burgeoning Citizens' Victory Movement, which is promoting a progressive, anti-colonial ideology -- a move that could help the governing, pro-statehood party.

"Many times the conversation is not about which candidates are the most qualified but about, if we let go of the United States, we will die of hunger," Rodriguez said.

Cabán recalled a married couple that was leading recovery efforts in a town in the countryside after Hurricane Maria devastated the island and left thousands dead in September 2017.

"I remember him saying, 'I'm pro independence, dammit!' " Cabán said. "And I asked, 'What about your wife?' And he says, 'She's pro statehood.' Is that a problem? 'No,' he says, 'Statehood will never come.' And she says, 'And independence will never come.' Love always triumphs over status politics."

'We're pro-Scotland': Independence supporters march in Glasgow

Demonstrators brave the weather in Glasgow, calling for a second referendum on Scotland's independence.

by Alasdair Soussi

Voters rejected a 'once in a lifetime' independence bid in 

2014, but supporters say Brexit changes everything 

[Russell Cheyne/Reuters]

MORE ON SCOTLANDWeek after Johnson's win, Sturgeon calls on PM to allow indyrefSNP victory puts Scottish independence back in the spotlight

Glasgow, Scotland - Tens of thousands of pro-independence supporters rallied on the streets of Glasgow on Saturday despite torrential rain and high winds, calling for a second referendum on Scotland's independence from the United Kingdom.

Organisers estimated almost 80,000 took part in the march as strong gusts swept through Glasgow.

Some carried Saltires - Scotland's national flag - while flags of Palestine, England and the Spanish region of Catalonia were also seen in the passionate crowd that had come from all over Scotland to take part.

More: Sturgeon calls on PM to allow second Scottish independence referendum

SNP victory puts Scottish independence back in the spotlight

Is Scottish independence still possible?

Banners messages including "We're not anti-English, we're pro-Scottish" while homage was paid to the pro-Catalan independence movement in Spain.

A small group of counter-protesters held a demonstration nearby, waving British flags in support of the UK.

The pro-independence march was organised by All Under One Banner (AUOB) - a Scottish independence pressure group established in 2014 just one month after voters in Scotland rejected independence by 55-45 percent in the UK constituent nation's first sovereignty referendum.

"We don't usually do winter events," Gary Kelly, lead named organiser of AUOB, told Al Jazeera.

"We called this one due to exceptional political circumstances," he said, referring to last month's UK-wide general election that saw Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson secure a majority in Parliament and the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) take 48 out of 59 Scottish seats.

Support for Scottish independence has hovered between

 40 and 50 percent in recent months [Russell Cheyne/Reuters]

But despite the SNP's success - and its continued dominance of the devolved Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh where it has been the governing party since its maiden victory in 2007 - Kelly lamented the UK government's refusal to sanction another independence vote.
Fluctuating support

Speaking before the march, one protester told Al Jazeera that with local and national press still overwhelmingly supporting Scotland's place within the union, such peaceful acts of defiance against the UK were the only way to make public displays of support for an independent Scotland.

"Given the way the media works, and given the propaganda machine you're up against, the only way that you can sometimes show the visible support that there is for Scottish independence is through the very traditional and very old fashioned one of having these large demonstrations," argued Willey Maley, a professor at the University of Glasgow.

Many pro-independence campaigners told Al Jazeera they preferred watching coverage on foreign channels.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's SNP won 48 out of 49 

Scottish seats in December's UK-wide general election

 [Neil Hanna/Reuters]

Support for Scottish independence has fluctuated between the 45 to 50 percent mark, according to opinion polls.

Campaigners hope that the UK's forthcoming departure from the European Union will push support beyond the 50 percent needed to secure independence. In the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership, Scotland - along with Northern Ireland - voted overwhelmingly to remain in the bloc, contrary to England and Wales.
A second referendum?

Non-party political, the AUOB has organised many marches recently across much of Scotland - including Edinburgh and the Scottish borders, with more planned this year - and has become a "hugely significant" part of the Scottish independence movement, according to political commentator and author Gerry Hassan.

"These are people putting these together off their own bat," said Hassan. "What it tells you is that ongoing story of political power and authority shifting in Scotland."

Passing through some of Glasgow's iconic streets, including Kelvinway and Jamaica Street, the demonstrators battled the weather over some three miles, ending the march at the Glasgow Green park in the city's east.

A rally was supposed to take place there but was cancelled due to the weather.

Independence supporters were met with a smaller

pro-union demonstration [Russell Cheyne/Reuters]

While a planned second referendum on independence this year is being pursued by SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, it remains to be seen whether she can get the UK Parliament to agree to another poll, let alone persuade a majority of voters in Scotland to vote for statehood.

Referring to the different nationalities in Scotland who have pledged support for independence, Kelly was proud of the turnout on Saturday.

"This is what Scotland is totally all about - being inclusive," said the AUOB organiser.

"If you want to come to Scotland and live in Scotland, you're classed as Scottish. You're not a foreigner."


SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

House approves referendum to 'decolonize' Puerto Rico


Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., left, speaks with Del. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, R-Puerto Rico, joined at right by Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., after a vote on the Puerto Rico Status Act that would lay out a process for the people of Puerto Rico to determine the future of their political status, in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022.

 (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FARNOUSH AMIRI and DÁNICA COTO
Thu, December 15, 2022 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would allow Puerto Rico to hold the first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain some sort of independence, in a last-ditch effort that stands little chance of passing the Senate.

The bill, which passed 233-191 with some Republican support, would offer voters in the U.S. territory three options: statehood, independence or independence with free association.

“It is crucial to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico be informed and led by Puerto Ricans,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories.

The proposal would commit Congress to accept Puerto Rico into the United States as the 51st state if voters on the island approved it. Voters also could choose outright independence or independence with free association, whose terms would be defined following negotiations over foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who has worked on the issue throughout his career, said it was “a long and torturous path” to get the proposal to the House floor.

“For far too long, the people of Puerto Rico have been excluded from the full promise of American democracy and self-determination that our nation has always championed,” the Maryland Democrat said.

After passing the Democrat-controlled House, the bill now goes to a split Senate where it faces a ticking clock before the end of the year and Republican lawmakers who have long opposed statehood.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, traveled to Washington for the vote. He called it a historic day and said the 3.2 million U.S. citizens who live on the island lack equality, do not have fair representation in the federal government and cannot vote in general elections.

“This has not been an easy fight. We still have work to do,” he said. “Our quest to decolonize Puerto Rico is a civil rights issue.”

Members of his party, including Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González, cheered the approval of the bill, although reaction in the U.S. territory was largely muted and tinged with frustration since it is expected to be voted down in the Senate.

The proposal of a binding referendum has exasperated many on an island that already has held seven nonbinding referendums on its political status, with no overwhelming majority emerging. The last referendum was held in November 2020, with 53% of votes for statehood and 47% against, with only a little more than half of registered voters participating.

The proposed binding referendum would be the first time that Puerto Rico's current status as a U.S. commonwealth is not included as an option, a blow to the main opposition Popular Democratic Party, which upholds the status quo.

Pablo José Hernández Rivera, an attorney in Puerto Rico, said approval of the bill by the House would be “inconsequential” like the approval of previous bills in 1998 and 2010.

“We Puerto Ricans are tired of the fact that the New Progressive Party has spent 28 years in Washington spending resources on sterile and undemocratic status projects,” he said.

González, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress, praised the bill and said it would provide the island with the self-determination it deserves.

“Many of us are not in agreement about how that future should be, but we all accept that the decision should belong to the people of Puerto Rico,” she said.

___

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

All but 16 House Republicans vote against bill to allow Puerto Rico to decide its future

Bryan Metzger
Thu, December 15, 2022

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other House Republicans at a press conference on Wednesday.Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

• The House passed a bill to allow Puerto Rico voters to choose independence, statehood, or free association.

• Only 16 Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the bill.

• Republicans opposed the bill in part due to long-standing opposition to Puerto Rico's statehood.

The House of Representatives voted by a 233-191 margin on Thursday to pass the Puerto Rico Status Act, with all but 16 House Republicans voting against the measure. Every House Democrat voted for the bill.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who worked on the bill and is of Puerto Rican descent, presided over the vote.

 

The bill would give voters in Puerto Rico the opportunity to vote in a plebiscite next November, allowing them to choose between statehood, independence, or to enter into a compact of free association with the United States.

Lawmakers had long been working on the bill, and its addition to the calendar this week was unexpected. A handful of Republicans had co-sponsored the legislation, including Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida and Don Bacon of Nebraska.

It also had the support of the territory's Republican Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón who serves as a non-voting representative for the island in Congress.

Despite House passage, the bill is unlikely to pass the Senate, where it would need at least 10 Republican supporters.

House Republicans on Thursday cited a number of reasons for opposing the bill, including a lack of debate and the possibility that it would lead to statehood, which they've long opposed.

"At this point in time I'm not, you know, interested in going down that road," Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told Insider. "We didn't have a debate about it, I haven't been a part of any of the debates on this. They're trying to jam this through right before Christmas."

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia told Insider that she didn't think the bill was "the right way to go about something like that."

"I'm just not interested in Puerto Rico being a state," she said, adding that she didn't believe people living in Puerto Rico should get to vote on that.

Here are the 16 Republicans who voted for the bill:

• Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska

• Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming

• Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois

• Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania

• Rep. Mayra Flores of Texas

• Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York

• Rep. Tony Gonzalez of Ohio

• Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington

• Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan

• Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio

• Rep. John Katko of New York

• Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington

• Rep. Bill Posey of Florida

• Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of New York

• Rep. Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania

• Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan

Puerto Rico at a crossroads as Congress mulls vote to decide statehood or independence

2022/6/12 
© New York Daily News

Parade attendees wave Puerto Rican flags on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan during the annual Puerto Rico Day Parade in 2019.. - Luiz C. Ribeiro/TNS

NEW YORK — As more than 1 million Puerto Ricans return to Fifth Avenue on Sunday for the pageantry and pride of their annual parade, their beloved homeland could soon face a grave choice about its future relationship with the United States.

The swirling celebration comes as the Caribbean island where the revelers trace their roots could soon face a once-in-a-lifetime choice between becoming the 51st state or an independent nation — or something in between.

A recent breakthrough agreement has united both supporters and opponents of Puerto Rico statehood in the U.S. Congress behind a push by a Democratic-led House of Representatives vote to authorize a binding referendum on Puerto Rico’s status.

The three choices would be statehood, independence or a hybrid known as independence with free association, whose terms would be negotiated.

Puerto Rican legislators in the U.S. Congress, and particularly New York City, are deeply divided about which option is best for the U.S. territory and the 5-million-strong diaspora on the mainland.

“This must be a decision coming from the people,” Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., said this month during a fact-finding mission to the island with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. “We are here to listen.”

Velazquez, the dean of the Puerto Rican caucus, is a staunch opponent of statehood, which she fears would dilute the island’s fiercely unique culture and dependence on the Spanish language. Ocasio-Cortez agrees.

But Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., whose South Bronx district includes the most Puerto Ricans in the nation, says statehood is a must if Puerto Ricans are to have a real voice in their future.

One option that would not be on the ballot: keeping the current territorial status. It gives Puerto Rico’s more than 3 million residents U.S. citizenship but does not allow them to vote in presidential elections, denies them many federal benefits and allows them one representative in Congress with limited voting powers. Puerto Rico became a commonwealth in 1952.

From Brooklyn and El Barrio to the South Bronx, New Yorkers with roots in Puerto Rico appear equally split on the island’s future status.

Charles Gonzalez, who hawks Puerto Rican flags, masks and T-shirts emblazoned with the motto “One Proud Rican” from a makeshift market on a Williamsburg, Brooklyn street corner, doesn’t believe the island will ever become the 51st state.

“That’s talking, talking, talking,” Gonzalez said. “The Congress is never going to do that with Puerto Rico.”

Even though Yari Ortin lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, she considers herself “solely Puerto Rican” and steadfastly wants the island to be an independent nation.

“We are unique, we have our own culture,” said Ortin, 35. “I know many people say it will be bad if the island becomes independent. But things are bad right now.”

Soon-to-be high school graduate Christopher Velez, 18, likes the idea of a hybrid independence with an association agreement with the U.S.

“With independence we won’t survive on our own,” said Velez, of Jamaica, Queens, who was shopping with his dad for a giant Puerto Rican flag ahead of the weekend’s festivities.

Despite the hunger for change, it’s very possible that nothing will happen any time soon. If the House does pass the measure it will go to the Senate where it faces a very uncertain future.

Some Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., support statehood, but GOP leaders fear the political impact of admitting Puerto Rico as a state.

Puerto Rico would have two senators and four House representatives. Although the island’s political parties don’t completely align with the two major ones on the mainland, Republicans fear Democrats would have a big edge, potentially shifting the balance of an evenly split Congress.

During their recent trip to the island, Velazquez and Ocasio-Cortez participated in a public forum in San Juan where speaker after speaker denounced the status quo.

The next step is hearings in the House, followed by a vote possibly this summer. Democrats want to move before the midterm elections that could hand power back to the GOP.

“The visit reminded us just how big the stakes are for so many,” Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., chair of the House committee with jurisdiction over Puerto Rico’s status, told The News.

———

(With Matthew Euzarraga, Ellen Moynihan and Chris Sommerfeldt)

STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE FOR PUERTO RICO


Statehood for DC could come sooner than Puerto Rico — here’s why

April Ryan
Wed, March 3, 2021

Senate Majority Leader Schumer reveals a divide in the Latinx Hill leadership splits members on statehood for Puerto Rico.

Statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico appears to be within reach this year as significant movement on the For the People Act (H.R.1 and S.1) clears a pathway for the territories to gain equal representation in the federal government.

But in the case of Puerto Rico, the island lacks the same unified support D.C. has built.

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

With the U.S. House, Senate and the White House in Democrats’ control, many believe this is the time to add the two territories into the statehood.

When it comes to statehood for the District of Columbia, President Joe Biden has been a long-time supporter according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in favor of the status change. He said the Democratic Caucus “will do everything it can to see that it happens [statehood]” for the nation’s capital.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on March 3, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

During a roundtable call with Black journalists, Leader Schumer said that there is “division” in the ranks of Latinx federal lawmakers on the Hill. Some are supportive of statehood for Puerto Rico and others are seeking different options.

Congressmen Ritchie Torres (D-NY) is supportive of statehood for Puerto Rico and wants to end “colonialism.” He contends this plan not only gives Puerto Rico representation in the House and Senate, but it will provide additional money for benefits like SNAP, Pell Grants, Medicare and Medicaid.

“If Puerto Rico had statehood, it would have five members of the House of Representatives, as well as two senators,” Torres tells theGrio. “When you have two senators and five representatives in the House, you are in a much stronger position to secure federal funding.”

Torres thinks the difference in making Puerto Rico a state “would mean billions of dollars in new funding.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) speaks at a press conference endorsing New York City Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang on January 14, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

In some instances, not granting Puerto Rico statehood could leave the country in dire straits.

According to Torres, without federal representation, Puerto Rico lacks financial control, but as a state, the island would have more sovereignty over its funds. He pointed to the PROMESA bill of 2016, introduced by Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, as the root cause for the case for statehood hinging on financial autonomy.

“The law that establishes the financial control board to handle the debt crisis, deprives Puerto Rico of self governance. It has deepened colonialism in Puerto Rico,” Torres said.

In 2020, Puerto Rico voted on a referendum for statehood, which showed the majority of those on the island are in favor. Among the four Puerto Rican members of Congress, Torres is one of half who shares the opinion that statehood is “the only escape from colonialism,” and that a vote on statehood is democracy in action.


The post Statehood for DC could come sooner than Puerto Rico — here’s why appeared first on TheGrio.

A surprising litmus test for New Caledonia’s independence parties

The French election saw New Caledonia’s independence parties attain an overall majority in the first territory-wide poll since the 2018–21 referendums.

a polling station at the Ko We Kara cultural centre in Noumea, in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, during the second round of France’s legislative elections on 7 July 2024 (Delphine Mayeur/AFP via Getty Images)

DENISE FISHER
Published 11 Jul 2024

France

The voters in the second round of France’s national elections last week staved off an expected shift to the far-right. But the result in the Pacific territory New Caledonia was also in many ways historic. Of the two assembly representatives decided, a position fell on either side of the deep polarisation evident in the territory – one for loyalists, one for supporters of independence. But it is the independence side that will take the most from the result.

Turnout in the vote was remarkable, not only because of the violence in New Caledonia over recent months, which has curbed movement and public transport across the territory, but also because national elections have been seen particularly by independence parties as less relevant locally. Not this time.

The two rounds of the elections saw voters arrive in droves, with 60% and 71% turnout respectively, compared to typically low levels of 35-40% in New Caledonia. Images showed long queues with many young people.

Voting was generally peaceful, although a blockade prevented voting in one Kanak commune during the first round.

After winning the first round, a hardline loyalist and independence candidate faced off in each constituency. The second round therefore presented a binary choice, effectively becoming a barometer of views around independence.

While clearly not a referendum, it was the first chance to measure sentiment in this manner since the boycotted referendum in 2021, which had followed two independence votes narrowly favouring staying with France. The resulting impasse about the future of the territory had erupted into violent protests in May this year, when President Emmanuel Macron sought unilaterally to broaden voter eligibility to the detriment of indigenous representation. Only Macron then called snap national elections.

These are sobering results for loyalists.

So the contest, as it unfolded in New Caledonia, represented high stakes for both sides.

In the event, loyalist Nicolas Metzdorf won 52.4% in the first constituency (Noumea and islands) over the independence candidate’s 47.6%. Independence candidate Emmanuel Tjibaou won 57.4% to the loyalist’s 42.6% in the second (Northern Province and outer suburbs of Noumea).

The results, a surprise even to independence leaders, were significant.

It is notable that in these national elections, all citizens are eligible to vote. Only local assembly elections apply the controversial voter eligibility provisions which provoked the current violence, provisions that advantage longstanding residents and thus indigenous independence supporters. Yet without the benefit of this restriction, independence parties won, securing a majority 53% (83,123 votes) to the loyalists’ 47% (72,897) of valid votes cast across the territory. They had won 43% and 47% in the two non-boycotted referendums.

Even in the constituency won by the loyalist, the independence candidate, daughter-in-law of early independence fighter Naidesh Naisseline, won 47% of the vote.

These are sobering results for loyalists.

Independence party candidate Emmanuel Tjibaou, 48, carried particular symbolism. The son of the assassinated founding father of the independence movement Jean-Marie Tjibaou, Emmanuel had eschewed politics to this point, instead taking on cultural roles including as head of the Kanak cultural development agency. He is a galvanising figure for independence supporters. Emmanuel Tjibaou is now the first independence assembly representative in 38 years. He won notwithstanding France redesigning the two constituencies in 1988 specifically to prevent an independence representative win by including part of mainly loyalist Noumea in each. A loyalist stronghold has been broken.

While both a loyalist and independence parliamentarian will now sit in Paris and represent their different perspectives, the result will further strain the two sides.

Pro-independence supporters will be energised by the strong performance and this will increase expectations, especially among the young. The responsibility on elders is heavy. Tjibaou described the vote as “a call for help, a cry of hope”. He has urged a return to the path of dialogue.

At the same time, loyalists will be concerned by independence party success. Insecurity and fear, already sharpened by recent violence, may intensify. While he referred to the need for dialogue, Nicolas Metzdorf is known for his tough uncompromising line.

Paradoxically the ongoing violence means an increased reliance on France for the reconstruction that will be a vital underpinning for talks. Estimates for rebuilding have exceeded 2 billion euros, with more than 800 businesses, countless schools and houses attacked, many destroyed.

Yet France itself is reeling after the snap elections returned no clear winner. Three blocs are vying for power, and are divided within their own ranks over how government should be formed. While French presidents have had to “cohabit” with an assembly majority of the opposite persuasion three times before, never has a president faced no clear majority. It will take time, perhaps months, for a workable solution to emerge, during which New Caledonia is hardly likely to take precedence.

As New Caledonia’s neighbours prepare to meet for the annual Pacific Islands Forum summit next month, all will be hoping that the main parties can soon overcome their deep differences and find a peaceful local way forward.

STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE

Puerto Rico finalizes details of upcoming referendum on political status amid criticism over cost


The Puerto Rican flag flies in front of the Capitol building in San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 29, 2015. Plans to hold a non-binding referendum on Puerto Rico’s political status came under scrutiny Wednesday, July 24, 2024, for its multimillion-dollar cost as election officials announced the order and description of choices on the upcoming ballot.

(AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File)

BY DÁNICA COTO
, July 24, 2024

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Plans to hold a nonbinding referendum on Puerto Rico’s political status came under scrutiny Wednesday for its multimillion-dollar cost as election officials announced the order and description of choices on the upcoming ballot.

The $1.3 million referendum that critics have described as “inconsequential” will feature three choices in the following order: independence with free association; statehood and independence. Under the free association option, issues like foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar would be negotiated.

The order of options was set following a televised drawing held Wednesday that was supervised by judges at Puerto Rico’s elections commission.

Regardless of the outcome of the referendum scheduled for the Nov. 5 general elections, the island’s status will not change. That would require approval from the U.S. Congress and the U.S. president.

Jessika Padilla, the elections commission’s alternate president, said the agency had an original budget of $6.2 million for the upcoming elections but was awarded $7.5 million, with the additional funds going toward the referendum.


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Critics note that Puerto Rico is emerging from the biggest public debt restructuring in U.S. history after announcing in 2015 that it was unable to pay a more than $70 billion debt load following decades of mismanagement, corruption and excessive borrowing.

Jesús Manuel Ortiz, leader of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party, said in recent days that the referendum is “a totally unjustified expense at a time when the (island) is experiencing a real crisis in the cost of living.”

Meanwhile, leaders of the Puerto Rican Independence Party have gone to court to challenge the referendum. The island’s Supreme Court issued a resolution last week stating it would hear the case.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi of the pro-statehood Progressive New Party had announced on July 1 that he would hold a referendum and has defended his decision. He has repeatedly said the island’s 3.2 million U.S. citizens lack equality and noted they are not allowed to vote in U.S. general elections.

The referendum was announced a month after Pierluisi, a Democrat, lost in his party’s primary to Jenniffer González, a Republican who is Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress. The two ran together in 2020.

Politics in Puerto Rico are defined by the island’s political status, so it’s common to find both Democrats and Republicans in the same party.

González is a supporter of former President Donald Trump, who has said he doesn’t support statehood for Puerto Rico. González, however, has pledged to push for statehood if she wins in November.

Puerto Rico already has held six referendums, the most recent one in 2020, when voters were asked a single question: “Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?”

Nearly 53% voted in favor of statehood, with only about half of registered voters participating in that year’s general elections.
___

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE

Puerto Ricans speak out on US territory's political status


FILE - The Puerto Rican flag flies in front of Puerto Rico's Capitol as in San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 29, 2015. A group of Democratic congress members, including the House majority leader, on Thursday, May 19, 2022, proposed a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independnce. 

(AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File) 

DÁNICA COTO
Sat, June 4, 2022

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hundreds of Puerto Ricans crowded into a convention center Saturday where federal legislators held a public hearing to decide the future of the island’s political status as the U.S. territory struggles to recover from hurricanes, earthquakes and a deep economic crisis.

One by one, dozens of people ranging from politicians to retirees to young people leaned into a microphone and spoke against the island’s current territorial status, which recognizes its people as U.S. citizens but does not allow them to vote in presidential elections, denies them certain federal benefits and allows them one representative in Congress with limited voting powers.

The hearing comes two weeks after a group of Democratic congress members including the House majority leader and one Republican proposed what would be the first-ever binding plebiscite that would offer voters in Puerto Rico three options: statehood, independence or independence with free association, whose terms would be defined following negotiations.

Congress would have to accept Puerto Rico as the 51st state if voters so choose it, but the proposal is not expected to survive in the Senate, where Republicans have long opposed statehood.

“Everyone, even congress people themselves, know that the possibilities of this becoming law are minimal and maybe non-existent, but it doesn’t stop being important,” former Puerto Rico governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá told The Associated Press.

About an hour into the hearing, a small group of people including a former gubernatorial candidate who supports independence burst into the ballroom, pointed fingers at the panel of U.S. legislators and yelled, “120 years of colonialism!”

The majority of the audience booed the group and yelled at them to leave as U.S. lawmakers called for calm.

“Democracy is not always pretty, but it’s necessary,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, chairman of the U.S. House of Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories.

The proposal of a binding plebiscite — a measure that has not yet been introduced in committee — has frustrated some on an island that already has held seven unilateral, nonbinding referendums on its political status, with no overwhelming majority emerging. The last referendum was held in November 2020, with 53% of votes for statehood and 47% against, with only a little more than half of registered voters participating.

Luis Herrero, a political consultant, said during the hearing that even if enough people support statehood, there are not enough votes in the Senate to make Puerto Rico a state: “Not today, not yesterday, not tomorrow. Since 1898, Puerto Rican statehood has been a mirage, lip service to score cheap political points or to raise a few dollars for a campaign.”

Saturday's hearing comes amid ongoing discontent with Puerto Rico’s current political status, with the U.S. Supreme Court further angering many in April after upholding the differential treatment of residents of Puerto Rico. In an 8-1 vote, the court ruled that making Puerto Ricans ineligible for the Supplemental Security Income program, which offers benefits to blind, disabled and older Americans, did not unconstitutionally discriminate against them.

As a result, many of those who spoke at Saturday’s public hearing welcomed the proposed binding plebiscite.

“We finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Víctor Pérez, a U.S. military veteran who lamented the current political status. “Even after all our service and sacrifice, we come back home and we are denied full voting rights and equality. ... We cannot vote for our president, our commander in chief, (but) they send us to war.”

Grijalva said the testimonies given Saturday will help him and other legislators revise the proposed measure, which he said is a way to make amends. He said he hopes it will go to the House floor by August. If eventually approved, it would be held on Nov. 5, 2023.

Acevedo, the former governor, said he hasn’t lost hope despite numerous attempts throughout the decades to change the political status of Puerto Rico, which became a U.S. territory in 1898 following the Spanish-American War.

“A solution to this problem of more than 120 years has to happen at some point,” he said. “When will conditions allow for it? That’s unpredictable.”