Since Puerto Rico became part of the U.S. as a result of the Spanish- American War in 1898, we have been ruled by Congress and the President of our nation, which has been the example and inspiration of democratic movements throughout the world. However, we have been disenfranchised and denied participation as equals in the democratic process of our nation.

Upon the passage in Congress of Puerto Rico’s Organic Act of 1900, better known as the Foraker Act, the island became a U.S. territory. Since we weren’t granted U.S. citizenship by the Foraker Act, we were later classified by the U.S. Supreme Court as a non-incorporated territory, whose destiny as a U.S. territory was undetermined. As long as we weren’t U.S. citizens, Puerto Rico wasn’t incorporated and we were thus deprived of equal rights with our fellow citizens in the 50 states.

On March 2, 1917, however, Congress passed the Organic Act of Puerto Rico, better known as the Jones Act, and granted U.S. citizenship to all people born in Puerto Rico. The Organic Act also approved the territorial government’s organization, which gave us a bicameral legislature. The Governor was to be appointed by the President and would serve under his authority for a term of four years, or as long as the President wanted. Puerto Rico’s new Organic Act of 1917 actually changed the nature of the relationship of Puerto Rico with the U.S. At that moment, we became an incorporated territory.

How was the nature of the relationship changed?

Under the 1900 Organic Act, the residents of Puerto Rico were citizens of a foreign island with the right to be protected by the U.S. (Section 7 of the Organic Act). The local government of Puerto Rico under the 1900 Organic Act was under almost total control of the President and Congress. The Governor of Puerto Rico was appointed by the President as well as the Executive Council, which was composed of 11 members, only five of whom had to be native residents of Puerto Rico.

The other six members were also appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. They were appointed as secretary, attorney general, treasurer, comptroller, interior commissioner and education commissioner. They ran the executive branch of the government of Puerto Rico. Under the 1900 Organic Act, Puerto Rico, although a U.S. territory pursuant to our national Constitution, was, pursuant to international criteria, a colony, and still remains a colony.

In 1917, the Organic Act passed by Congress gave Puerto Rico much more control over local matters. In other words, Puerto Rico achieved a greater degree of local autonomy. To begin with, the Executive Council appointed by the President, which until then was the most powerful government group, was eliminated. A bicameral Legislature composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives, of which all members were elected by the American citizens who resided in Puerto Rico. (As a matter of fact, my grandfather, Antonio R. Barceló Martínez, was elected to the Senate and became the first Senate president in Puerto Rico.)

I have no doubt that the moment in which U.S. citizenship was granted to Puerto Rican citizens residing in Puerto Rico, we acquired the right to equal political and economic rights as all our fellow citizens in the territories classified as incorporated territories, and as well as all other American citizens in the States.

However, in the early part of the 20th century, prejudice was prevalent in the U.S.

The majority of the people in Puerto Rico were, and are, of African and Latino descent and were over 90% Catholic. Obviously, many prejudiced people in the U.S. didn’t want Puerto Rico to be admitted as a state. If Puerto Rico had been classified as an incorporated territory, which it truly was from the moment we were granted U.S. citizenship, Puerto Rico would be one of the territories that would eventually become a state. As a result, when the issue of the constitutional rights of an American citizen in Puerto Rico came up in the case of Balzac v. Puerto Rico, in the U.S. Supreme Court, the strongly biased and prejudiced Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, William Howard Taft, wrote the most prejudiced decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that I have ever read, declaring Puerto Rico to be a «non-incorporated territory,» which wasn’t entitled to become a state. The theory was that incorporated territories were promised statehood, whereas unincorporated territories weren’t.

However, the court never discussed whether all U.S. citizens have a right to vote for their President, as well as Senators and Representatives to represent them in Congress. The right to vote in our nation’s democratic system of government is fundamental to our democracy. To deny a U.S. citizen his right to vote and his right to representation is a violation of the most important right guaranteed in a democracy. Nevertheless, our nation, our Congress and our Presidents have all been guilty of having disenfranchised the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico for 97 years.

While 3.6 million American citizens in Puerto Rico are denied equality with their fellow citizens in the 50 states, our nation’s government spends billions of dollars and sends our young men and women into harm’s way to Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries around the world, to bring democracy to people; many of whom don’t want it, and many others who don’t even understand it.

The President and Congress have tried to cover up the denial of equal rights to the American citizens in Puerto Rico. First, President Harry Truman appointed a Puerto Rican as Governor for the first time since 1900 and then, in 1947, he signed a law granting us the right to elect our Governor. But still, the U.S. was considered a colonial power, which held Puerto Rico and other islands as colonies.

In 1952, Congress allowed us to draft our own Constitution, subject to ratification by Congress. The U.S. Ambassador in the U.N. and his staff, together with the Governor of Puerto Rico, represented to the U.N. that Puerto Rico had achieved full and complete autonomy. That was a lie. Puerto Rico is still ruled by Congress and the President. All laws passed by Congress, such as labor laws, banking laws, minimum-wage laws, health and medical services laws, criminal laws, and many others passed by Congress, apply fully in Puerto Rico. How can anyone claim that Puerto Rico has achieved full autonomy? Even though our name, the Territory of Puerto Rico, was changed to Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, we are still a territory, subject to the powers of Congress.

The leaders of the Commonwealth status option, particularly former Gov. Rafael Hernández Colón, keep saying Puerto Rico has full and complete autonomy, which, as a lawyer, former Justice secretary and Governor, he must know is a lie. Federal tax laws apply to Puerto Rico if Congress makes them applicable, witness: Social Security and Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code, which was passed by Congress and then repealed by Congress. All Section 936 companies, Hernández Colón and his cohorts went to Congress to try to stop the repeal of Section 936 and they recruited the best and most powerful lobbyists and lawyers in Washington, D.C., but to no avail. Section 936 was repealed. Is that fiscal autonomy?

Look for Part II in the Sept. 4 issue.

Carlos Romero Barceló is a two-term former governor of Puerto Rico (1977-84), a two-term former resident commissioner (1993-2000), a two-term former mayor of San Juan (1969-78) and was president of the New Progressive Party for 11 years. While Governor, he became president of the Southern Governors’ Conference. While mayor of San Juan, he became president of the National League of Cities. He is now a real-estate consultant doing business as CRB Realty. His email address is rbarcelo@prtc.net. Comments on this article are welcome at caribbeanbusiness.pr. Go to the «Sign in» link on the homepage to participate. Emails also may be sent to column@caribbeanbusiness.pr.

Temas    Educación Especial   Plebiscito   Estadidad   ELA   Separación   Independencia