For many years, people have argued against statehood for Puerto Rico by announcing that a Republican Congress will never support it. Statehood, these commenters say, is an impossible pipe dream as long as the Republican Party is in charge.
Mr. Angel Pomales Crespo wrote to us with a counter argument. “My friends,” he said, “the time has come! PR state 51!”
President-elect Donald Trump, Mr. Pomales Crespo writes, will have a different attitude toward Puerto Rico from previous presidents. While we are used to hearing that a president supports statehood for Puerto Rico, or at least self-determination, Trump will have a new angle on the question.
“Believe it or not,” writes Pomales Crespo, “Donald Trump can work with congress to give PR statehood, he will see the island as a business opportunity, a de-valued stock (and a “buy” opportunity) so to speak.” Puerto Rico right now offers a chance to “buy low and sell high”.
“70 Billion in debt seems high but the reality is that PR is worth way much more than that; the key is to sell the island as the USA commercial bridge to the Americas…as the tourism paradise that it can be,” the writer continues. “From a historical point point of view PR was the key to the Americas for Spain (las llaves de las americas), for the USA we will be the “Hawaii of the Caribbean”.
Puerto Rico has not leveraged its tourism potential fully, any more than Hawaii did before statehood. Puerto Rico is closer than Hawaii to the mainland U.S., and has as much natural beauty to offer as Hawaii, if not more. With the only rain forest in the U.S. and a rich Caribbean culture, Puerto Rico has the potential to surpass Hawaii as a tourist destination.
“USA does not know what it has in PR,” Pomales Crespo continued. “It’s a devalued stock, but with great potential… If Trump can see PR as a potential dollar sign, statehood may have a chance.”
Pomales Crespo suggests that Trump will feel a kinship with President James Polk and his idea of manifest destiny, a nation stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic. “Risk = Opportunities,” he writes. “Believe it or not these “tough” times for the island is the right moment to push Statehood forward. Y para mis amigos independentistas….tranquilos…que las Estadidad es la “Independencia” dentro de la Union Permanente con los Estados Unidos. Remember the “Sovereign State”….o el estado soberano, that is what each state is, an independent state in permanent union with the others. No fear, No retreat, Statehood for PR. Now!”
Donald Trump as president may see the financial opportunity with Puerto Rico as other presidents have not. With a pre-statehood governor, a Resident Commissioner who is both a statehood supporter and a Republican, and a Republican Congress ready to support a Republican president, this could be the perfect moment for statehood.
Use the widget at the right to tweet to your congressional reps, send an email to your reps, sign the petition, and share the Case for Statehood with friends and family as you celebrate the New Year. 2017 is the year for Puerto Rico statehood.
4 Responses
Puerto Rico is very similar to Hawaii. Plenty of sunshine with trade winds that temper the sun’s scorching heat and the ocean’s humidity. But this is where the similarities end. Puerto Rico has murders and violent crime. Hawaii does not have that problem. Puerto Rico has a population of over 3.5 million people. Hawaii’s population doesn’t even reach half of that number. Puerto Rico is overpopulated and it is trashed. Hawaii is still a pearl in comparison. Puerto Rico is ostensibly bi-lingual but that ends once you leave the tourist areas. Hawaii is also bi-lingual but English is readily spoken everywhere you travel in the island chain. Puerto Rico is debt ridden due to government corruption. Hawaii is democratically governed. The bottom line here is although the two appear to be the same, they are not at all alike.
English is also spoken in Puerto Rico
If Donald Trump, or any future president of the U.S. grants Puerto Rico Statehood, Puerto Rico would definitely have more tourists per year from across the Atlantic Ocean than Hawaii has from across the Pacific Ocean. Puerto Rico is much larger than Hawaii, has far more beaches, more coastline, more islands. And unlike Hawaii, Puerto Rico has more sand beaches, while most of Hawaii’s coast is steep since the Hawaiian islands are volcanic. They can’t walk up a cliff or up a volcano like they could walk up a sand beach shore. No risk of a volcanic eruption or falling rocks, rock-slides, land-slides. With more room for tourists and with flat, soft, sandy beach shores, Puerto Rico would become a greater tourist destination over the course of a few years, as its popularity for tourism becomes more internationally realized. And there would always be room for more tourists. The business of tourism would help Puerto Rico’s economy surpass Hawaii’s economy. And Hawaii is isolated by thousands of miles of ocean; Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean. Although more tourists traveling to the U.S. from across the Atlantic would visit Puerto RIco than any other Caribbean islands, including The U.S. Virgin Islands, the neighboring Caribbean Islands would make Puerto Rico a more satisfying tourist destination than if Puerto Rico were as isolated as Hawaii. And the U.S. Mainland could still be a tourist destination. But all would go well, ONLY if Puerto Rico is granted statehood. No matter Puerto Rico’s debt amount, tourism would pay it all off. For literally every day Congress does not grant Puerto Rico statehood, the tourism business opportunity that would bring millions of dollars daily, is wasted. For every year, that’s an annual difference of billions of dollars.
CNN
6/28/18
Puerto Rico’s representative in the House, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón introduced the bill Wednesday that would make the territory a state no later than January 1, 2021.