The newest in a long line of distractions from what is truly going on in Puerto Rico has just arrived; Puerto Rican citizenship papers. According to Wikipedia, citizenship:
“is membership in a political community and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen”.
So, here is my (first) question-how can people that have not received autonomy from colonialism, have no voting rights within the United States, AND have not even been afforded the clarity of an official status be “citizens” of Puerto Rico? This is the type of stuff that sends me over the edge. Forget about giving away papers that (in theory) will guarantee you more humane treatment within government agencies, and start fighting for the basic human rights that are consistently ignored in Vieques. Or how about an I.O.U. that will guarantee that the U.S. will share some of the $890 million dollars they receive (for allowing military maneuvers on Vieques), so that poverty can be ELIMINATED on the island? You see where I’m going with this? This new ‘agenda’ is just another ploy to circumvent what is actually going on. The United States is not prepared to relinquish Puerto Rico-period. And Puerto Rican officials that believe they are making strides in government by initiating this notion of nationhood are only helping the United States keep their prized possesion in tact. Think about it. Puerto Rico is such an excellent source of revenue for the U.S., that they have violated their own UN policies concerning colonialism in order to keep it, so what makes anyone think that they actually care about Puerto Rican “citizenship”? This is a distraction-that’s it. But I guess the good news is that you don’t have to give up your US citizenship to obtain PR citizenship! Wow! We wouldn’t want to forfeit all of the benefits of the Jones Act, now would we?
What is going on with Puerto Ricans born in the Island. The new Puerto Rican law passed in December 2009 will void all Birth Certificates and that those living in the 50 states will have to get “NEW” Birth Certificates issue by Puerto Rico.
The idea is to get a handle on immigration, but the real problem is that all of us are scrutinized based on skin color, last name, or accent. At the end of the day, as far as I’m concerned, it’s about gaining even more rights to Puerto Rico so that those with money and power can further exploit us. We know that they want Vieques back, especially since the shutting down of the base and the end of munitions testing there led to a loss of 850 millions dollars a year. Capitalism is always the priority, not human life. This is the beginning of what I suspect is a well thought out plan to get rid of us and gain complete ownership of our beloved island.