May 1 | May Day In Puerto Rico by Paloma ToddEditor's Note: Growing up in New York City, Puerto Rico is a lot more important place than it's considered in most other locales. In the city not long ago, people were either black, white or Puerto Rican -- and this social mix has played big part of New York culture, immortalized in the musical 'West Side Story'. Yet even most New Yorkers don't know that this mysterious little island that sits between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean is an actual United States colony (an unincorporated organized territory), whose citizens are taxed and serve [valiantly, I might add] in every war, but have no representation in Congress (remember from 4th grade, "no taxation without representation?" It still exists...). Now the colonial government has gone bankrupt, a fact [theoretically] so inconsequential it has not even shown up in the mainstream news. But Puerto Ricans are rising up and this may be the beginning of reclaiming their prosperity and political power from a government entrenched in scandal and deceit. I asked Paloma Todd, a longtime politically-involved resident of the island (now living in Paris), to tell us a little about what was going on. She has more stories to tell. PAYROLL money is unavailable to end the fiscal year. The Education Department shuts down. The government goes bankrupt. No line of credit is available to bridge the gap until next budget. There is no help from the federal government. Police and hospitals are the only agencies that will remain partially open. This was announced last week. May 1st, the government officially closes. The symbolism of the date goes beyond irony. It's the real thing. As a result of the 2004 elections, the executive branch of the government is from one party, and the legislative from the other. The political parties in Puerto Rico, which define themselves on the theme of the what's called the 'status' they support (statehood? country? colony?) are bitterly at odds. It's a juicy long story. The government's bankruptcy solution depends on the consensus between fierce, lifelong enemies. It has been a two-year long political power play and now it's coming to a head. The consistent legislative strategy has been to hang up all the governor's measures. It has worked. The government has been stuck since the elections, and so too, has the economy. To solve the problem, a resolution presented by the governor calls for a 7% sales tax as a guaranty for a government development bank loan that would, he says, solve the problem on short- and long-term basis. It's the one and only solution. He insists. The measure has passed the Senate's vote. It's been stuck in the House of Representatives for months now. Why? Because even if both branches are from the same party, they are divided and they too, are fierce enemies. Since the government's closing announcement was made, the leadership has been accusing each other. Both sides are screaming, whining, pushing, pulling, attacking, accusing, forcing, defending, hiding, lying. Nothing new under the island's sun. Just a condensed experience of the everyday local political style. The image is beyond caricature. Yes, pathetic. Just take your time, and picture this: 95,000 government employees are going through the devastating reality of loosing their source of income. The thousands of public schools students that won't be able to finish the academic year are facing the insecurity of the system simply failing. The failure of the government is an indication that society itself is unable to function; that it cannot take care of its responsibilities to the people, even if employees are willing to come to work. Imprints of this crisis will have long-term and surely unaddressed social consequences that will deeply affect a nation's identity and relationship to itself. Not to mention the domino effect on the long-term economy. Not a pretty picture. The government's head has been in the sand. Today, it's the little guy who pays the price of irresponsibility. All this is the consequence of decades of different governments repeating the same errors. And yes, corruption. A lot. The emotional tension and the stress that the Puerto Rican society is living at the present time is painful, sad and unfair. Desperation is the appropriate word. The feeling of indignation is growing day by day. The people are claiming respect, action, decency and transparency from their leaders. They are awakening at the fact that the only solution offered is to pay more taxes. They claim. They march. They refuse. And they scream, feeling used, bounced, played, abandoned. During this past three days, a collective rising voice have been slowly emerging: the rich should pay too. Corporations and banks should be taxed. The imbalance should be corrected. With time, it may become an organized social and civic movement. If anything could be, this would be a positive outcome of this nightmare. A short-term solution is not in sight. Taking into account that Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States, has no economic independence and very little means of supporting itself, one would think that the island political status solution is the long-term way to go. That, too, has been a stuck and long story. So let's light a candle and see what happens. I say, go the way to go is soul level -- the soul of the people. And when we talk about collective soul my bet goes to the people. Puerto Ricans are strong, they are fighters, and they will rise to the circumstances -- of that I am sure. 'Lo que no mata engorda': a local saying for, 'what doesn't kill you makes you fatter'. I say stronger. == CIA Factbook's Map http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rq.html Wiki on Puerto Rico, interesting as ever http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico Planet Waves, Inc. is a supporter of the Wiki Media Foundation. | ||||||
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