Task force seeks vote on Puerto Rico’s status

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A presidential task force said in a
report on Thursday that the people of Puerto Rico should decide
in a series of votes whether the island should become the 51st
U.S. state or an independent nation.

The task force urged the U.S. Congress within a year to set
a date for a plebiscite in which the people of Puerto Rico
would be asked whether they want to change the Caribbean
island’s commonwealth status.

If they choose to change the island’s status, Congress
should set another vote on statehood or independence, the task
force said.

“We hope that Congress will take a look at the
recommendations and hopefully move the question forward,” said
Ruben Barrales, deputy assistant to the president and co-chair
of the task force.

But Barrales acknowledged that “there’s absolutely no
requirement” that Congress act. “We are trying to help move the
process forward,” he told reporters.

The debate over Puerto Rico’s status has been raging for
more than 100 years.

Spain ceded the island to the United States in 1898. It
became a U.S. commonwealth in 1952 and has its own legislature
and a territorial court system.

The island lies between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean
Sea about 995 miles southeast of Miami.

Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but island residents do not
vote in U.S. general elections, although they do vote in
national primaries and are subject to most federal laws.

Puerto Rico is represented in the U.S. House of
Representatives by a delegate who does not vote, except in
committees. Puerto Ricans pay no federal income taxes but
receive limited government benefits.

Puerto Rico’s independence movement is small, with fewer
than 3 percent of voters favoring independence in a 1999
referendum.

The bulk of the 3.8 million population is evenly divided
between remaining a U.S. commonwealth and becoming a U.S.
state.

Reaction to the report was mixed. Puerto Rico’s non-voting
representative in the U.S. Congress, Luis Fortuno, said the
report was a significant step since it is the first time in 40
years that the White House has involved itself directly with
the island’s political status.

“It’s going to have an important effect because the report
recognizes the options we have. They’re saying they will follow
through with what we choose,” said Fortuno, a statehood
advocate. “It has opened a window of opportunity.”

By contrast, Eduardo Bhatia, the Washington representative
of Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, said the report did
not contribute any new legal analysis to the debate. Acevedo
Vila favors the status quo.

“It’s like a wasted opportunity,” said Bhatia. “It offers
nothing to the debate. It is not that it isn’t important. It’s
that it doesn’t help.”

(Additional reporting by Enrique Martel in San Juan)