Artist, graphic designer, director of art publication Orificio and Professor in Communication Dept. in Universidad del Sagrado Corazón
The Great White Sphinx Revealed
If, according to Philosopher Nicolas de Cusa, the infinite is undetermined, then Puerto Rico is infinite, Brian McCall, UPR student
Puerto Rico’s “problem” has been declared officially a Hot Potato in Washington! Nobody on the metropolis wants to touch it, and for that very same reason nothing is going to change. Judging by history, there will not be any consensus ever about Puerto Rico’s status “problem” in the near future in Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may just as well have said that she will send the status bill to the House :”when hell freezes over”. If we believe that a consensus can be reached in Congress about the colonial status of Puerto Rico, we should also believe that Santa Claus, Darth Vader, The Seven Dwarfs and even the Martians do all exist. Eternal inmovility is the usual stance of Congress, the White Marble Sphinx, on the issue of Puerto Rico’s status. In the first place, The Sphinx (for short) pospones forever this issue because either it does not have enough information and/or it is embarrased by the Puerto Rico colonial status and, as far as it’s concerned, the “National Defense” apparatus has an upper hand in this matter. Congress only pays attention to those stakes that entail big money (it’s the Capital of Capitalism, get it?).
In order to grasp fully The Sphinx’s stance on Puerto Rico, we must consider that, so far, it has been deaf during the last one hundred and nine years to: public political opinion; pleas for autodetermination processes; petition to changes to the colonial structure; joint resolutions to respond to insular demands; intense and costly “cabildeo” from the political elites, as well as international support for decolonization, specially if coming from the United Nations (who pays attention anyway to the discredited Decolonization Committe?). There has to be a clear defined threat to “US National Security” - a canal must be protected, a world war must be coming, communism must be resisted - in order for The Sphinx to bat an eye about the conditions in the island. That’s the only reason the Foraker Law, the Jones Act and the Estado Libre Asociado made its appearance on the island’s horizon! Since its invasion, Puerto Rico’s economy has been subjected directly to US external politics, whether it is called Imperialism, Interventionism, New Deal, Good Neighbor, Good Partner, Cold War, Protectionism, Neo-Cold War, or else.
Meanwhile, the Puerto Rican Political Elite Circus went-and-came to town returning empty-handed as usual. The spectacle being, not only decadent, but very sad. As former governor Rexford Tugwell observed many moons ago (in the forties), colonialism imposes on these politicians the undignified role of “beggars”. As always, their pleas for a solution to the colonial status “problem” falling on deaf ears. What “falls from the tree” (se cae de la mata) is that no matter what any member of the insular political elite has ever said, the future of the island of Puerto Rico (for that matter: the past and the present) is not in their hands. But neither is this debate in The Sphinx’s inmediate or future agenda. In fact, there has not been any clearly cut and well-defined policy in Congress about the Puerto Rico “problem” since the invasion, other than its hold on this “territory” as a strategic point, a crucial piece in its defense system. Yes, The Sphinx has admitted - in the President Task Force in 2005 – that Puerto Rico is just a territory subjected to all of its powers, to the surprise of all of those poor “deceived” fellows in the PPD elite (which opportunistically, as always, were the only ones in the island that didn’t know!).
On the other hand, you don’t have to be an expert to understand that, in the present colonial status, Puerto Rico’s political, social and economical conditions, are not the “Best of Two Worlds”. In fact, US colonialism has transformed Puerto Rico into the “Worst of All Possible Worlds”. Not only that, it has created a very dangerous and unstable social situation, witnessing the proliferation of closed gate surburban enclaves. Just for starters, if the economy hasn’t collapsed yet it’s just because there is a huge influx of federal aid that palliates the poverty of nearly half of the population and federal spenditure has kept enough capital flowing to give a significant boost to commercial activity. On the other hand, the huge unemployment problem gets relieved somewhat because the insular government itself is the greatest employer and migration to the US provides a safety valve. Most importantly, it has not collapsed (to The Sphinx’s embarrassment) because illegal activities such as the third economy and the narcotics trade give the biggest boost to the economy by providing a relatively readily and abundant source of income to a large part of the population, while giving a significant boost to the financial sector through money laundering. But, take away one, and it all comes tumbling down!.
Continues on next page
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