Puerto Rico has been the source of everyone’s talk lately. From our economic crisis, to our “unfair” loopholes and who’s really to blame for this mess, everyone seems to have an opinion or a solution, but when it really comes down to it… Do they know what’s going on? Let’s face the facts, our issues have been piling up for a long time now. Just because they were only recently brought up does not mean that they popped out of nowhere. A lot of politicians have taken this issue as a way to gain votes. However, when addressing the problem, all of them stand on the same conclusion: Puerto Ricans brought this mess upon themselves because they can’t administrate their own money properly. All of which, is completely wrong. Where does our problem really lay? In our status.
Surprisingly enough (read: not at all), Senator Bernie Sanders does know what the cause of all of this is. In a recent speech where he addressed Puerto Rican college students at the University of Puerto Rico, Senator Sanders said “The people of the United States cannot continue a colonial-like relationship with the people of Puerto Rico”. Sanders not only hit the nail right on the head there, but also addressed the economic crisis issues at hand regarding what congress proposed us to do to solve our debt.
For instance, because Puerto Rico faces such a large debt, vulture funds actually told us to cut down our school, hospital and government budgets. What are vulture funds? Vulture funds are people who bought bonds in Puerto Rico for a lower price than they were actually worth because we were trying to sell them to keep our economy afloat. Let me re-state that “solution” again. In order to “aid” our crippling debt, Congress told us to forget about our sick, not waste time on shaping the minds of our future leaders and first pay investors who got their bonds for a cheaper price than what they actually cost. We were told to actually prioritize rich Wall Street investors who took advantage of our worsening situation over our poor, our sick, and our children. How would we actually be expected to progress if you want us to cut down on our only options for a bright future?
Allow me to paint the bigger picture (read: problem). Puerto Rico has been a colony since the beginning of its time. It first belonged to Spain and was passed on to the United States militia in 1900. Puerto Rico remained an official colony of the United States until 1938, when members of the Puerto Rico Liberal Party founded the Popular Democratic Party (PPD for its Spanish acronym) and promised its people “Bread. Soil. Freedom.” This proceeded to grant Puerto Rico a new title and we became an unincorporated territory of the United States with self-government. Did this change anything? Were we as free as the PPD promised? No. We weren’t. In fact, this is the actual belly of the beast; the root of all of our problems.
You see, because Puerto Rico is not a state, yet still belongs to the United States, we are forced to work under the same laws as the United States. Simple, correct? No. Here is where it gets messy. Puerto Rico is not a state, therefore the benefits that are allowed and given to every state are not the same as the ones offered to us. This ranges from: our taxes, social security, federal aid, and yes… even same-sex marriage. This is the loophole everyone hates, the reason why we can’t depend on congress for help, and why even two people of the same sex can marry. These are the chains we are still forced to carry with us. Why not ask for help? Why have we been silent if we’re so miserable?
Puerto Rico has been screaming for help since the beginning. Even way before the colonial status was “upgraded”. We’ve been trying to gain our independence and rights since forever. However, our screams have only fallen to deaf ears. The larger part of the population has been silenced with mediocre offers to soothe the anger; to turn us docile and calm us down. Right now, Congress is at an impasse. To help or not to help? The solution is far simpler than it’s being made out to be, really! We are not asking you to disappear our debt. We are not asking for special treatment. We just want equal treatment. Either treat us as equals or set us free. Because unlike Nick Jonas sings: You’ve got me in chains for your love, but we would change this love.
Why change? Because you tied up Puerto Rico’s limbs and threw us underwater. How dare you scream at us to swim?
