Gringo’s Travels
Puerto Rico viewed from a gringo’s perspective
Fortuno Wins Puerto Rico Primary
Author: The Gringo10 Mar
The most talked about news today at work is Fortuno won the Puerto Rican Primary to run for Governor (In Puerto Rico the highest office that can be held is Governor). It has been stated that Fortuno had a 60% majority vote for the New Progressive Party (NPP).
NPP is basically the Puerto Rican version of the Republican Party. NPP is currently in control of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives and Senate.
It seems everyone at work was pretty much for him to win. I don’t follow the local politics as I should. From my understanding Fortuno and the NPP is strongly for statehood. Statehood in my personal opinion would be a great thing for Puerto Rico and would eventually fix many of the problems and hopefully fix the corruption in the government.
6 Responses for "Fortuno Wins Puerto Rico Primary"
Hi there!
Based on what you hear, do you think Statehood is likely to happen? What problems do you think that Statehood would eventually fix? What do you think are the pros and the cons of statehood?
Wow those are some loaded questions! Puerto Ricans feel very strongly by being very for or against statehood. Let me draft up a post to address the issues.
A question for you since you are planning on moving here…
Would it make a difference in your decision to move to Puerto Rico if it was a State?
Ah ha - that is a good question! I don’t think it would make a difference to me; but I do know a number of people in the States who would be more apt to move to Puerto Rico if it were a State - and I think that is what bothers me. I don’t want to see the culture become diluted.
I’ve been visiting Puerto Rico since I was a child, and I love it as it is. That said, I am not sure what changes Statehood would bring - perhaps I would love it more, and perhaps I would love it less based on those changes (or the offshoots of those changes). Several years ago, I lived out West, in Phoenix, AZ. It went from being the 11th largest US city back then to this year being the 3rd largest US city; and it has lost a lot of its charm, laid-back atmosphere, courteousness, and wild-west attitude - all the things I loved about it when I lived there.
Of course, it took several years for that to happen, and if I lived there while it was happening, perhaps I would not have noticed the changes; or they would have seemed more subtle. But, being someone who visits a few times a year, the changes seem larger. I don’t think I would move there today.
Statehood would not change my decision to move to Puerto Rico, but it could impact a decision to remain in Puerto Rico, depending on the impact of the changes.
Hang tight for me, I am still working on a list for ya of why PR should become a State.
Puerto Rico watches so much media from the States and so many US companies are here that want things done their way, not on island time. Puerto Ricans have to evolve to get the extra buck.
I do understand that it would eventually change if it were to become a State, but don’t you think it will regardless? Are they just delaying the future by staying a territory?
I agree that change is inevitable. Nothing exists in a vacuum. But I wonder whether Statehood is necessary for change? In a global economy, wouldn’t Puerto Rico have to change regardless of whether it was a State or not?
What does Statehood bring to the table that will create positive change? How does becoming a State make Puerto Ricans evolve to get the extra buck? I don’t know that Statehood would accomplish that. I’ve seen many companies that have different functions performed in different areas of the US, and the standards for performance and hustle within the States are very different.
(I am not for or against Statehood at present - I don’t know enough about it. Looking forward to the future post!)
I’ve had the good fortune to travel quite a bit, and on my travels to Hawai’i, what surprised me was how large the pro-independence movement is there, especially compared with the PR movement, which is legal as opposed to Hawai’i’s, which is technically illegal.
I’m not sure statehood is the right fix at the moment, not without implementing some serious reforms beforehand to ease the transition to statehood. Puerto Rico is still very much a foreign country in too many aspects (taxes, level of autonomy on economic issues, granting Puerto Rican “citizenship”, more socialized insurance industry, etc) that would create an immediate conflict upon its integration as a state.
It’s a good idea, but not immediately, and becoming a state won’t be the end-all for PR’s problems, especially with its geographic location, glaring ethnic/linguistic/social differences, and abundant drug problem.
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