A bill was introduced recently in the US Congress to help to determine
the future of Puerto Rico.
But is it everything that it's being made out to be?
Is it as unbiased as we would be led to believe?
Well perhaps we're gonna find out I'm not an expert on this area.
So we decided we would bring one on.
The mayor of San Juan Julian Cruz joins us now.
Julian, welcome to the show.
>> Thank you very much.
It's good to see you both for an important topic.
I think it's important to begin saying no it
is not everything that is cracked out to be.
When you say it was recently introduced, it was last Friday,
the bill was not translated into Spanish.
So when there was a listening session in Puerto Rico,
the bill was not translated and we have to understand that in Puerto Rico,
most people speak Spanish and English is taught as a second language.
So English is not the the first language that people would speak number one.
And the other thing is that Puerto Rico has been a colony twice.
Once a colony of Spain.
And in 1898 it became a colony of the United States after
the Spanish American War.
In 1917, a legislation was put into place to make Puerto Ricans US citizen.
At that time.
So everyone that was in Puerto Rico at the time was made a US citizens and
in 1941 birth citizenship was granted to Puerto Ricans.
And why do I say that?
Because that is one of the points of ample discussion.
But this process is undemocratic.
It's actually some would say un American because right now people
in Congress have until 3:00 on today as we speak in about an hour to
introduce any legislation that they would want to introduce and
then council decides if they're going to say yes, no and it's gonna go.
But one of the things that is really wrong, one,
it's not translated into Spanish.
So many Puerto Ricans cannot understand it.
Two, it is tinted and stacked towards status.
Now I understand that most Americans may think well Puerto Ricans were treated very
badly when Donald Trump was president and
3,000 Puerto Ricans died because he was ineffective and a bad president, right?
More than a million died under his watch because of COVID, the same thing.
It was the same scenario with different numbers,
with the same attitude of dismissive attitude and presidents Trump part.
But now the Democratic congress that we would think would be open for
all options to be on the table at the same time with equal
value is back in the deck towards stage.
And I'll give you three examples from a letter that I sent to
Congressman Steny Hoyer, one is people that believe in statehood in Puerto rRco
said that Puerto Rico being a state will continue to have its own Olympic team.
Now, can you imagine Texas, New York, Ohio,
Arizona saying no, we're gonna have our own Olympic team.
So according to those that are proponents have stated in Puerto Rico,
there's going to be team USA and team Puerto Rico.
Even though Puerto Rico is a state, we know that's false.
Number two English and steps.
Well I'm blessed that my parents thought no we're gonna use our money or
hardworking and earn money to put her in a school that will teach her English.
But most people in Puerto Rico are not fully bilingual.
They may be able to speak and understand but not fully bilingual.
In Puerto Rico and the school system, public school system.
We teach English as a second language.
So the question is, will now the government of the United States accept
that Puerto Ricans continue to do all the taxes in Spanish and everything that goes
in our courts in Spanish and that English will be taught as a second language.
Of course the answer is no.
And then number three is the issue of the US citizenship.
Under free association and independence,
which are the other two non colonial one territorial options,
the issue of citizenship is very important, Puerto Ricans for the most.
90, 95% of Puerto Ricans value their US citizenship and actually there's
five million Puerto Ricans in the US and 3.2 in Puerto Rico right now.
So the diaspora is larger than the number of people that live in Puerto Rico.
Now right now what happens is that my daughter who was born in
the United States could run for president.
I was born in Puerto Rico.
I could not run for president.
I don't want to ever run for president.
But that gives you the difference right between between the citizenships.
Now that doesn't mean mine is a second class citizenship.
It just means there there is a difference.
Now if my daughter today gives birth in Spain, she's a US citizen.
She just goes to the embassy and she registers my grandchild
which I hope I don't have for many years to come and that's it.
There's no problem.
But what they're now staying in the bill is that under free association you
need two parents not one as the law says right now.
Two parents to have their US Citizenship in order to transmit
birthright citizenship.
So one of the amendments that's unconstitutional by the way and
the reason we know that is Ted Cruz my God I hate to use Ted Cruz as
an example of anything that is right because he is not right.
Ted Cruz was born in Canada was not born in the US.
His mother is a US itcizen.
So because his mother is a US citizen, he had citizenship at birth.
So that should not be different for Puerto Ricans, it should be exactly the same.
That citizenship should be transmitted by one part, not by two parents.
And the other thing that happens under independence is that this bill says that
Puerto Rico is independent.
The constitution of Puerto Rico would have to have A B C and D.
Just imagine England telling the founding fathers that the new
constitution of the United States had to have A B and C.
If a country decides to be independent, that's their right.
So whatever constitution comes along should be a constitution that
they they describe and they decide.
>> It strains the definition of the word independent, it's independent, but
under very specific circumstances that we decide but not you.
>> You're independent as long as you do what I tell you.
And then that doesn't jibe.
So the great difference here is why is congress stacking the deck towards status.
It doesn't require a supermajority.
It just requires the majority, simple majority of those that vote.
And it also does not allow for people to have a space
a different column where they say no, I want this other,
I wanna be associated with Spain again and so forth.
So it's so disenfranchises a group of Puerto Ricans.
Do we want colonialism to end, yes, but
we want to make sure that is a fair process for all parties.
And well.
>> Yeah.
And as you alluded to they're stacking the deck here.
It is not simply that they're saying you have to choose one of these things, but
it's up to you.
We we put that to the voters.
They are in fact, they're putting money into educating people in Puerto.
They would say educating people in Puerto Rico about these options, correct?
And I assume that's probably not totally unbiased education.
>> Well, if the education says what the bill says,
which is when you look at the language of the bill
says the educational process is going to be what the bill is written,
then it's not gonna tell you that instead of you're gonna pay federal taxes.
It's not gonna tell you that in statehood, you're gonna speak English, it's not gonna
tell you that instead you're not going to have an Olympic team, right?
And that is important for people in Puerto Rico because of our identity,
Puerto Rico we feel like Puerto Rican nationals,
even people that believe in state would say, well, I'm a Puerto Rican national,
but I want to be part of the United States because I want my citizenship to be equal.
That's what people that believe in state has said.
That there's a real important thing here.
There is only one Republican person that is a co sponsor of this legislation and
it is the current Resident Commissioner Jennifer Gonzalez.
John do you remember that gift that's running around where
President Trump was throwing paper towels and the people in Puerto Rico?
I was standing next to him.
The Resident Commissioner Jennifer Gonzalez.
She is the one that was co pressed of Latinos for Trump.
She's also the one that wrote that famous letter to President Trump saying,
by the way, I agree with the wall.
Yes, let's build the wall, Jennifer Gonzalez was saying that, but
don't take money from Puerto Rico to build the wall.
Take money from somewhere else to build the wall.
So, democrats are giving and are jumping in cahoots
with somebody that represents the worst of of what
the Republican party has has ever put through.
So what is important colonization has to end it as a crime against humanity.
It is something that gets Puerto Ricans away from doing what we're supposed to do.
We were not able to buy generators and
lampposts from countries that the US buys them after hurricanes.
Irma and Maria ergo people died.
Do we have a relationship that should continue?
Of course, we have a very good relationship.
I often say I love so much the principles by which this country was founded that I
want them for my own country, right, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
So if we are all endowed by our creator,
I'm sure the founding fathers did not think that only people that
were now born in the 13 colonies were endowed by their creator.
So what we want is the democratic process, what Congress is putting forth
is an anti democratic process that stacks the debt towards one option and
does not allow the people of Puerto Rico to exercise their freedom.
Because in essence, you are free when you can vote for
the truth that is put in front of you.
But if that truth is kept from you, then you're not really exercising that freedom.
>> Well, I can't thank you enough for joining us to explain this.
I think, there's not a lot of Americans on a daily basis.
Think about the status and to the extent that they do, they probably believe that
they know either what is right or what they think the people of Puerto Rico want.
It is obviously very complex.
And it seems like this bill is not necessarily gonna make that any simpler or
any more reflective what the people that actually want.
So we will definitely be following that.
But I wanna thank you again for joining us.
>> Thank you very much for the opportunity.
>> Thank you.
And that was awesome.
Makes me feel like we're back in pre pandemic days that we can actually have
guests join us live on this show.
But thank you again for that.
>> No, thank you.
Thank you for having us.
The bill was introduced Friday.
It goes from markup tomorrow.
>> Okay.
We'll be following.
>> So when we're trying to introduce amendments,
they tell us well we don't have enough time.
We'll know.
Sure look.
That's why you should have taken a lot more time for this.
One other thing John there's another bill that goes to markup tomorrow.
It is to make sure that a house in a particular park
becomes part of the national park systems and that bill had hearings.
>> So they can do hearings for some things when they want to interest.
So they can do hearings for parks but not hearings for decolonization.
>> Exactly convenient.
>> Okay thank you so much.
Again, appreciate it.
Have a good day.
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