Annotations for Dates: 1993-07-25

I am Maria Hinojosa.

In November, residents of Puerto Rico will vote on whether they favor independence, statehood, or the current status of commonwealth. Right now, no matter what the result of that vote, it's the U.S. Congress who will decide the final outcome, but not if a resolution proposed by New York Congressman José Serrano is passed.

From Washington, Patricia Guadalupe reports.

Democratic Congressman José Serrano of New York said he introduced the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Resolution as a vehicle so that Congress will finally be forced to act on the status of Puerto Rico.

We're trying to put once again on the congressional agenda the fact that the United States is a colonial power, that there is a unique and sad relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States and that that relationship in a new world climate where the U.S. has been successful in pushing democracy throughout the world, that that democratic principle be extended to the island of Puerto Rico, that the people must have that right.

Supporting Serrano are the other Puerto Rican members of Congress as well as the influential New York Congressman Charles Rangel, who counts a large number of Puerto Ricans among his constituents. Rangel welcomes the resolution because he says Puerto Rico has never been clear in what they want. However, he fears that any changes from the current political situation may not go over well in Congress.

Of course, if they decide on commonwealth, then that's not changing anything and there's no profile encouraged for the Congress to support it. But when you start talking about adding senators, adding members of Congress, looking at the situation in the District of Columbia, revising the tax code, believe me, the prejudice and bigotry that exists in this country is going to be reflected in the Congress. I do hope that these biases can be overcome by legislative and executive leadership.

So when the stated bill is presented in Congress, that would then require a referendum.

All it would be is your bill, and I would treat it as a --

Discussions on the status of Puerto Rico have sometimes created tension between representatives of the island and the Puerto Rican counterparts on the mainland, particularly when it is centered on whether Puerto Ricans who don't live on the island can participate in the November island plebiscite.

At a hearing on the resolution, Democratic Congressman Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois became involved in an exchange with Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner, Carlos Romero Barceló. Barceló of the ruling statehood party believes only residents of Puerto Rico should participate in the November plebiscite.

Would you vote for it or not?

Would I vote for what?

For the statehood bill?

I would vote for a resolution of the colony of Puerto Rico in which there has been both participation of the Puerto Rican people in a very decolonizing process according to international law and principles.

In other words, you would not vote for the state under those conditions?

Under the conditions that --

The ones that I've expressed to you.

I want to make it categorically and absolutely clear to you and all the members of this body that I would never accept a decision that comes out of a non-binding vote in Puerto Rico, such as the one that is being. And no one suggests it. I think there are many people who are harmonious with me in that statement.

Ironically, this hearing was held on the 95th anniversary of the U.S. Marine invasion of Puerto Rico, shortly after which the island became a possession of the United States.

Carlos Gallisá, President of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, which favors independence for the island, says because of this, no U.S. president has taken Puerto Rico seriously, and a resolution isn't about to change that.

Puerto Rico is not in the agenda of the White House or the U.S. government, and they can care less about colonialism in Puerto Rico. They only move when the United Nations expresses about the Puerto Rican case and tell the Puerto Rican people, those representatives of the foreign countries, that Puerto Rican people exercise its right to self-determination many years ago. Well, it's politics of not confronting the issue, not facing the problem, and I don't see change in that position.

Puerto Rico's Governor, Pedro Rosselló, has said this type of resolution is not necessary. But Rosselló acknowledges that the Congress can do whatever it wants regarding Puerto Rico until there is a congressional mandate.

For "Latino USA," I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington,