Does Puerto Rico feel American?

[mym]

so how cant that be used to our advantage? we're halfway between south and north america. cant we be a transhipment point for anything else besides cocaine?

[Rinconcoqui]

Puerto Rico is the main airline hub for the lesser Antilles and everything that is bound for the USVI does pass through the ports of Puerto Rico. I wish the US congress would pass the tax advantages like we had before to make Puerto Rico a place to do business. We have the capabilities to be the hub of the Caribbean Basin AND the place where Latin America connects with the US. On the west side we have the capabilities to grow massive amounts of food yet we do not and import a lot from the DR. I think we grow some of the best coffee (as I sip my El Coqui) and we are barely growing enough for domestic consumption. Do not come between a Boricua and his coffee....jajajajajaja! UPR turns out great young men and women but it seems to me the younger generation doesn't engage in politics here like my generation does. Puerto Rico can come out of this slump we are in. Now I'm probably going to get slammed for my next thought but when it comes to the drugs coming in from the DR. Boricuas are stupid because instead of being paid money to do the cartels business they get a cut of the product. I live on the westernmost point of PR so I see boats from the DR dropping off both drugs and illegals and we locals watch the Border patrol and DEA chase this stuff down on a weekly basis. In fact I see military grade weapons more here than in my 23 years in the Army. My other half works in Aguadilla for the Department of Homeland Security so I hear about it everyday. My grandfather and I were talking yesterday about the water situation here And the drought and common sense tells him that the Army Corps of Engineers needs to build some lakes on this side for water cause Rincon, Anasco, and Aguada gets rain everyday! We even built ourselves a 10,000 gallon cistern to collect rain water for our little compound and we grow Plantains, bananas, Pana, Mangos, and Aguacate. In the leer field we have glandules, Dulce peppers, Passion fruit, Cassava, and Calabasas. The great thing about our barrio is we share our bounty with neighbors. He also raises rabbits and of course the flock of chickens which as many of you know is a part of life down here. I guess my point is that we Puerto Ricans have some resources we can harness and why can't we become more self sufficient as far as food and even export to the mainland. Our coffee alone is superior to the stuff the US buys from Guatemala and Columbia yet in Maricao it rots on the trees. The Government in San Juan planted over 1000 cuerdas of sugar cane in Aguada to supply Don Q and Bacardi (the sugar here is superior to the crap in the DR) BUT they never thought about an operational plant to process it so this cane will have to be used to feed livestock....just shows you how stupid the present administration is in San Juan. Even Cruzan in St Croix wanted to buy it for their rum production. We need our tax advantage again that expired in the US congress to make Puerto Rico economically viable especially since Cuba is now opening up to the US. We also need the Feds to appoint a board to oversee where the money goes when it gets here and NOT Padilla. Puerto Rico can be the powerhouse for the Caribbean but and I MEAN but we Puerto Ricans need to re-engage politically and we need to start getting our hands dirty to bring Puerto Rico back to what it was. I personally would love San Juan overtake Miami as the place for Latin America to do business with the US and I'm going to include the lesser Antilles as well. We Puerto Ricans should also be on the front lines when it comes to engaging Cuba. We have the Advantage of speaking Spanish as our primary language (yeah I know Miami has that advantage too in some areas). Bottom line is that it will take everyone of us here to actually work to make Puerto Rico attractive to do business and the austerity measures we have now only scares everyone of doing business here. I think Padilla and the PPD are doing everything they can to make PR unattractive as a potential state in the Union. His 11.5% sales tax....his 15 cent tax on every liter of gas and now a 4% business to business tax is killing all of us on the island