Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Actually it was the Republicans. Newt Grinrich had convinced himself that if they (Congress) would take away the 'tools' of the commonwealth that it would collapse and statehood would rise from the ashes of the failed commonwealth like the phoenix bird (since well, what other alternative is there for the 95% of Puerto Ricans who are pro-union?).
Gingrich succeeded in killing the commonwealth but it's supporters are so pigheaded they cannot see the obvious. They are still, in 2014, babbling about their make believe fairy tale compact that was supposedly signed in 1952, "permanent union", and other such nonsense.
The excuse of racism is getting old. Is it racism that keeps St. Martin in its condition (this island has a black government, police force, etc.)? Is it racism that keeps Subsaharan Africa in its disgusting state? Could it be that it is blacks themselves that have ruined PR and all the other Caribbean Islands? Another interesting comparison is Haiti/Dominican Republic - why the marked difference in quality between these two states whom share the SAME island?
What is the excuse for the lack of education in the above post?
Since when is all of Subsaharan Africa in a disgusting condition? Btw the way, keep your disgusting color labels to yourself. Those are out of place in most of Subsaharan Africa. They have not regressed to making everything racial.
Since when are all the other Caribbean islands ruined? How many islands have you visited?
How can anyone ask such a foolish question about Haiti and the Dominican Republic? Do you know that Haiti was cut off for decades after its inception because the U.S. and Europe refused to trade with a then-wealthy African descended nation? They wanted to keep their slaves from a similar rebellion. Did you know that France forced Haiti to pay the equivalent of billions into in the 20th century for its freedom or else it would invade? It paid for its freedom until 1947. Only after that did Haiti suffer from its own disgusting leaders. But from its inception, outsiders were intent on making it a failed state.
I have to strongly disagree with some of the previous posts. When I first moved to PR one of the first things that both struck and surprised me was that the people doing the more menial occupations (janitors, maids, etc. ) are predominantly very dark skinned persons while those having white collar professions (doctors, dentists, etc.) are predominantly light skinned persons. While living in PR I have seen, heard and read (even on CD!) prejudiced remarks against Mexicans, light skinned English speakers and Dominicans. Bigotry may be more subtle in PR but it certainly exists!
Sadly it is STILL like this in most former colonial countries in the Carribbean, South and Central America. It is not just a PR issue.
Puerto Rico is a lost cause... I, too, had such high hope and was extremely delusional (Unfortunately, fortunately, I was poison by nationalism) After concentrating on the situation not only in Puerto Rico but in other parts of Latin America, I realized we have a major crisis and I don't know why. Maybe it's the Iberian blood? Marxist or Socialism obsession? Idk.
When I was in Brazil, they share the many, many problems of Puerto Rico. Then I flew to Panama which was this supposedly first-world class country was a dump, literally. Scam left and right. And nobody told me that there is a lot of favelas in Argentina. Whoever said Argentina o Buenos Aires is like Europe, ummm, put down the Uruguayan weed because that's a damn lie.
Us Latin Americans have self-destructive behavior.
It has nothing to do with heritage or genetics and everything to do with worthless politicians that don't do what they know must be done to have positive economic repercussions. Most likely they are afraid of the political repercussions, so they choose to do nothing while offering lip service to the contrary.
Its perfectly normal to have a crisis that last up to 3 to 5 years in the worst case scenario. In fact, economies are like a yo-yo going from boom to bust and repeating the cycle. What isn't normal is for a crisis to prolong itself for so long as has been the case with Puerto Rico which entered a crisis in 2006 and it has yet to get out of. It hasn't because of politics, not because Puerto Rico can't return to a long lasting upward swing. Puerto Rico had several economic booms in the past, so the ability for the island to get out of a crisis is real because it has done it before.
As with everything, its easier said than done. Its easy to say that Puerto Rico can boom again, its much harder to make it boom. In either case, it isn't impossible. The current economic crisis has been prolonged by the politicians and its having an effect on Puerto Rico that goes beyong economics.
We have murder statistics, but what about other crimes? Marion Berry once said “Outside of the killings, DC has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.” Is this accurate for anywhere in PR?
The only difference between Latin American politicians and US politicians is that the Americano ilk are more discrete about their corruption.
I think they're pretty open about it, they just have the political power over other countries to exert that power. How many coups have we participated in in Latin America? 53,000?
The beautiful island of Puerto Rico, with it's beautiful people, has become unsafe. It is mostly due to drugs, but even my home country, with a murder rate of 28.4, is safer than Puerto Rico. The US should invest more effort in stopping the drug trade there. I don't understand why all the effort is on the Mexican border. Puerto Rico is being neglected by the people in Washington. Something has to be done before the murder rate gets out of control (it already is) and reaches levels of 1990's Colombia, 1980's Miami, or current day Caracas, and countries Honduras and El Salvador.
But at the same time, arresting more drug king pins will result in even more deaths. The void left by the king pin's arrest would be filled by others trying to claim the top spot.
What would you guys do to curve the murder rate in Puerto Rico? Also, what do you predict for 2012?
I'm reading this now in 2021....9 years later....still seems like a very relevant question.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
On going colonial nonsense....
