Puerto Rican diaspora groups reject Democratic Party support for reckless PRSA bill
WASHINGTON, DC – Puerto Rican Diaspora coalition, Power 4 Puerto Rico, strongly rejected the Democratic Party platform that supports the undemocratic Puerto Rico Status Act, after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) platform committee passed a draft convention platform that removed references to self-determination and now supports the ill-conceived legislation.
“We urge the Democratic National Convention to reject the proposed platform language that seeks to impose a particular status outcome on the people of Puerto Rico and that deprives Puerto Ricans of the full information they need to determine their future,” Erica González, Director of the Power 4 Puerto Rico coalition, said. “There’s nothing Democratic about a bill that would empower billionaire and millionaire American tax evaders to vote on the permanent status of the island nation they have no roots in while shutting out any participation from diaspora Puerto Ricans, many of whom were forced to leave the Island.”
The Puerto Rico Status Act has been criticized by the Coalition and many Puerto Rican community organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico for unfairly tilting the scales towards one of the status options by hiding crucial information over the current use of the Spanish language by the government, federal taxes, citizenship, Puerto Rico’s current separate Olympic representation, and other major issues.
“The Democratic Party has let down Puerto Rican voters -the second largest Latino national origin group in the US- who take the self-determination of their home country seriously and do not want Congress to impose its will on the people of Puerto Rico. The time to enable and empower a democratically elected Constitutional Status Assembly that over 100 organizations and leaders called for is now,” Juan Calderón, Chief Operating Officer of the Chicago-based Puerto Rican Cultural Center, said.
Federico de Jesús, Power 4 Puerto Rico Senior Advisor, said: “While we applaud that
Democrats called for the end of the Congressionally-imposed and unelected fiscal control
board on Puerto Rico, we must note that when Democrats held the majority in Congress no action to this effect was taken and that President Biden has made Wall Street appointments to that board that are contrary to the island’s interests. The call to protect democracy rings hollow while the Biden administration did not fulfill campaign promises to curtail the unelected, harmful junta that continues to rule Puerto Rico.”
Along with Power 4 Puerto Rico, the PRSA has been widely rejected by progressive Puerto Rican and allied organizations and leaders such as Latino Justice PRLDEF, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Alianza for Progress, Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora, the Puerto Rican Alliance, Vamos, LULAC Florida, Casa in Action, El Otro Puerto Rico, La Tejedora, La Mesa Boricua de Florida, former San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, and former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, among others.
To read more about some of the critical issues the Puerto Rico Status Act omits, click HERE.
