The following program is brought to you by democracyatwork.info.
Broadcasting from a US colony, my name is Andrew Mercado-Vazquez, and this is Puerto Rico Forward.
A program that takes a look at the economic and legal structures at play between the United
States of North America and Puerto Rico.
Now in past episodes, I've attempted to highlight how Puerto Rico's current status as a US colony
is the result of over a century of legislation and jurisprudence that time and time again
has resulted in the affirmation of Congress' plenary powers over the archipelago.
Since I've already discussed the legal origins of Puerto Rico's colonial status, I won't be covering that today.
However, for a review, head over to episode 2 of this program where I go into detail on how
the current political condition came to be.
To begin, let's discuss exactly why Puerto Rico's current status is so toxic for its
political and economic development.
Now, if you take a moment to read up on financial or economic news, more often than not you'll
stumble upon a few articles about some new trade treaty between countries, a new tax
increase or decrease proposed by a government, a change in interest rates proposed by a central
bank, the legalization or criminalization of a specific activity, and many other similar stories.
These stories will usually touch on the fact that it is states who are taking such actions
since they alone have the power to do so.
And when I use the term "state," I don't only mean within the context of a federalized union.
But rather at an international level as well.
You see, in a world where you buy your clothes from China and your cars from Japan, more
than ever states play an important role in shaping the economy through the use of their
power to implement economic and legal measures.
And to further understand the importance of the state and how it relates to Puerto Rico,
let's take a look at their defining characteristics.
Now on the topic of what defines a state, the greek philosopher Aristotle once wrote,
and I quote: "Every state is a community of some kind, and every community is established
with a view of some good...
But, if all communities aim at the same good, the state or political community - which is
the highest of all, and which embraces all the rest - aims and in greater degree than
any other, at the highest good."
End of quote.
Now if we accept this broad description as true, we find that a state -
within the international sense - is a community that maybe composed of other communities within it.
As such, the state is considered to be the dominant force.
And according to Professors Kenneth Newton and Jan van Deth, in order to maintain its
status, a state must be more powerful than any of the communities that it incorporates.
As a result, power is necessary for the development of the state but is far from sufficient.
Territorial limits, people and the concept of sovereignty are also vital for a state to be recognized.
Now let's look at each one of them.
The first basic element of a state is that it considers a certain geographic area to be its own.
This territory can vary greatly in size and characteristics.
However, the limits of said territory must be defined and it must be enduring.
The next element of a state is the concept of a people, which can be defined as a group
of individuals that share a common consciousness and identity.
As a result of them having the same things in common, these people form a collective entity.
The third and last characteristic that makes up a state, and in my view, the most important
for the case of Puerto Rico, is sovereignty.
Now once again I refer back to the writings of Professors Kenneth Newton and Jan van Deth.
They define sovereignty as, and I quote: "The highest power that gives the state freedom
of action within its own territory."
End of quote.
In other words, a state with sovereignty has that independence that allows it to use its
power and claim authority.
Now its important to point out that sovereignty is not synonymous to power.
While sovereignty is a form of state authority, power, as defined by Professor Ellen Grigsby,
is, and I quote: "The ability to influence an event or outcome that allows the agent
to achieve an objective, or to influence another agent to act in a manner in which the second
agent on its own would not choose to act."
End of quote.
Now although two states might be equals when it comes to sovereignty, ones power can be
greater than the other's.
Now if we apply the analysis to Puerto Rico, we see that it meets 2 out of the 3 defining
characteristics of a state.
It does have defined territory and it is in fact inhabited by a people.
However, the characteristic of sovereignty is absent due to Puerto Rico's colonial status.
As we have discussed in the past, from a legal standpoint, Puerto Rico belongs to - but is
not a part of - the US.
As a result, Puerto Rico does not have sovereignty of its own, but rather is under the US' sovereignty.
This, to be more precise, is the reason for which Puerto Rico can not be considered an
independent country.
This is why Puerto Rico is under Congress' plenary power.
It is, as a matter of fact, without sovereignty of its own.
The hindering impact this has on Puerto Rico's ability to develop a coherent, long-term economic
plan or policy is easily observed.
For starters, Puerto Rico is covered by the US Constitution's Commerce Clause.
Article 1, section 8 states that, and I quote: "The congress shall have power to regulate
commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes."
End of quote.
Now this clause was inserted into the constitution's text in reaction to the framer's legitimate
concern as to the possibility that some states of the union could develop legal mechanisms
that would act as barriers against capital and goods flowing from other fellow states.
If allowed, such measures would hinder national economic development.
This clause has provoked a slew of court decisions stemming from the early18th century to this
day that have given way to a slightly different variation of the Constitution's Commerce Clause.
It's the Dormant Commerce Clause.
Now this essentially means that states - including Puerto Rico - may not establish protectionary
measures that impede the inflow of non-local goods in favor of local ones.
The practical effect is that Puerto Rico, for example, cannot enact a law to protect
its own beef industry by imposting restrictions on the import of beef.
(And this is a real life example, by the way).
Now the matter of sovereignty is actually quite present in the development of Congress'
power to regulate commerce.
Professor Geoffrey R. Stone, while explaining the origins of the US Constitution, highlights
the importance of each state's sovereignty in the development of it.
And I quote: "To understand the Constitution and the surrounding debates on its purposes
and effects, it is useful to have some understanding of the Articles of Confederation which the
Constitution replaced.
The Articles were adopted shortly after the revolution in order to ensure some unification
of the states regarding common foreign and domestic problems.
But the overriding understanding was that the states would remain sovereign."
End of quote.
As we can observe, sovereignty is no small detail.
In my opinion, it's the backbone of any attempt by a populace to develop itself into a prosperous state.
Professor Stone's recounting of how the US Constitution came to be is a great example
of how states use their sovereignty as leverage when faces with a decision that involves their political future.
The already mentioned Commerce Clause is a prime example of this type of situation.
It wasn't until the then-independent states allowed it that Congress was granted the power
to tax and regulate commerce in the Constitution.
As we know, Puerto Rico's story is completely different.
As I said in the pilot episode of this program, the archipelago's sovereignty was ripped away
from it back in 1508 by the Spanish Empire and later handed over to the US in 1898.
For 510 years now, half a millennia (a little bit more), the people of Puerto Rico have
had their sovereignty sequestered by another country.
And of course, the issue of sovereignty is not only important to states at an international
level, as we've already mentioned, the states of the union are also recognized a distinct
sovereignty, separate from that of the country they formed.
Althought vast, state sovereignty can be explored through the US Constitution's 10th Amendment.
The US Supreme Court has had to interpret this text on numerous occasions, one of them
being New York v. United States.
In reaching its verdict, and quoting one of the Federalist Papers, the court affirms the
following, and I quote: "States are not mere political subdivisions of the United States.
State governments are neither regional offices nor administrative agencies of the federal
government...the Constitution instead leaves to the several states a residuary and inviolable
sovereignty, reserved explicitly to the states by the 10th amendment."
End of quote.
Now the point I am trying to make is that, be it a state within a federalized union,
or a state at an international level, sovereignty is the key.
And Puerto Rico doesn't have that key.
It doesn't have any sovereignty because it is neither a state nor an independent country.
It can not make the important decisions that any state would and should make, because it
lacks the most basic building block of any country or state: sovereignty.
So how do we fix this?
How do we get Puerto Rico's sovereignty back?
Quite simply: Puerto Rico would have to become a state or an independent country.
Under statehood it would have a voice and vote in Congress and would have all the extent
of sovereignty enjoyed by the 50 states today.
As an independent country, again Puerto Rico would regain its full sovereignty within the
same degree as any other nation-state.
For that to happen, the first step is for the US to renounce all claim of power or authority
over Puerto Rico in favor of the people of Puerto Rico, in regards to its ability to
decide - without any constraint whatsoever - its political status and relationship with the US.
After that, the next step would be for the people of Puerto Rico to be convene to a referendum
with the objective of choosing the legal process through which the various options of status
can be refined and elaborated in detail.
In my view, the mechanism most adequate for undergoing such a task would be the "Constitutional Status Assembly."
Now, once the basic structure of the Assembly is established, including its purpose and
limitations, the already mentioned referendum would take place.
And that would allow the people of Puerto Rico to accept or reject the Constitutional
Status Assembly as the method to be used to finally define Puerto Rico's status.
If accepted, another electoral process would take place.
This time, with the objective of selecting a number of delegates, each one aligning him
or herself with a specific status option.
Once formed, and each status option has proper representation, each one must be specifically
defined and developed as fully as possible within a limited term.
Put simply, the Constitutional Status Assembly's main task would be to articulate a definition
of each status' option with the representation of as many sectors of society as possible.
After all, it's not enough to simply choose independence, for example; one must be aware
of the repercussions of such a choice, both economically and politically.
This debate would eventually lead the Constitutional Status Assembly to choose a specific status
option through a majority vote.
Once a specific status option is defined and selected, the Constitutional Status Assembly
would form a negotiation commission that would be responsible of initiating and concluding
negotiations with the US government.
It's easy to suppose that such a negotiation would take quite some time to conclude and
would require many modifications to the initial proposal.
Both the relevant US authorities and Puerto Rico's Constitutional Status Assembly would
have to be consulted in order to approve or deny each proposed modification.
This back-and-forth would continue until, finally, a conclusion and specific agreement
would be formalized that would then be ratified by the people of Puerto Rico through another
electoral process, finally solving the Puerto Rico issue.
What I have just described is a very general overview of a very complex situation.
By no means do I want to give off the impression that such a life-altering process wouldn't
require extensive debate and regulation, along with the participation of numerous sectors.
The role of the international community would also need to be defined.
For example: many people believe that the UN should supervise the process so as to secure
further transparency...and actually I happen to be one of those people.
In fact, the UN Special Committee on Decolonization drafted a resolution calling on the US government
to provide a process that would allow Puerto Rico to exercise its right to self-determination.
The resolution is titled: "Decision of the Special Committee of 20 June 2016 concerning Puerto Rico."
To read the full text of this resolution, please perform a Google search for the following
term: documenta/ac.109/2017/L.12 Before bringing this episode to a close, I actually wanted
to share with you some great news about Puerto Rico Forward.
Now you can find us on iTunes, on Google Play and Patreon!
For more information, head over to democracyatwork.info/media#prforward
As always, thank you for listening, thank you for your time, y que viva Puerto Rico.
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