Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Article -

In Black-Brown Economic War: Virgin Islands Governor Tells How He is Winning – So Farby Pharoh MartinNNPA National Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – U. S. Virgin Islands Governor John deJongh is proclaiming at least a temporary victory this week as he tells how he steered his island out of the brink of bankruptcy into economic stability despite relentless political attacks from Puerto Rico over the Island's strategic use of a federal excise tax program to create public-private partnerships with two major rum producers. “We think that we put ourselves in a position that we'll be able to ride out this economic storm for this period of time,” said deJongh in an interview with the NNPA News Service.Puerto Rico and its allies have been threatening the Virgin Islands, the U. S.’s only majority Black territorial holding, with legislation that, deJongh said, would derail the island’s already battered economic structure.WASHINGTON (NNPA) – U. S. Virgin Islands Governor John deJongh is proclaiming at least a temporary victory this week as he tells how he steered his island out of the brink of bankruptcy into economic stability despite relentless political attacks from Puerto Rico over the Island's strategic use of a federal excise tax program to create public-private partnerships with two major rum producers. “We think that we put ourselves in a position that we'll be able to ride out this economic storm for this period of time,” said deJongh in an interview with the NNPA News Service.Puerto Rico and its allies have been threatening the Virgin Islands, the U. S.’s only majority Black territorial holding, with legislation that, deJongh said, would derail the island’s already battered economic structure. “Even with everything that is taking place now, based on the strength of our rum industry, we've been able to borrow [in a way that has enabled us to] not layoff government employees and allowed us to keep all of our services in the health department and law enforcement going,” deJongh said. At the same time, the governor said that the Virgin Island was able to borrow for capital projects that have supplemented money they’ve received under President Obama's stimulus program. That money - to help the U. S. and its territories through the economic crisis - was for road construction projects, refurbishing of educational institutions and making needed governmental purchases. The tourism industry makes up as much as 80 percent of the island's gross domestic product. But because of the global-wide recession the revenue from people visiting the Caribbean island has been almost crippled. To offset the crisis, deJongh, a former businessman, has been redeveloping the Virgin Islands’ two biggest industries. They are tourism and rum. The governor has worked to re-establish local tourism relationships to bring back much of the island's main revenue source. He has also leveraged the income from a federal program that returns a majority of excise (manufacturer) tax revenue from rum sales to the U.S. interrogatory that produced the product. deJongh cut deals with two producers that make some of world’s top-selling rum brands to create a public-private enterprise that will last 30 years and benefit the territory tremendously. Those two producers are the locally-based Cruzan rum and Diageo, LLC, which produces Captain Morgan Rum.“It's a win-win situation as the visibility of those brands will give us a greater return on excise taxes that we will be able to use for schools, government services and capital,” deJongh said. “That is how we've approached, sort of, filling in the gaps when we don't get federal monies but, at the same time, saving our economy in the shortfall.”Puerto Rico has been adamantly against Diageo's deal with their sister territory because, deJongh said, it cuts into their dominating control of the rum market. Puerto Rican officials have introduced a bill in congress that would make deals like what the U.S. Virgin Islands has cut almost impossible. “Diageo is not going to purchase rum from Puerto Rico after its current supply agreement terminates,” wrote Diageo executive vice president Guy Smith in a statement. “Everyone knows that. If the U.S. Virgin Islands agreement is destroyed, we will be forced to leave the United States. And that is exactly what the leaders of Puerto Rico and their corporate allies want.”HR 2122, the bill introduced by Puerto Rico's delegate Pedro Pierluisi (D- P.R.), has been sitting in the House Ways and Means committee since last April. No action has been taken since it's been introduced. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has recently stepped down because of ethics charges. “So far that bill hasn't gotten any support other than from [Pierluisi] and some of the Hispanic representatives,” deJongh said. “They will continue to push it. Our position is that we don't know why they are doing this to the detriment of our economy.”Florida Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) filed an amendment that would drastically alter the rum program in a way that would change how the cover-over revenue is split. Right now the cover-over split is about 80-20 with the majority going to Puerto Rico. But LeMieux's amendment would alter the payout to be population-based instead of production-based. The change would give Puerto Rico almost 97 percent of the cover-over revenue, according to published reports. It is not certain the LeMieux amendment will get a vote.“We will not stand by while these special interests undermine our corporate reputation and jeopardize the economic future of the U.S. Virgin Islands,” Smith said. The National Black Chamber of Commerce has raised the question of why Florida senators are intervening in what many consider a territorial matter. “This assault on the people and livelihood of the U.S. Virgin Islands overturns more than 90 years of policy toward the U.S. territories,” wrote National Black Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Harry Alford in a statement. “It completely changes the nature of the rum cover-over program. It is a naked and reprehensible money grab by Puerto Rico – a cynical nod to special interests that would put the U.S. Virgin Islands into receivership.” Alford called out LeMieux, saying that his duty is to represent the residents of his state and Puerto Rican special interests.Though it has not become an overt issue, some have hinted that race is possibly at the root of Puerto Rican’s actions. Alford wrote in a recent column for the NNPA News Service that, ''Puerto Rico’s allies are trying to incite racial politics through a nationwide Hispanic boycott of Diageo.''In his statement Alford wrote, “All of America should be offended by this plantation-era treatment of the U.S. Virgin Islands...His amendment would make Virgin Islanders produce rum but let Puerto Rico reap the benefits of those Virgin Islanders’ hard work.” deJongh has said that the mere fact that Florida politicians are willing to undermine his island's economy for their political objectives is “dangerous”. “This is a U.S. territory,” deJongh said. “There is no need to undermine our programs. Getting between two territories is not to their advantage…When a company goes from Florida to Pennsylvania, the senator from Florida doesn't undercut the senator from Pennsylvania. Why are they doing that in this situation?” In a statement posted on governordeJongh.com, the governor implies that LeMieux is in business with Puerto Rico:''Senator LeMieux’s amendment looks like it was developed alongside Puerto Rican lobbyists. The proposed amendment takes excise tax revenue paid by U.S. Virgin Islands rum makers on rum produced in the U.S. Virgin Islands and directly transfers it to Puerto Rico’s government coffers. Puerto Rico would end up with billions of dollars generated by rum production in the U.S. Virgin Islands.''He continues, ''As we search for solutions to the economic downturn, America needs smart, thoughtful leadership – not desperate attempts to pander to powerful special interests. Senator LeMieux is directly attacking his fellow Americans in the U.S. Virgin Islands by doing Puerto Rico’s bidding.''
“Even with everything that is taking place now, based on the strength of our rum industry, we've been able to borrow [in a way that has enabled us to] not layoff government employees and allowed us to keep all of our services in the health department and law enforcement going,” deJongh said. At the same time, the governor said that the Virgin Island was able to borrow for capital projects that have supplemented money they’ve received under President Obama's stimulus program. That money - to help the U. S. and its territories through the economic crisis - was for road construction projects, refurbishing of educational institutions and making needed governmental purchases. The tourism industry makes up as much as 80 percent of the island's gross domestic product. But because of the global-wide recession the revenue from people visiting the Caribbean island has been almost crippled. To offset the crisis, deJongh, a former businessman, has been redeveloping the Virgin Islands’ two biggest industries. They are tourism and rum. The governor has worked to re-establish local tourism relationships to bring back much of the island's main revenue source. He has also leveraged the income from a federal program that returns a majority of excise (manufacturer) tax revenue from rum sales to the U.S. interrogatory that produced the product. deJongh cut deals with two producers that make some of world’s top-selling rum brands to create a public-private enterprise that will last 30 years and benefit the territory tremendously. Those two producers are the locally-based Cruzan rum and Diageo, LLC, which produces Captain Morgan Rum.“It's a win-win situation as the visibility of those brands will give us a greater return on excise taxes that we will be able to use for schools, government services and capital,” deJongh said. “That is how we've approached, sort of, filling in the gaps when we don't get federal monies but, at the same time, saving our economy in the shortfall.”Puerto Rico has been adamantly against Diageo's deal with their sister territory because, deJongh said, it cuts into their dominating control of the rum market. Puerto Rican officials have introduced a bill in congress that would make deals like what the U.S. Virgin Islands has cut almost impossible. “Diageo is not going to purchase rum from Puerto Rico after its current supply agreement terminates,” wrote Diageo executive vice president Guy Smith in a statement. “Everyone knows that. If the U.S. Virgin Islands agreement is destroyed, we will be forced to leave the United States. And that is exactly what the leaders of Puerto Rico and their corporate allies want.”HR 2122, the bill introduced by Puerto Rico's delegate Pedro Pierluisi (D- P.R.), has been sitting in the House Ways and Means committee since last April. No action has been taken since it's been introduced. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has recently stepped down because of ethics charges. “So far that bill hasn't gotten any support other than from [Pierluisi] and some of the Hispanic representatives,” deJongh said. “They will continue to push it. Our position is that we don't know why they are doing this to the detriment of our economy.”Florida Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) filed an amendment that would drastically alter the rum program in a way that would change how the cover-over revenue is split. Right now the cover-over split is about 80-20 with the majority going to Puerto Rico. But LeMieux's amendment would alter the payout to be population-based instead of production-based. The change would give Puerto Rico almost 97 percent of the cover-over revenue, according to published reports. It is not certain the LeMieux amendment will get a vote.“We will not stand by while these special interests undermine our corporate reputation and jeopardize the economic future of the U.S. Virgin Islands,” Smith said. The National Black Chamber of Commerce has raised the question of why Florida senators are intervening in what many consider a territorial matter. “This assault on the people and livelihood of the U.S. Virgin Islands overturns more than 90 years of policy toward the U.S. territories,” wrote National Black Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Harry Alford in a statement. “It completely changes the nature of the rum cover-over program. It is a naked and reprehensible money grab by Puerto Rico – a cynical nod to special interests that would put the U.S. Virgin Islands into receivership.” Alford called out LeMieux, saying that his duty is to represent the residents of his state and Puerto Rican special interests.Though it has not become an overt issue, some have hinted that race is possibly at the root of Puerto Rican’s actions. Alford wrote in a recent column for the NNPA News Service that, ''Puerto Rico’s allies are trying to incite racial politics through a nationwide Hispanic boycott of Diageo.''In his statement Alford wrote, “All of America should be offended by this plantation-era treatment of the U.S. Virgin Islands...His amendment would make Virgin Islanders produce rum but let Puerto Rico reap the benefits of those Virgin Islanders’ hard work.” deJongh has said that the mere fact that Florida politicians are willing to undermine his island's economy for their political objectives is “dangerous”. “This is a U.S. territory,” deJongh said. “There is no need to undermine our programs. Getting between two territories is not to their advantage…When a company goes from Florida to Pennsylvania, the senator from Florida doesn't undercut the senator from Pennsylvania. Why are they doing that in this situation?” In a statement posted on governordeJongh.com, the governor implies that LeMieux is in business with Puerto Rico:''Senator LeMieux’s amendment looks like it was developed alongside Puerto Rican lobbyists. The proposed amendment takes excise tax revenue paid by U.S. Virgin Islands rum makers on rum produced in the U.S. Virgin Islands and directly transfers it to Puerto Rico’s government coffers. Puerto Rico would end up with billions of dollars generated by rum production in the U.S. Virgin Islands.''He continues, ''As we search for solutions to the economic downturn, America needs smart, thoughtful leadership – not desperate attempts to pander to powerful special interests. Senator LeMieux is directly attacking his fellow Americans in the U.S. Virgin Islands by doing Puerto Rico’s bidding.''

Friday, March 12, 2010

Why a Big Mac Costs Less Than a Salad | | AlterNet

Why a Big Mac Costs Less Than a Salad

We’ve got a lot of problems when it comes to our food system, but one of them was clearly articulated with a simple graphic.
March 12, 2010 |

pyramid

This graphic was recently published by the Consumerist, with the few words, “This is why you’re fat.”

The New York Times had a little bit more to say about the graphic, which by the way was put together by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The Times says:

Thanks to lobbying, Congress chooses to subsidize foods that we’re supposed to eat less of.

Of course, there are surely other reasons why burgers are cheaper than salads. These might include production costs, since harvesting apples is probably more naturally seasonal than slaughtering cows (even though both are in demand year-round). Transportation and storage costs might also play a role, as it’s probably easier to keep ground beef fresh and edible for extended periods of time, by freezing it, than cucumbers.

Interesting analysis, but it’s missing the heart of the matter, which PCRM lays out on their own website — the legislation which governs all these subsidies is the controversial farm bill. “The bill provides billions of dollars in subsidies, much of which goes to huge agribusinesses producing feed crops, such as corn and soy, which are then fed to animals,” PCRM writes. “By funding these crops, the government supports the production of meat and dairy products–the same products that contribute to our growing rates of obesity and chronic disease. Fruit and vegetable farmers, on the other hand, receive less than 1 percent of government subsidies.”


Anti-Pot Propaganda As Stupid As Ever -- Yet Our Alarmist Media Continues to Hype It | | AlterNet

Anti-Pot Propaganda As Stupid As Ever -- Yet Our Alarmist Media Continues to Hype It

Once again mainstream media are running wild with the absurd notion that marijuana use causes psychological problems, despite much evidence to the contrary.
March 4, 2010 |
Photo Credit: Theequinest
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Once again members of the mainstream media are running wild with the notion that marijuana use causes schizophrenia and psychosis.

To add insult to injury, this latest dose of reefer rhetoric comes only days after investigators in the United Kingdom reported in the prestigious scientific journal Addiction that the available evidence in support of this theory is “neither very new, nor by normal criteria, particularly compelling.” (Predictably, the conclusions of that study went all together unnoticed by the mainstream press.)

Yet today’s latest alarmist report, like those studies touting similar claims before it, fails to account for the following: If, as the authors of this latest study suggest, cannabis use is a cause of mental illness (and schizophrenia in particular), then why have diagnosed incidences of schizophrenia not paralleled rising trends in cannabis use over time?





Thursday, March 4, 2010

HELO: The Crisis Story Magazine - Colombia    Photo: Christopher Kirk

The Triumph of Paramilitarism
Witness E. A. Ospina, Oct-Nov 2009

Anyone who comes from Colombia has been touched by the war. They will tell you of relatives murdered by paramilitaries, or kidnapped and held for ransom by guerillas. They will tell you of chainsaw massacres and social cleansing in remote villages you can only reach by boat or by helicopter. They will tell you of corrupt elites, vast criminal conspiracies overflying a ground-fog of petty crime. They will tell you of war, narcotics and social unrest.
They will tell you stories like this one: a good friend of my family was awoken by loud banging at the door to his Bogota apartment late at night. He opened the door and was shot to death, point-blank, by paramilitary gunmen. His wife managed to frantically hide their newborn baby in a closet before they found her and killed her too. Her parents were visiting; they too were shot, but her mother miraculously survived to raise the child in an uncertain future. To this day it remains unclear why they were marked for death, and the men who hired their killers remain unknown and at large.
Or perhaps you will hear of a professor of politics at the National University who was on his way to class one day and heard a sicario, an assassin, pull up in a motorcycle beside him. He raised his hand instinctively, and the gesture saved his life, deflecting the bullets that were meant for his face. The sicario left him bleeding on the sidewalk, and some passing students hailed a cab and helped him in.
As he staggered out of the cab at the hospital, he tipped the cabbie the contents of his wallet, to pay for the blood stains. There is something in this story which speaks to the terror and the courage of the Colombian experience. There is something to it that speaks profoundly to me.

I returned in 2006 to the land of my birth after finishing a Masters in International Affairs at Columbia University in New York. My area of focus, perhaps unsurprisingly, was human rights and security policy, the nexus of which has been the justification for the bloodshed that has bathed my country for decades. Almost thirty, I was looking for something that I had done without all my life. I was looking for a home, and answers that could help explain stories that defined my image of a fatherland I had never known as an adult. I found myself instead a stranger in a strange land, and all the people and truths I thought I knew had changed so much it made me wonder if they were always this way, and it was I who had changed.

The years since the turn of the millennium have certainly been eventful in the history of the only major Latin American internecine war to emerge from the twentieth century. During the Bush era, as the rest of Latin America slipped to the left, Washington found a choice ally in Bogota, lead by President Alvaro Uribe Velez and his enormously successful right wing military-political movement.

Eduardo Galeano - Los pecados de Haití

Los pecados de Haití
La democracia haitiana nació hace un ratito. En su breve tiempo de vida, esta criatura hambrienta y enferma no ha recibido más que bofetadas. Estaba recién nacida, en los días de fiesta de 1991, cuando fue asesinada por el cuartelazo del general Raoul Cedras. Tres años más tarde, resucitó. Después de haber puesto y sacado a tantos dictadores militares, Estados Unidos sacó y puso al presidente Jean-Bertrand Aristide, que había sido el primer gobernante electo por voto popular en toda la historia de Haití y que había tenido la loca ocurrencia de querer un país menos injusto.
El voto y el veto
Para borrar las huellas de la participación estadounidense en la dictadura carnicera del general Cedras, los infantes de marina se llevaron 160 mil páginas de los archivos secretos. Aristide regresó encadenado. Le dieron permiso para recuperar el gobierno, pero le prohibieron el poder. Su sucesor, René Préval, obtuvo casi el 90 por ciento de los votos, pero más poder que Préval tiene cualquier mandón de cuarta categoría del Fondo Monetario o del Banco Mundial, aunque el pueblo haitiano no lo haya elegido ni con un voto siquiera.
Más que el voto, puede el veto. Veto a las reformas: cada vez que Préval, o alguno de sus ministros, pide créditos internacionales para dar pan a los hambrientos, letras a los analfabetos o tierra a los campesinos, no recibe respuesta, o le contestan ordenándole:
-Recite la lección. Y como el gobierno haitiano no termina de aprender que hay que desmantelar los pocos servicios públicos que quedan, últimos pobres amparos para uno de los pueblos más desamparados del mundo, los profesores dan por perdido el examen.
La coartada demográfica
A fines del año pasado cuatro diputados alemanes visitaron Haití. No bien llegaron, la miseria del pueblo les golpeó los ojos. Entonces el embajador de Alemania les explicó, en Port-au-Prince, cuál es el problema:
-Este es un país superpoblado -dijo-. La mujer haitiana siempre quiere, y el hombre haitiano siempre puede.
Y se rió. Los diputados callaron. Esa noche, uno de ellos, Winfried Wolf, consultó las cifras. Y comprobó que Haití es, con El Salvador, el país más superpoblado de las Américas, pero está tan superpoblado como Alemania: tiene casi la misma cantidad de habitantes por quilómetro cuadrado.
En sus días en Haití, el diputado Wolf no sólo fue golpeado por la miseria: también fue deslumbrado por la capacidad de belleza de los pintores populares. Y llegó a la conclusión de que Haití está superpoblado... de artistas.
En realidad, la coartada demográfica es más o menos reciente. Hasta hace algunos años, las potencias occidentales hablaban más claro.
La tradición racista
Estados Unidos invadió Haití en 1915 y gobernó el país hasta 1934. Se retiró cuando logró sus dos objetivos: cobrar las deudas del City Bank y derogar el artículo constitucional que prohibía vender plantaciones a los extranjeros. Entonces Robert Lansing, secretario de Estado, justificó la larga y feroz ocupación militar explicando que la raza negra es incapaz de gobernarse a sí misma, que tiene "una tendencia inherente a la vida salvaje y una incapacidad física de civilización". Uno de los responsables de la invasión, William Philips, había incubado tiempo antes la sagaz idea: "Este es un pueblo inferior, incapaz de conservar la civilización que habían dejado los franceses".
Haití había sido la perla de la corona, la colonia más rica de Francia: una gran plantación de azúcar, con mano de obra esclava. En El espíritu de las leyes, Montesquieu lo había explicado sin pelos en la lengua: "El azúcar sería demasiado caro si no trabajaran los esclavos en su producción. Dichos esclavos son negros desde los pies hasta la cabeza y tienen la nariz tan aplastada que es casi imposible tenerles lástima. Resulta impensable que Dios, que es un ser muy sabio, haya puesto un alma, y sobre todo un alma buena, en un cuerpo enteramente negro".
En cambio, Dios había puesto un látigo en la mano del mayoral. Los esclavos no se distinguían por su voluntad de trabajo. Los negros eran esclavos por naturaleza y vagos también por naturaleza, y la naturaleza, cómplice del orden social, era obra de Dios: el esclavo debía servir al amo y el amo debía castigar al esclavo, que no mostraba el menor entusiasmo a la hora de cumplir con el designio divino. Karl von Linneo, contemporáneo de Montesquieu, había retratado al negro con precisión científica: "Vagabundo, perezoso, negligente, indolente y de costumbres disolutas". Más generosamente, otro contemporáneo, David Hume, había comprobado que el negro "puede desarrollar ciertas habilidades humanas, como el loro que habla algunas palabras".
La humillación imperdonable
En 1803 los negros de Haití propinaron tremenda paliza a las tropas de Napoleón Bonaparte, y Europa no perdonó jamás esta humillación infligida a la raza blanca. Haití fue el primer país libre de las Américas. Estados Unidos había conquistado antes su independencia, pero tenía medio millón de esclavos trabajando en las plantaciones de algodón y de tabaco. Jefferson, que era dueño de esclavos, decía que todos los hombres son iguales, pero también decía que los negros han sido, son y serán inferiores.
La bandera de los libres se alzó sobre las ruinas. La tierra haitiana había sido devastada por el monocultivo del azúcar y arrasada por las calamidades de la guerra contra Francia, y una tercera parte de la población había caído en el combate. Entonces empezó el bloqueo. La nación recién nacida fue condenada a la soledad. Nadie le compraba, nadie le vendía, nadie la reconocía.
El delito de la dignidad
Ni siquiera Simón Bolívar, que tan valiente supo ser, tuvo el coraje de firmar el reconocimiento diplomático del país negro. Bolívar había podido reiniciar su lucha por la independencia americana, cuando ya España lo había derrotado, gracias al apoyo de Haití. El gobierno haitiano le había entregado siete naves y muchas armas y soldados, con la única condición de que Bolívar liberara a los esclavos, una idea que al Libertador no se le había ocurrido. Bolívar cumplió con este compromiso, pero después de su victoria, cuando ya gobernaba la Gran Colombia, dio la espalda al país que lo había salvado. Y cuando convocó a las naciones americanas a la reunión de Panamá, no invitó a Haití pero invitó a Inglaterra.
Estados Unidos reconoció a Haití recién sesenta años después del fin de la guerra de independencia, mientras Etienne Serres, un genio francés de la anatomía, descubría en París que los negros son primitivos porque tienen poca distancia entre el ombligo y el pene. Para entonces, Haití ya estaba en manos de carniceras dictaduras militares, que destinaban los famélicos recursos del país al pago de la deuda francesa: Europa había impuesto a Haití la obligación de pagar a Francia una indemnización gigantesca, a modo de perdón por haber cometido el delito de la dignidad.
La historia del acoso contra Haití, que en nuestros días tiene dimensiones de tragedia, es también una historia del racismo en la civilización occidental.
Tomado de:Brecha 556, Montevideo, 26 de julio de 1996.
Comentarios
[ Eduardo Galeano Patria Grande ]
Última revisión: 4/08/96

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Bill Could Lead To Statehood For Puerto Rico - Orlando News Story - WESH Orlando

Bill Could Lead To Statehood For Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO --
A Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States for more than a century, and some people think it's time for the commonwealth to become a state. The topic has sparked a heated debate.
"Statehood would go against that sense of uniqueness, culture, identity that we do have under commonwealth," Puerto Rican Gov. Anibal Acevedo-Vila said.
"As a U.S. citizen, if you live in Puerto Rico, you are stripped of your rights," Luis Fortuno, Puerto Rico's only non-voting congressman, said.
Acevedo-Vila believes his people are better off the way they are now.
"We are U.S. citizens, we are a commonwealth of the U.S., but we are a nation sociologically. We call ourselves Puerto Ricans. We don't call ourselves Puerto Rican-Americans," Acevedo-Vila said.
Puerto Ricans do not currently pay taxes and do not vote for U.S. president, but they do receive welfare and unemployment benefits and pay Social Security. Puerto Ricans also serve in the U.S. military.
Fortuno said Puerto Ricans in the U.S. military are why Puerto Rico should become a state.
"We have fought in every single war since the first world war," Fortuno said. "We are proud to be Americans, and we are bound by the same values that actually make us the greatest nation in the world."
"As a senator who represents a lot of Puerto Rican people in this state, I should give them a voice, and I know it's a big deal to the people of Puerto Rico," Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said.
Martinez said the people of Puerto Rico should decide their own fate.
In August, Martinez introduced a bill to Congress that would set a date for a federally sanctioned vote on the island, which would allow Puerto Ricans to choose between commonwealth status, independence, free association or statehood.
Commonwealth status would mean no change, but independence would make the island a sovereign nation and free association would mean independence with a special relationship to the U.S.
"Since 1898, Puerto Rico has been essentially in a limbo colonial status, and it's just not right. There's not too many places in the world where a complete lack of definity exists for a people," Martinez said.
Puerto Ricans have voted on their status before. In those non-binding referendums, known as plebiscites, Puerto Ricans have rejected statehood.
"I think that Puerto Rico in the future should get a better deal with the U.S. Congress in order for the island to get more power, more autonomy," Acevedo-Vila said.
"We're not asking for any special treatment," Fortuno said. "We just want to participate fully in this experiment. We want to carry our own weight."
Martinez said, ultimately, Congress has the last word on the status of Puerto Rico, no matter what the voters on the island choose.
If Puerto Rico becomes a state, it would be represented by six members of Congress and two U.S. senators.
Martinez's bill is now in the hands of a Senate committee. Lawmakers are expected to act on the bill early next year bill has been introduced to the U.S. Congress that could make Puerto Rico the 51st state.
For almost 50 years, the U.S. has been made up of 50 states. In 1959, Hawaii was the last state added to the Union, but that could change.

To comment on this story, send an e-mail to Aixa Diaz.