Vol. 76/No. 44 December 3, 2012
The referendum was an initiative of Gov. Luis Fortuño and the pro-statehood New Progressive Party. In the governor’s race, which took place at the same time as the referendum, Fortuño lost his reelection bid to Alejandro García Padilla of the Popular Democratic Party, which opposes both statehood and independence.
Long-time Puerto Rican independence fighter Rafael Cancel Miranda pointed out in a phone interview after the vote that it is impossible “to have a free vote of any kind under colonialism.”
Puerto Rico has been a U.S. colony since 1898 when U.S. troops occupied the island, taking over control from the Spanish government. Those who demanded independence were repressed, including Pedro Albizu Campos, a central leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party who spent years in U.S. prisons for his activities. In 1937 at least 20 people were killed and 200 wounded when cops under the orders of U.S. Gen. Blanton Winship opened fire on a Nationalist Party rally in the city of Ponce.
Washington directly appointed the island’s rulers without any pretense of democracy until 1948, when the first elections for the island’s governor were held. Washington continues to assert its absolute power to impose U.S. law on the island, including carrying the death penalty, controlling trade and tariffs, regulating the airwaves, and maintaining U.S. troops presence.
In the first part of the referendum, voters were asked, “Do you agree that Puerto Rico should continue to have its present form of territorial status?” Regardless of how they voted on the first question, they then had a choice of three alternatives: statehood, independence, or “sovereign free associated state”—a modified form of the current colonial status.
A number of groups urged a no vote on the first part of the referendum and leaving the ballot blank on the second part. These included several pro-independence groups, among them the National Hostosiano Independence Movement, as well as the Popular Democratic Party, and others who favor a modification of the current “free associated state.” The Puerto Rican Independence Party, on the other hand, promoted participation in both the first and second parts of the referendum.
Some 1.7 million voted in the first part of the referendum, 54 percent against continuing the current status. There are 2.4 million registered voters on the island out of a voting population of about 3 million.
On the second section, 807,000 voted for statehood, 440,000 for the free associated state, and 73,000 for independence. More than 470,000 voters left the second part blank.
Statehood ‘win’ is a farce
“After all the years of repression and massacres, it’s a miracle that so many voted for independence,” Cancel Miranda said. “And when you add up all the votes for the options and the blank ballots, those who voted for sovereignty are many more than those who voted for statehood. It’s farcical to say that statehood won.”Cancel Miranda pointed out that 300,000 people who did not vote in the previous election and did not “reactivate” their registration were denied the right to have their votes counted this year. In another example of the U.S. domination of the island, the ruling on their voting rights “was decided in the U.S. courts in Boston, not by the local courts in Puerto Rico,” he noted.
Regardless of the vote totals, Cancel Miranda said, “Independence and freedom are not questions of adding up votes. Anyway, the Yankee government won’t pay it any attention. U.S. imperialism only accepts votes that favor their interests.”
And the imperialists are perfectly happy with the current colonial set-up.
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