Comments on: The Party’s Over in Puerto Rico (OPINION)

By: Stefano Andrea

Stefano Andrea — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 15:38:30 +0000

Dearest Susanne, I appreciate how easy it is to blame so many of Puerto Rico’s problems on your favorite political punching bag, former President Trump. However, we all know the truth is far more complex and so much of the blame lies right here with the local government of Puerto Rico, freely elected by the people. That government has mismanaged Puerto Rico’s resources and squandered so many economic opportunities. One hurricane, and a failure of one US president to properly respond, did not create the decades-long economic malaise that has blanketed Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico will never rise out of its current economic plight without taking a good, long look in the mirror and accepting responsibility over the things it CAN control. Hurricanes come and go, and so do US presidents. Puerto Rico’s problems stick around, no matter who occupies the White House or what storm comes ashore. That is something to reflect upon. Respectfully, Stefano

By: Milagros

Milagros — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 19:57:45 +0000

You write as if you were my voice. And you are not. As a puertorriqueña who lives & works in PR, this is NOT how we feel, see things, nor are these things our opinion.

By: Armando Cardona

Armando Cardona — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 02:58:34 +0000

As usual, I enjoyed Ms. Ramírez de Arellano’s column immensely & I greatly respect her analysis of Puerto Rico’s current ills but her predictions about the territory’s political future belong in the “fiction” section of any library or bookstore. To paraphrase Mark Twain, her “news” of the P.R. statehood movement’s “imminent” death is greatly exaggerated. The pro-statehood New Progressive Party has experienced bitterly contested primaries between strong leaders more times than I can remember since the party’s founding in 1968 & that hasn’t kept the statehood movement from growing by leaps & bounds, which is the reason statehood won the last three of the six referendums held in the last 50 years (2012, 2017, 2020) & came a close second behind commonwealth (territorial) status in the other three (1967, 1993, 1998), while independence hasn’t won ANY referendum, usually polled between 1% & 2% in such contests & had its BEST showing –with all of 5.5% support– in 2012. And while I agree that the GOP has become a dire threat to democracy with its Trump cult fixation, I remain hopeful that the 45th President will not return to the Oval Office & stands an excellent chance of ending his days in a stylish orange jumpsuit. As a lawyer with a 36 year long state & federal practice, I have great faith in the rule of law in the US, I’m optimistic about the US justice system, I have great faith in the American people & I wholeheartedly support making Puerto Rico a state of the Union because I believe that Hurricane Trump, however seemingly strong, will pass sooner rather than later–all of which doesn’t keep me from enjoying Ms. Ramírez de Arellano’s columns, regardless of how much I disagree with her conclusions about Puerto Rico’s political future.