By Jowen H. Ortiz Cintrón, MA Media and Strategic Communication, 2022
Three Things that statehooders should fix in their narrative
Puerto Rico is not legally a country but is the longest-standing colony in the world that has its own culture and national identity. Since 1898, it’s been a territory of the United States, as little has been done to change that at a federal level.
After plebiscites where Puerto Ricans asked for statehood, the New Progressive Party has built a narrative where Puerto Ricans have called on the United States, the banner of democracy, to allow Puerto Rico to join the United States as a state. They have appealed to the Republican’s patriotic sense, recalling the service of Puerto Ricans in the military and contributions to the victories and defense of the U.S.. For Democrats, they mention the commitment that the United States maintains with human rights, reminding them that respecting the democratic rights of Puerto Ricans is part of the human rights that the United States must defend.
While those factors are true, their narrative has big flaws that makes it difficult to garner support behind the cause from both sides of the aisle. Here are three aspects of the pro-statehood narrative that must repaired for a successful pro-statehood campaign.
- The claim: Puerto Ricans have democratically chosen statehood
One important aspect of the pro-statehood narrative is that Puerto Ricans have asked for statehood in different plebiscites (2012, 2017, 2020). In those three democratic exercises, statehood has won the popular vote. In 2012, statehood won with 61%; in 2017, with 97.18%; and in 2020, with 52%. While it does seem like statehood enjoys wide support in Puerto Rico, the plebiscites have been ridden with controversy over the way the choices were phrased, and over the lack of participation.
This has led politicians, like Ocasio-Cortez and Velázquez, to not trust the results, because they question if it is truly democratic to let less than half of the population decide the future of an Island. In this way, questions are raised as to whether statehood is actually the desire of Puerto Ricans.
By not correctly acknowledging the lack of participation in the democratic process, the promoters of Statehood have allowed a narrative to be drawn where the low participation is attributed to a decline in support for statehood. This has distanced highly valued progressive Democratic voices from supporting statehood projects, and they have preferred to present the Self-Determination Act.
- The Messengers: NPP’s history of fraud and corruption
The supporters of statehood in Puerto Rico are aligned with the New Progressive Party (NPP). The party proved to be a political force. However, in recent years, support for the party has waned.
The history of corruption the party carries is a reason for the loss of support. The party has been marked by arrests of mayors, representatives, senators, heads of agencies, and other public employees accused and convicted of embezzlement, theft, and corruption of power. During the four years from 2016 to 2020, after Hurricane María and other crises in Puerto Rico, then-Governor Ricardo Rosselló was forced by the people to resign due to a large number of cases of corruption and nefarious handling of the country’s public funds and recovery aid, worsening the crisis that Puerto Ricans are experiencing, among other reasons.
Jorge de Castro Font is a former NPP senator arrested in 2008 on charges of fraud and conspiracy. The following year he pleaded guilty to 21 counts. He was sentenced in 2011. Source: Primera Hora
“Public corruption poses a threat to our democratic institutions and erodes trust in government.”
– US Attorney Stephen W. Muldrow about corruption in Puerto Rico.
The corruption and the great public debt of the archipelago have given Puerto Rican politicians a bad name at the federal level, in which it is questioned what could be the value of such a corrupt country to the democracy of the United States. This thought is shared by members of the Republican party mainly, who strongly oppose statehood for Puerto Rico3.
- Opposed Narratives: “More federal funds for Puerto Ricans”
A campaign promise by everyone running for office in the NPP is that, with Puerto Rico being a state, citizens would have access to more federal aid.
During the recent natural disaster crises in Puerto Rico, Governor Pierluisi, Resident Commissioner González and other statehood allies in Congress, have emphasized the importance of helping the American citizens on the island with statehood and more federal funds for education, Medicaid and crisis relief expenses.
While this narrative resides in the hope of appealing to the Democratic base, it further alienates Republicans. Publicly building a narrative in favor of increased federal funding has caused the “welfare queen” narrative to take a new angle against Puerto Rico and statehood. It had demonized the idea behind delivering more help to Puerto Ricans. Given the island’s history of embezzlement and poverty, Republicans have identified the island as a monetary burden and have repeatedly opposed the idea of giving more funds to the island.
The call to solve Puerto Rico’s status situation has been long and overdue. To solve it, political leaders should present a narrative strong enough to appeal to United States’ politicians. Nonetheless, the supporters of statehood haven’t been able to build a cohesive narrative that delivers a proper claim, with a credible messenger, and that coexists with the narratives of the United States. The narrative fails to appeal to Democrats and Republicans alike, creating riffs in what is supposed to be a human rights decision.
For a detailed analysis by the author on the subject, Click Here.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author. They do not express the views of the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication or the George Washington University.
Great insights into factors undercutting the pro-statehood narrative in Puerto Rico (and among its supporters in the U.S.). The low participation, corruption within the pro-statehood movement, and the monetary burden dimension are mutually reinforcing, and militate against statehood getting real traction. The 2017 plebiscite results stand out as a real outlier.
This is a detailed, systematic breakdown of why current narratives surrounding Puerto Rico’s statehood are not working. You expertly tackled multiple angles of narrative theory, such as the importance of messengers to the battle of narratives. I loved reading more about concepts such as the “welfare queen” through your links as well.
This blog raised an interesting question about how to manage relationships with nations in which identity and system narratives differ internally/domestically. The pluralistic nature of the U.S.’s master narratives renders it difficult to provide a one-size-fits-all narrative approach. From my limited knowledge of your topic, the Democratic response seems to be more of a process issue, while the Republican response seems to be more deeply rooted in a battle of narratives. Conducting a more in-depth audience analysis – which you’ve already begun – might help identify the populations you choose to focus on within your public diplomacy approach.
Your article does a great job of explaining the existing narratives for Puerto Rico’s statehood and why they aren’t working. It really helped me piece together information I have read but not connected. In terms of providing a united narrative do you think it would be best to attempt to validate the democratic narrative through increased participation or is this even realistic? Also, I wonder if Republicans are also worried about statehood for Puerto Rico leading to statehood movements for the other 4 U.S. territories.
This article is a great commentary on the problems that statehood proponents face in their messaging and strategy. The blog effectively identifies and discusses the three main problems in the narrative that the statehood movement confronts in DC and policy circles. Each of them can be further expanded upon for an in-depth analysis of this issue, as the author hints.
There are many contradictory aspects of the statehood referendums and, what I would call, a fabricated majority support for statehood. As the author points out, a thorough look at the results, participation and circumstances surrounding those elections will cast a shadow of doubt on the narrative that holds them as evidence of majority support for statehood. In the other hand, I would add that there is not only a long history of corruption by the main statehood party, but also a history of mismanagement of public funds, bad government, and even worse austerity/neoliberal measures.
Lastly, there are real problems that statehood faces in Congress, since it was the same body that imposed a Fiscal Oversight and Management Board on Puerto Rico in a bipartisan effort to tackle PR’s massive debt. In those days, both Republicans and Democrats refused to bailout Puerto Rico. The issue of PR’s debt (and the existence of the FOMB) is one that must be addressed by the statehood movement.
Excelente manera de contextualizar la narrativa de lxs estadistas puertorriqueñxs. Especialmente el punto que detalle la corrupción, tiene mucho potencial para seguir dialogando el tema. Buen trabajo!
Viva Puerto Rico libre! Great post, Mr. Ortíz. I’m very pleased with the views presented. Hopefully next time we can see what work the PPD had done to settle up the status situation.
It’s sad that this party cannot hold a strong narrative that appeals to a lot of people on the island. The bad management of public funds have weakened the movement in congress. Also, it is interesting that even with this narrative they continue to win local elections and hold seats for many years. The have a big task up ahead.
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for this, Jowen.
I did not know that Puerto Rico has had issues with their statehood narrative due to low participation from voters. I think that this article summed up the issue in an easily understood way. I think that solidifying a single narrative to the people of Puerto Rico and to the US is necessary for gaining support moving forward.
Very interesting points. Much to think about.
Jowen, amazing! What you presented seems very…logical. I don’t know why the pro-statehood movement doesn’t understand this and works towards fixing it. Seems like they don’t what to enhance their strategy and continue to ridicule themselves in Congress all the while using “statehood” as a method to win local elections. Let’s see how much more the people of PR will continue to support them under the idea of statehood.
Also, let’s not forget that the US is a white power-controlled country. They will never accept a non-white community as “an equal”.
Thank you for bringing this to light, Jowen!
Fantastics and very well thought-out piece. It’s specific it the problems it finds in pro-statehood rhetoric and gives realistic potential solutions to some of those problems. It works excellently at putting the Island’s current situation into context as well.
¡Excelente artículo! Brinda información clara y especifica (directa al grano con lo que se debe conocer). En adición, los tres aspectos que señala el artículo sobre la narrativa a favor de la estadidad me parece que son de los más asertivos que he leído con relación a este debate. Felicidades.
This was very insightful! I had always heard the vote for Puerto Rican statehood defended because there was a technical popular democratic majority who voted in favor of statehood, but I never knew anything about the larger context behind the vote. This definitely has broadened my mindset and has made me think twice about the arguement.
Very well written and interesting article which leads me to think on another point that, although maybe not as alluring, I think it to be important and that is the lengths in efforts the pro-statehood movement have taken in vilifying other movements, especially independence. For years they’ve spun the web with these narratives mentioned, many times manipulating them to use as weapons against opposing movements instead of as you mentioned, addressing the flaws in their party and its members. A group that refuses to really address the countless problems they themselves have created and let fester for decades cannot seek for the support of the Puertorrican people or anyone else for that matter. Instead of facing themselves head on in order to create a platform with somewhat of a clear cut path to statehood and achieving some type of economic and social recovery for the island, they spin false narratives of their counter parts in order to weaken and disparage their efforts. Although a big part of politics is being able to show why your party or ideals should be chosen over the other and why those are the best choice to better help the people of your country, like the saying goes; desde que se inventaron las excusas nadie quiere ser culpable y hay mucho por lo que ser culpable.
Jowen gives a great assessment of the state of the statehood narrative in the island. Apart from explaining the three main factors in a direct and concrete way, he gives a detailed and broad approach to the topic. I find that many of themes selected truly encapsulated many of the problema that statehooders in the island do not acknowledges, specifically the support for it. Jowen gives a great context to the past few referendums which could be useful for anybody who is interested in the topic of Puerto Rico self determination.
Lastly this blog entry is well researched and unbiased. For people who believe in statehood or in independence can find this piece as a great source of information. I hope to read more from Jowen
Nicely laid out discussion that should be helpful to anyone who wants to gain a more nuanced perspective on the politics of PR statehood!
Fantastic insights into the political arena surrounding PR statehood, super article!!
Thank you for diving into this hotbed issue, Jowen. I think you could write a full academic paper on any one of these three issues, as there is so much history behind each one. For example, what are plebiscites and why do they seem to so important to Puerto Rican politics? Additionally, the third, opposing narrative was interesting. Do you think the immigration fight has or will bleed into the PR discussion? I feel like most bigoted politicians are grouping all Latin Americans in a dangerous way. How will this affect PR getting what it wants?
Great job in breaking down the existing gaps in the current statehood narrative. Regarding your recommendation in forming a cohesive narrative with a credible messenger. Do you think there are any political figures in Puerto Rico who have enough credibility in the US political apparatus to push for a certain narrative?
This is an incredibly important topic that is not given a platform in mainstream media. The fact that Puerto Rico is a US colony and is treated with complete disrespect counters many US master narratives. I’m from DC where we are also treated as second class citizens and not given representation in Congress. I think a topic you could dive into is the dual combo of American exceptionalism and white supremacy that has a lot to do with why PR is treated the way it is–in addition to the domestic political context. DC is a historically Black city which similarly contributed to its denial of equal representation. I’d also be interested to know how popular PR independence and liberation is on the island. There’s been a lot of powerful movements on the island and in the US pushing for independence and liberation including the Young Lords. It might worth looking into that for the final paper.