Politicians from the PPD and PNP request meetings with Raúl Grijalva and the group that will accompany him to Puerto Rico to discuss the draft for the plebiscite endorsed by the US Congress.

By José A. Delgado

Legislative leaders from Puerto Rico have demanded to meet with the group of congressmen, led by Raúl Grijalva (Arizona), who will be in San Juan this week to discuss the draft legislation that proposes a federal plebiscite in Puerto Rico between statehood, independence and free association.

On the one hand, the president of the House of Representatives, Rafael “Tatito” Hernández Montañez, has questioned the alleged decision of the Democratic chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources to limit this week’s meetings in San Juan with political groups to the directors of the registered parties, and not necessarily include the caucuses of the Puerto Rico Legislature.

Meanwhile, the delegation of the New Progressive Party (PNP) of the Senate has requested a meeting with Grijalva, which suggests that they may also be outside the calendar scheduled by the Natural Resources Committee.

Grijalva announced that he will arrive in San Juan on Thursday to discuss the draft legislation announced last 19 in May in a series of meetings on Friday with the directors of the political parties and a public forum on Saturday to listen to organizations and the general public.

Along with Grijalva will be, at least, the Democratic congresswomen Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Puerto Ricans elected by New York districts, and the Resident Commissioner in Washington, Jenniffer González, so far the only Republican who has supported the bill.

Hernández Montañez – who has opposed the new proposal after supporting the project 2070 of Velázquez and Ocasio Cortez, who sought to start the process with a Status Convention, criticized the fact that the call for the federal plebiscite may be wanted to go above the Puerto Rico Legislature. He called attention to the diversity that exists within the parties represented in the Legislature, where his Popular Democratic Party (PPD) has a fragile majority.

“If they are only going to meet with the political institutions, they are truly out of touch with what is happening in Puerto Rico. They must meet with those who have the votes in the Legislature,” said Hernández Montañez, indicating that he knows that the group is going to meet with the president of the Senate, José Luis Dalmau Santiago, but in his capacity as president of the PPD.

When the draft legislation was presented last 19 in May, the leader of the Democratic majority of the federal lower house, Steny Hoyer (Maryland), said that Governor Pedro Pierluisi will have to deal with the political division in the Legislature.

But, Pierluisi, president of the PNP, intervened to argue that the proposed measure would be self-executing and would not require action by the Puerto Rico Legislature to regulate the tasks of the State Elections Commission (CEE).

Although the debate on the political future of Puerto Rico is not on the agenda of the United States Senate, Hernández Montañez insisted that he will go to the courts to advocate the in inclusion of a Commonwealth option if the current territorial status is excluded from the ballot of a potential plebiscite and/or if an attempt is made to override the Legislature of Puerto Rico.

For its part , the PNP delegation in the Senate, in a letter to Grijalva, also demanded an opportunity to discuss the bill.

In a press release, the 11 PNP senators, led by Thomas Rivera Schatz, affirmed that although they are enthusiastic about the legislation, “it is important that our delegation receives an opportunity to sit down and discuss the many positive aspects that we understand this project represents, as well as to take time to explain some of our recommendations to do it better”.

Pierluisi, Commissioner González, Vice President of the PNP, and the community board itself have already endorsed the draft legislation without asking for changes.

The general secretary of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), former senator Juan Dalmau, for his part, said that the meeting of his community with the group headed by Grijalva is planned for Friday at the venue of your party.

At the meeting, Dalmau will be accompanied by the president of the PIP, former senator Rubén Berríos Martínez, and the constitutionalist Carlos Gorrín Peralta, professor at the Law School of the Inter-American University.

“The draft bill presented in Congress on the status of Puerto Rico is an important step because it means that the United States, which had already stated that Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory, subject to the plenary powers of Congress, that is, a colony according to international law, now it says that it should stop being one”, Dalmau said.

The draft legislation that the leadership of the House of R Representatives of the United States propose a plebiscite between statehood, independence and free association for November 5, 50. If no alternative obtains 50% plus 1 of the votes, there would be a second round on March 3, 2023.

According to the proposal, statehood, if the referendum is won, could be proclaimed by the president of the United States in just one year, without detailing the fiscal complications of the transition, which, according to sources in Congress, would depend on other laws.

But the draft legislation alludes to a transition process for independence and free association, by which free transit is guaranteed between both countries and the same federal subsidies that now they are received – albeit in a block assignment – for a whole decade. In the case of independence, free transit between the two countries would last for 25 years.

The federal grants under independence and free association would be reduced annually by 10% beginning in the year 11.

By means of the first pact of free association, the children of two US parents could practically automatically gain US citizenship.

However, Hoyer, Velázquez and Ocasio Cortez have stressed that the intention is to guarantee US citizenship to those born on the island during the first free association pact, the term of which will be subject to negotiation. Congresswoman Velázquez has also indicated that they will seek to “make clearer” the language on access to citizenship under free association.