Harris-Walz Must Dismantle Colonialism in Puerto Rico

Opinion for The Latino Newsletter

Dear Vice President Harris and Governor Walz, 

We join in the historic moment of your candidacies and are looking forward to the opportunity to work together towards a brighter future. It is especially meaningful for us to see a daughter of the Caribbean and South Asia, and a son of the Midwest uniting to inspire people of all walks of life in this country who are hungry for a new beginning, and what this moment could mean for Puerto  Rico.

In this spirit, we come together to share our vision of a more respectful and just relationship between the people of the United States and the Puerto Rican people, based on partnership, not colonialism. 

Puerto Ricans are the second-largest Latino national origin group in the United States, with a strong presence across states like Pennsylvania, Florida, Minnesota, California, and others. We are deeply troubled by the precarious future our people face here and in our beloved Caribbean homeland, and are expecting action from the next Administration to improve our economic and  social conditions.

We urge you to develop a concrete action plan on Puerto Rico, remove some polarizing language from the Democratic Party platform regarding the island, and commit to working with diaspora voters to enact this plan once in office. 

Your candidacies for President and Vice President represent a pivotal moment for advancing justice and human rights. As leaders, activists, and organizers of the 6 million-strong Puerto  Rican diaspora, we call on you to seize this historic opportunity to present a plan that addresses systemic injustices rooted in colonialism. This plan must end 126 years of colonial rule over Caribbean and Pacific Island nations—a reality that contradicts the very principles of democracy and human rights your campaign stands for. 

Now is the time for decisive action.

Nine million Puerto Ricans, in the island and diaspora, are counting on your leadership to support us in charting a new course: one that upholds democratic values, dismantles colonial structures, and paves the way for our communities to thrive under a  political status that we should determine.

This requires that we act together in championing full  transparency in a decolonization process, dismantling the unelected fiscal control board suffocating Puerto Rico, and ending the exploitation of our island by tax-dodging Americans. Additionally, we call for a firm commitment to ensuring food sovereignty and a just transition to the SNAP program for residents of Puerto Rico. While many other issues related to Puerto Rico will require your attention, addressing the long-standing structural barriers currently crippling democracy in our island-nation will allow Puerto Ricans to take greater control of a more prosperous and democratic future.  

Decolonize U.S. Territories: A Matter of Justice and Human Rights

The next Administration faces a critical decision: will this nation finally end 126 years of control over the lives of Puerto Ricans and the people of other Caribbean and Pacific Island U.S. colonies? Will it do so on the democratic pillars of fairness and transparency? The Puerto Rico Status Act (H.R. 2757 and S. 3231), endorsed in the current draft Democratic Party Platform, fails this test. The legislation in question claims to address this long-standing injustice, yet it upholds the colonial structures it pretends to dismantle. By remaining silent on fundamental questions, this bill puts Puerto Ricans on the path of making an irrevocable decision without crucial information and will only self-fulfill the continuation of the colonial status quo.  

Before our people cast a binding vote on their future, these critical questions must be explicitly addressed in any legislation claiming to decolonize: 

• Arizona Precedent: If Puerto Ricans vote for statehood, will the controlling language of schools, courts, and government operations remain to be Spanish, or will Puerto Rico be forced to follow the Arizona precedent and operate in English, as is done in the 50 states?

• Taxes and Debt: If statehood is chosen, will Puerto Ricans face a 70% tax rate? How will Puerto Rico avoid massive layoffs and still pay off its restructured $72 billion debt? 

• Representation Without Taxation: Will individuals exploiting Act 22 continue to be allowed to evade federal taxes and have a say in the final resolution for decolonizing our  island? Meanwhile, will Hurricane María evacuees —whose displacement was not their  choice— be barred from participating in the final decision?

• Olympic Representation: Under statehood, will Puerto Rico retain its own Olympic representation, or will it be expected to comply with U.S. law like the 50 states?

• Ted Cruz Precedent: If independence is chosen, why would Congress deny equal protection for the children of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico? How does it not violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution to bar natural-born citizens from passing on their U.S. citizenship to their children under a new Puerto Rican republic? 

Withholding all this crucial information from Puerto Rican voters would perpetuate colonial treatment and would be profoundly anti-democratic. The U.S. would condemn such a process of  incomplete information as flagrantly undemocratic if any other nation imposed it elsewhere. 

Vice President Harris, when you were elected as the first woman to hold that office, you said:  “...democracy is not guaranteed. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.” Puerto Ricans need you to fight to uphold these ideals and finally rid this nation of the stain of colonial governance in the 21st Century.

We ask you to remove the endorsement of the Puerto Rico Status Act from the draft Democratic Party Platform and commit to working in a bilateral fashion with a democratically elected constitutional status assembly in Puerto Rico.  

Abolish the Fiscal Control Board 

Congress dismantled Puerto Rico’s already limited self-government by enacting the 2016 PROMESA law, imposing a Fiscal Control Board, known in Puerto Rico as “La Junta.” This unelected board, rife with conflicts of interest and propelling excessive austerity measures, has devastated our economy, overruled the island’s elected representatives, and trampled on the democratic ideal of self-rule. 

We highly commend Governor Walz for standing against this undemocratic overreach during his tenure in Congress. Now, we have the opportunity for the next Administration to take bold, decisive action to abolish this undemocratic board. Puerto Rico deserves the restoration of its dignity, autonomy, and the right to shape our own future without the suffocating grip of “La Junta.”

It is long overdue. 

You can break this cycle of injustice with courageous and visionary presidential leadership. Your victory in November can end the U.S. practice of holding hostage Puerto Rico’s status, economy, and  future. The Harris-Walz Administration has the opportunity to be a true partner in charting a new direction while supporting Puerto Rico’s journey to freedom.

We urge you to lead with transparency and a steadfast commitment to decolonization, to dismantle the  fiscal control board, and to tackle the structural economic barriers that have stifled Puerto Rico’s prosperity for far too long.

Under your leadership, we can unite, fight, and triumph in a way that truly serves the Puerto Rican people, and that is consistent with the highest American ideals of liberty and freedom. 

The time for a concrete action plan is now. We are committed to working alongside you to build  back a brighter future for Puerto Rico. 

Sincerely, 

The Power 4 Puerto Rico Coalition 

P.S. Colonialism is weird.

Additional Co-Signers

• Alianza for Progress – Florida

• Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora (BUDPR) 

• CASA in Action  

• Colectividad Puertorriqueña de Houston – Texas  

• La Mesa Boricua – Florida  

• La Tejedora – Puerto Rico 

• Puerto Rican Cultural Center – Illinois  

• Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega, Minnesota State Representative (D-65B Saint Paul)

• Chicago, IL Alderperson Jessie Fuentes 

• Cook County, IL Commissioner Anthony Quezada 

• South Carolina Democratic Party Second Vice Chair Mayra Rivera

• Florida State Representative Johanna López 

• St. Louis, MO Alderperson Daniela Velázquez 

• Former Philadelphia City Councilperson María Quiñones

• Former New York, NY City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito

• Former Laconia, NH Democratic Committee Chair Carlos Cardona

• Adriana Rivera, Community Leader, Florida 

• Eliseo Santana, Community Leader, Florida

• El Otro Puerto Rico

About the Authors

Power 4 Puerto Rico is a national coalition of the Puerto Rican diaspora and allies working full-time and year-round for federal policies and legislation that will support Puerto Rico’s just recovery, economic growth, and self-sufficiency.

_{The Latino Newsletter welcomes opinion pieces in English and/or Spanish from community voices. You can email them to our publisher, Julio Ricardo Varela. The views expressed by outside opinion contributors do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of this outlet.}