To say that Puerto Rico is beautiful is an understatement. We’re known as a highly acclaimed tourist destination, our national rainforest has been helmed as one of the marvels of the world, and even Buzzfeed extols the virtues of our local cuisine.
It is an island that I am profoundly proud of to call home. I grew up amongst its crystal-clear beaches, the bright green hills of El Morro, the colorful and historic streets of the capital. It is always and forever my home, and it is a sentiment that is echoed by our art, our literature, and our people. We puertoricans are profoundly proud of where we’re from, as we are fiercely patriotic and enamored of our small but beloved island.
Yet sadly, amidst the beauty, our island is plagued by the deep remnants of colonialism and economic strife. Despite being American citizens, we are unable to vote in presidential elections, and have only symbolic power in congress. We have little control over our trade, and as a result, are forced to pay higher taxes for imported goods that lead to a high cost of living, which is devastating to the more than 45% of the population that lives under the poverty line. We are currently enduring one of the largest exodus’s from the island in history. Thousands of people, unable to find a way to support themselves or their families, are leaving Puerto Rico for the mainland U.S.
As Hamilton director Lin Manuel Miranda put it in his recent declaration to congress, the only ones who remain on the island are those who cannot afford to move elsewhere.
To compound this, we face one of the most brutal economic crises in history. We are faced with a whopping 72 billion dollar debt, a crisis that has even garnered the attention of politicians like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and others. The following article explains the situation better than I can but essentially, it boils down to this: Wall Street investors hold a majority of Puerto Rico’s debt (and the well being of 3.5 million people) in its hands.
While the governor and other public officials have repeatedly declared that the debt is unpayable, and have begged for the option to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy, predatory Wall Street investors have urged the government to pay the debt, even when paying said debt requires cutting public funding for our schools, our public health system, and our social safety nets. While the people of Puerto Rico legitimately cannot continue to endure the strain on our wallets and our resources, the President and congress has failed to address this crisis with the compassion and urgency necessary, and have left us at the mercy of these investors. Recently, congress has proposed a “solution” to our current crisis that strips the local government of any real autonomy, will likely lead to major cuts in public services, and fails to address the root causes of the situation.
I write this column with the following intention: to motivate people to care about what is going on in this tiny little island I was fortunate enough to call home. People need to understand the monumental importance of this crisis. We need the public to urge congress to pass realistic, compassionate measures that will allow us to restructure our debt and create jobs for the general population. We need college students to become engaged, write to their congressmen, vote for politicians, hold public dialogues, protest, and essentially motivate public leaders to understand the problems our island is faced with. We need people to leave their self-imposed “bubbles” and CARE about what is happening to the more than 3.5 million citizens in Puerto Rico.
I write this as a puertorican who is deeply pained by what I see happening to my beloved island from the confines of D.C. I write this as a feminist who believes that the feminist label is meaningless if it does not galvanize others to take action and stand with the marginalized. I write this as a Notre Dame student who believes that Catholic social teaching shouldn’t just be something you learn at the Center for Social Concerns, but should be a creed that motivates you to care for the livelihood and political future of an entire population of American citizens who experience the pernicious effects of colonialism and poverty. I write this as a person who believes that the size of my island should not dictate the amount of attention or media coverage it receives. I write this as a person who deeply, irrevocably cares about the tiny piece of land where I was raised, where I was educated, where I became the person who I am today. Pay attention. Now.
Puerto Rico is more than a spring break destination. It is an island that has a rich, complex culture and a unique relationship to the U.S. Its is an island where the voices of its citizens deserves to be heard, and where our problems and our presence cannot continue to be ignored.
Follow HCND on Twitter, like us on Facebook, Pin with us and show our Instagram some love!