Almost 30 years ago, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Illinois) awoke in his living room in the middle of the night only to realize it was engulfed in flames. Someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail through his window, and it was all he could do to retrieve his wife and children from the modest house […]
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Puerto Rico: Statehood or Enhanced Partiarchy?
The above is a sequence of Puerto Rico governor Alejandro García Padilla answering questions during last week’s hearing at the Senate Committee of Energy and Natural Resources dedicated to resolving the territorial status of Puerto Rico. (Why that committee? Well Puerto Rico is not a state, nor a sovereign nation. It’s a “natural resource” of […]
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New Wave Conservative Labrador Gets Good PR
I’m not sure if you’ve wasted your time reading this press release about Tea Party bobo Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) in the Huffington Post, but if you did you might have wondered whether you were reading the arch-right Daily Caller instead. After all, it quotes word for word the same passage about el bravo Raúl fighting back against MSNBC’s effete […]
Read moreA New Deal for Puerto Rico?
Eduardo Bhatia, René Pérez, and Carmen Yulín Cruz backstage at Calle 13?s December 15th concert. (Eduardo Bhatia) Jan. 18, 2013 On Monday night’s inauguration in San Juan’s Parque Luis Muñoz Marín, new mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz rattled off slogans timed to her Twitter feed: “The University Will Be RESPECTED” she intoned, ensuring she will not […]
Read morePuerto Rico’s Simulated Self-Determination
The Puerto Rico Plebiscite That Wasn’t By ED MORALES Nov. 8, 2012 Puerto Ricans like to say that politics is the national sport, and who could argue with that? With a participation rate hovering near 80% and campaigning that features elaborate floats, loud music, and a carnival atmosphere, election day on the island comes off […]
Read morePuerto Rico Political Discourse Dictated by “La Comay”
La Comay is a female marionette assuming the role of middle-aged town gossip. But she is voiced by a comedian named Kobbo Santarrosa, who has built his show, Super Xclusivo, into the highest-rated program in Puerto Rico by mixing tabloid gossip, sensationalism and a speculative form of investigative nation into a highly influential source of the island territory’s political discourse.
Read moreRepublican Mob Shouts Down Puerto Rican Republican
UPDATE: El Nuevo Día has published a story that says that the outburst chronicled below was the tail end of a demonstration led by Ron Paul supporters over allowing the Maine delegation to sit. And if that’s the case, then the behavior I describe below may not be as boorish as I first suspected. But […]
Read moreNo Means No: A People’s Victory in Puerto Rico
All month long the people of Puerto Rico have been assaulted by a barrage of advertising on television, radio, and billboards urging them to vote for two constitutional amendments that would eliminate the absolute right to bail for the accused and decrease the size of the legislature by 30 per cent. They were told these […]
Read moreEddie Palmieri and the Future of Salsa
When you think of 75-year-old Eddie Palmieri, legendary Nuyorican pianist, you think about his classic salsa hits like “Azúcar,” “Justicia,” or “La Malanga.” Or maybe you remember his extensive series of Latin jazz recordings post-1980. But the enigmatic truth about Palmieri is that while he will deny being a salsero or a jazz musician, he is […]
Read morePhoto ID Laws the Real Reason for Invalidating PR Birth Certificates?
Perhaps you remember the mini-controversy engendered by the ridiculously unnecessary law enacted by Puerto Rico’s PNP government in 2010 that invalidated all Puerto Rican birth certificates and gave anyone born in Puerto Rico the burden of getting a new one at the cost of $5 a pop (excluding those on government assistance and senior citizens)? […]
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ED MORALES 