Thursday, November 4, 1993
Puerto Ricans decide their fate
by Reagan Warner
Collegian Staff
On November 14, the citizens
of Puerto Rico will vote on a
plebiscite.
The plebiscite is the
referendum in which Puerto
Ricans are asked to vote between
three political status alternatives:
statehood, independence or
remaining a commonwealth.
This is not a new subject for
Puerto Rico. Since 1898, Puerto
Rico and the United States have
been addressing the issue of
political status. This will be the
second time that the issue has
been voted on. The first time
was in 1967.
For the Puerto Rican students
at Behrend, this is an issue of
great concern.
Julio Lergier, president of the
Organization of Latin American
Students (OLAS) believes it is
important for Puerto Rico to
decide now.
“The choice is critical for
Puerto Rico’s future,” Lergier
said. “We have to be careful
what we choose because it will
have a great influence later.”
Marcos Lopez, vice president
of the Lion Ambassadors, agrees
that the time has come for a
definite answer from both Puerto
Rico and the U.S.A.
“I feel it’s time that the Puerto
Rican people express, once and
for all, their choice of political
status, and that this be acted upon
by Congress,” Lopez said.
Donnie Sasso, treasurer of
OLAS, feels that the majority of
★★★★Political strategists debate Clinton's progress★★★★
by Hal D. Coffey
Nem Editor
and Kristin Wasilewski
Collegian Staff
Two of the country’s most
sought-after political strategists
came to Behrend on Wednesday
to debate President Bill
Clinton’s progress so far.
Ed Rollins and Bob Beckel
held their debate in Erie Hall at 8
p.m. last night on the topic
The Clinton Report Card."
At a pre-debate press
conference and dinner, the two
men spoke about their opinions
on everything from political
parties to crime, to recent
elections.
One of the biggest topics of
interest for the debaters was the
significance of the recent
elections.
Beckel saw them as
surprisingly important.
“This was a very significant
off-year election,” Beckel said.
“People say it was a referendum
on Clinton. I don’t agree with
that, but it was not a good day
for the Democrats.”
Rollins believes the elections
were a reversal of past results.
the population is looking for
improvement.
“People right now in Puerto
Rico want to vote towards a
better future which they can hold
on to the old ways that they
have, while searching for new and
better ways to reform their
government and economy,” Sasso
said.
The polls are showing that
statehood holds a slight
advantage.
Because of the likelihood of the
statehood referendum, Sasso has
mixed feelings toward the
possibility of its success.
“By becoming a state, Puerto
Rico would improve
economically and educationally,
but those things which Puerto
Rico is proud of would be taken
away,” Sasso said. “Things like
the flag, Olympic team, and
maybe the language and culture.”
Lergier sees a positive
economic result from statehood.
‘Tourism will increase, as well
as the chance that more
companies or investors will look
for opportunities in Puerto
Rico,” Lergier said.
Along with the positive aspect,
Lergier sees a negative one as
well.
There is a law known as the
936 of the International Revenue
Code. This code exempts U.S.
companies from federal tax on
Puerto Rican operations. The tax
break has been partially
responsible for the island's
growth because it attracts major
companies like pharmaceutical
firms and Hewlett Packard.
“Everything I have learned in
my 32 years of political work
has been blown away by these
last two election years,” Rollins
said.
Rollins and Beckel agree that
the voters are targeting their
unhappiness at incumbents.
“The electorate is unhappy
with the status quo,” Rollins
said. “Normally an incumbent
is the safest job in America, but
not in today’s elections.”
After making general
comments, they started talking
about results from Tuesday’s
elections.
The first stop was the New
York City mayoral race in which
incumbent David Dinkins,
democrat, was defeated by the
man he beat out to win the
position of mayor four years
ago, republican Rudolph
Giuliani.
Rollins explained this result
emerged from the voters' anger
and the issue of race.
“Giuliani was voted in by
angry voters, but the underlining
principle was probably race.”
Beckel cited the results of
several exit polls as the
"Because of 936, we have
industry," Lergier said.
An article in Fortune Magazine
stated if Puerto Rico becomes a
state, nearly 100,000 jobs will be
lost along with three-fourths of
U.S. investor's companies.
Another option in the
referendum is to remain a
commonwealth.
Ramsey Baerga, vice president
of OLAS, believes a lot of
people are voting on past ideas
which won’t help.
“The first governor of Puerto
Rico made the association with
the U.S. which helped the
commonwealth,” Baerga said.
“But even before he died, he knew
significant factor.
“Exit polls showed that 50
percent of the voters said they
would move out of the city if
they had the ability to. That,
along with a poorly executed
past four years, helped Giuliani
to win.”
The next regional issue was
from the California referendum
that would provide $2,600
vouchers toward private school
tuition.
Supporters argued that the
vouchers would reform and
improve education by making all
schools—public and private—
compete for students.
Proposition 174, as it was
listed, was voted down.
Rollins said the legislation
failed due to a lot of holes in its
purpose statement.
“Even through a $lO million
media campaign, the teachers’
union was unable to fill the gaps
in the legislation,” Rollins said.
Beckel stated that California
voters are not quick to vote for
legislation which has little
concrete wording.
The final current election
discussed was the New Jersey
there would be this time for a
change.”
Baerga said that the parties are
not only fighting for their issues,
but also their political lives.
Lopez, a political science
major, believes a benefit of this
option is the maintaining of their
Olympic representation.
However, he said that there would
still be no political equality, an
undefined ambiguous status, and
they would remain "second-class
citizens.”
The final option is total
independence. Lopez believes
there are several favorable reasons
for independence.
"This way, Puerto Rico would
gubernatorial upset in which
democratic incumbent Jim
Florio was defeated by
republican Christine Todd
Whitman.
Rollins had a special interest
in the victory because he joined
the campaign as the director.
He can be accredited with
bringing the campaign back
from a 21 point deficit during
the summer.
After managing H. Ross
Perot's presidential campaign for
45 days last year, Rollins said he
was pleased to join a more
positive campaign.
He does not speak too highly
of Perot.
“He was a great salesman, but
not a good political leader. He
just doesn’t have the
temperament to work within a
system, something he had to do
if he really wanted to be
president”
Rollins said once Perot
realized he might win, he backed
off a little.
“He stayed in the game only
because he liked the attention,”
Rollins said. “Political people
want to be loved. He wanted to
definitely have Olympic
representation, achieve full
political sovereignty, and total
preservation of their culture,”
Lopez said.
Even if Puerto Rico approves
statehood, the U.S. Congress
must still vote on it.
"The November 14th
referendum has no binding
implications on the United States
Congress," Lopez said. "It is
merely a vote to pressure
Congress to act promptly on this
matter."
"The main reason the issue is
still unresolved is because of the
differences between the U.S.
House and Senate on how to
approach this issue," Lopez said.
be obeyed.”
An example of Perot’s lack of
political desire was his
reluctance to read 600 page
reports, Rollins said. Instead he
wanted a short, two-page memo
summary.
The man who defeated Perot
now has an enormous problem
on the horizon, the North
American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA).
Rollins believes that the
Republicans will stop the
legislation from passing.
“In the end, the Republicans
may pull the rug out from under
NAFTA. After that, we won’t
have good relations with Mexico
and other Latin American
countries for years to come,”
Rollins said.
Beckel said incumbents are
trying to avoid controversial
topics like NAFTA because they
are scared.
“Incumbents are scared that
this kind of issue can defeat
them,” Beckel said.
Both men see the future of
politics as an ever-changing
world in which the rules will
change like no other time in our
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