PUERTO RICO INCHES TOWARD SELFDETERMINATION.

• Author: Bazail-Eimil, Eric
• Position: POLITICS

REP. RAUL GRIJALVA (D-Ariz.), chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, was pissed.

The prominent progressive had just left a July 26 committee meeting on the Puerto Rico Status Act, a legislative compromise negotiated by the territory's nonvoting House member, Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon of the New Progressive Party (PNP). The bill would allow Puerto Rico to conduct a binding referendum on the island's status.

It was supposed to be a momentous day for Grijalva, a longtime supporter of Puerto Rican statehood. Instead, he and the bill's other backers were handed a surprising defeat. Although Grijalva's committee had approved the bill earlier that week, it was stalled by amendments, keeping it from advancing before the end of the summer session. His fellow progressives were to blame.

Reps. Chuy Garcia (D-lll.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) joined Republicans on the committee to keep the bill from reaching the House floor. "Puerto Ricans deserve a formal and accessible legislative hearing on a bill of such importance wherein members of the Puerto Rican community and interested stakeholders have an opportunity to contribute their perspectives," Garcia tweeted after the markup, echoing the demands of some diaspora activists for a longer legislative runway leading to a vote for self-determination.

With the recess approaching, Grijalva worried that the delay would kill the bill's momentum, leaving Puerto Rico's status unchanged and critical issues affecting the island unresolved. "This isn't about process." he told Pablo Manriquez, a reporter for the digital media outlet Latino Rebels. "It's about protecting the status quo."

Months later, nothing had changed, and the situation on the island remained troubling. Despite its attractively low tax rate, Puerto Rico has struggled under its current leadership, and its relationship with the federal government has deteriorated. Five years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, the commonwealth's government is still working to rebuild and to pay off its overwhelming public debt. Officials at all levels of Puerto Rico's government are facing corruption charges amid a massive federal crackdown.

For many, the territory's challenges have only reinforced its second-class status. "At this point, it is pretty much a fact that Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States," says Joaquin Villanueva, a geography professor at Gustavus Adolphus College and the author of a forthcoming book on Puerto Rico's...