Colonial Oppression of Puerto Rico: Exploitation and Unincorporated Territory Status - Essay Sample

Introduction

Colonialism is the practice of a powerful nation taking control over a less powerful nation's political, defense and economic aspects. Since the Spanish and later the Americans colonized Puerto Rico the island has remained oppressed with the colonizers all wanting to exploit the region economically and later doing so until now. The unincorporated territory status of Puerto Rico has not in any way improved Puerto Ricans lives but has continually undermined their existence to the extent that the Congress has full control over the island. The relationship between the USA and Puerto Rico is a strained one with the USA putting in place prohibitive legislation such as PROMESA (Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act) against Puerto Ricans who are treated as unfit to acquire an American statehood.

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Puerto Rico is an island located in the Caribbean region which was colonized by Spain from between 1500 -1900. But a decline in Spain's world colonial power in the late 1800s resulted in anti-colonial forces demanding autonomy in 1897. The United States also realized Spain's weakens and challenged Spain's dominance in the region through a war which resulted in the USA acquiring control over Philippines, Cuba, Guam and Puerto Rico which was affirmed in a treaty signed in Paris in 1898. The main motivation for the USA was to benefit economically from Puerto Rico at the expense of its citizens. (Caban, 2018)

They first introduced sugarcane which served as the backbone for the economy. Later on in the 1950s, the Americans introduced "Operation Bootstrap", which encouraged light industry. Most American firms were attracted to the island due to its cheap labor and favorable tax laws. In the 1960s more developments in the manufacturing sector were made whereby the Americans built pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Even with this industrialization, many Puerto Ricans were compelled to move to the United States of America to look for jobs, since industrialization did not provide enough jobs. (Susler, 2000)

The relationship between the USA and Puerto Rico is that the latter is an unincorporated territory of the USA which is separate from the mainland but is controlled by the USA. Puerto Ricans are American citizens by birth and they are free to travel between the island and the mainland. But they don't have voting power in the Congress and thus they can only vote in the primaries but not for the USA president. Moreover, due to Puerto Rico unincorporated territorial status, the United States of America constitution grants the country congress full control and thus its policies override all the local laws in all aspects of governance. (Caban, 2018)

The strategic location of Puerto Rico at the Caribbean island gave the USA direct sea access to the Middle East and Africa. Also, the island has vast natural resources such as copper and offshore oil. The island is well positioned for military attacks against Central America and other Caribbean islands. For instance, the attack on Grenada was propelled from Puerto Rico. In fact, 13% of Puerto Rico arable land is owned by the USA military base, i.e. Roosevelt Roads the largest naval base in the western hemisphere (Susler, 2000). Yet Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory has no military of its own but the residents continue to serve in the America army.

Currently, the United States regards Puerto Rico as a commonwealth and the relationship between Puerto Rico and the USA is tense with both governments giving different numbers on the number of death casualties arising from hurricane Maria. Most Puerto Ricans blame both the federal and local governments for poor response in providing relief to victims of hurricane Maria. The united states have continually "undermined the altitude of Puerto Ricans towards their heritage and culture and view the colonized people as inferior and dependent on the colonizer" ( Rodriguez-Diaz, 2018). Also, the American Congress blames Puerto Rico's political divisions and unclear referendum results for its hesitation to decolonize the island, even though the slow response has made some Puerto Rican view the current relationship as a stable option that provides a balance of sovereignty and support" (Rodriguez-Diaz, 2018).

As a colony, Puerto Rico has the responsibility of contributing funds to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and therefore it depends on the agency support in the event an emergency arises. Nevertheless, the damages arising from Hurricane Maria uncovers the colonial legislation that restricts what actions Puerto Rico can undertake to respond to disasters. For instance, a law like the Jones act founded that ports of Puerto Rico are under USA control. The act also limits vessels from other countries from trading with Puerto Ricans. This makes commodities coming to the island to be more expensive than they are in the United States of America. (Rodriguez-Diaz, 2018)

Likewise in an attempt to solve economic problems, PROMESA was introduced in Puerto Rico by the Congress in 2016. It is a financial oversight board responsible for changing Puerto Rico's debt and review the island spending. It also restricts the response to emergencies by limiting what amount of resources that the government Puerto Rico can raise to deal with crises such as the hurricanes that struck the island in 2017 (Caban, 2018). The main aim of PROMESA was to look for ways to exploit resources from the island. The island has a huge financial debt which has worsened the economy since it has made it difficult for the government to respond to disasters. Even though the government has put in place policies such as increasing taxes and reducing public spending to enhance debt repayment, the deep financial crises made it hard for Puerto Ricans to be responsive to disasters and their aftermaths.

In September 2017 Puerto Rico was hit by hurricane Maria (category-5 hurricane) which caused catastrophic damage of infrastructure such as houses, roads, caused electrical blackouts and also resulted in various deaths. Damages to key infrastructure resulted in delayed responses, to the extent that even after supplies arrived they remained at the port without a proper way to be distributed (Rodriguez-Diaz, 2018). The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was not well prepared to counter a major disaster like a hurricane due to lack of plans on how to store enough supplies such as food and fresh water and how to transport relief to the Puerto Rico island in the event a catastrophe occurred. Also, FEMA was understaffed and those available were not qualified to deal with a disaster of such magnitude. Thus FEMA had to look for people from other government agencies to assist it in providing aid such as drinking water, foodstuffs, and hotels room after the storm.

The destruction caused by Hurricane Maria will definitely cost a lot of money for rebuilding schools, hospitals, roads and restoring electricity connectivity. Also, the government needs to preplan for catastrophes so that they will be more efficient in dealing with future disasters. The geographical position of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean coupled with its prolonged financial and public health crisis makes it vulnerable to catastrophes such as hurricanes and other disasters.

Also emerging from the hurricane aftermath is the role played by Puerto Ricans living in the Diaspora who played a great role in contributing and delivering relief to those in the island. Social media was used as a platform to share Puerto Ricans readiness to provide aid and also to pressurize leaders and the media which assisted to realize emergency response (Rodriguez-Diaz, 2018). Community-based actions were crucial in reestablishing passage into neighborhoods and thereby saving lives. The greatest challenge after hurricane Maria struck was the period it took both local and federal governments to access remote areas of Puerto Rico. Even reports from media platforms showed communities coming together to help the elderly in getting clean drinking water and removing wreckages from roads.

The FEMA report emphasizes how badly prepared the agency was to address disasters outside the United States of America like a how hurricane Maria was dealt with by the trump administration. But with the advancement in meteorological science, the government can be able to forecast weather trends which will make communities pre-prepared in the event another disaster in the future, such as another hurricane (Rodriguez-Diaz, 2018) Both the federal and local government needs to stock the warehouses in Puerto Rico with sufficient foods, clean drinking water, and other relief supplies with long shelf life, to effectively manage crises in the future.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the USA needs to take full responsibility of its neocolonialism in Puerto Rico and grant the island full autonomy or in turn make Puerto Rico one of its states, considering that Americans have benefited both economically and military wise for more than a century from Puerto Rico.

References

Caban, P. (2018). PROMESA, Puerto Rico and the American Empire. Latino Studies, 16(2), 161-184. doi:10.1057/s41276-018-0125-z

Rodriguez-Diaz, C. E. (2018). Maria in Puerto Rico: Natural Disaster in a Colonial Archipelago. American Journal of Public Health, 108(1), 30-32. doi:10.2105/ajph.2017.304198

Susler, J. (2000). Puerto Rican Political Prisoners. Radical Philosophy Review, 3(1), 28-40. doi:10.5840/radphilrev2000314