It is impossible to infallibly predict the future, even more so when predicting future political and economic development. A worldwide war, a violent earthquake and other similar natural tragic events can completely overturn the expected tide of anticipated political and economic development.

However, barring any human-provoked tragedy or one of nature’s violent events, the result of the 2012 plebiscite should provide a golden opportunity to reach our natural destiny as U.S. American citizens who have been disenfranchised and denied political and economic equality for the past 95 years. Never in our nation’s history has any group of U.S. citizens been so openly and outrageously denied the same rights and benefits guaranteed to all other U.S. citizens, as the U.S. American citizens of Puerto Rico. The excuse that past presidents, as well as our current president, Barack Obama, and many senators and representatives have always used is that the 3,750,000 U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico had never agreed to request statehood by a majority vote. They have always claimed that unless we ask for equality by a majority vote, we weren’t entitled to vote for our nation’s president, nor elect representatives and senators to represent us in our nation’s Congress. However, not only did they use the argument of a lack of consensus against us, but all presidents and a majority of senators and representatives have also failed, or refused to enact, any law offering us the right to vote in presidential elections and to be fully represented in Congress.

As a result, the failure of Congress to make such an offer has allowed many of those opposed to equality for U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico, including U.S. senators and representatives, to say that even if a majority voted for statehood in Puerto Rico, Congress wouldn’t grant us equality. Some have argued that a language barrier exists, or that our income level is less than half the income level of U.S. citizens in the poorest state, or that we would never be admitted because Congress would never accept a Hispanic territory as a state.

All these arguments and many more, have been used, and are still being used, to instill Puerto Ricans with a fear of rejection. This fear is strong enough to make many afraid to ask for statehood because they fear being rejected. They are told that if we are rejected, voters would naturally feel unwanted and then would demand independence.

Not only are the people of Puerto Rico lied to by demagogues, but they have been lied to by the nation’s ambassadors and spokespeople in the United Nations (U.N.), who together with Puerto Rico’s governor in 1952, also lied to the U.N. and the world, stating Puerto Rico had achieved full self-government upon adopting our local constitution in 1952. That isn’t true. Puerto Rico doesn’t have full self-government. We are subject to Congress’ authority under the territorial clause of the U.S. Constitution, which means Congress has full power and jurisdiction over Puerto Rico.

We aren’t «a fully self-governing commonwealth» as the U.N. has been led to believe. Upon changing our official name from «territory of the U.S.» to «the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,» we didn’t achieve any more power or control of government affairs than we had as a territory. In the «Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,» the supreme law of the land is the U.S. Constitution; next in line are federal laws, which prevail over Puerto Rico’s Constitution and our local laws. We are subject to all federal taxation laws, unless specifically excluded; we are subject to the federal minimum wage, laws regulating unfair labor practices, commerce, healthcare, banking, transportation, communications, criminal acts and many others enacted by Congress without our consent, yet they are fully applicable in Puerto Rico.

Since 1899, we have been, and still are being, governed by the president and the U.S. Congress. Before 1952, we were a colony by conquest, as a result of the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1952, the U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico were enticed and led to vote to become a colony by consent. By voting for «Commonwealth,» the people consented to the colonial relationship. The consent was obtained by misleading the people into believing we were becoming a fully autonomous body politic.

The «Commonwealth» supporters, who have continuously lied and misled our people, now demand «consensus» in the decolonization process. They demand «consensus» because they know «consensus» will never be achieved, because «Commonwealth» supporters will never agree to a true and clear definition of the legal, political and economic relationship between the 3,750,000 U.S. American citizens in Puerto Rico and our fellow citizens in the 50 states. If they refuse to tell the people the truth, a «consensus» will never be achieved.

If Lincoln had asked for a «consensus» between those who demanded the emancipation of slaves and those who defended slavery, he would have never signed the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, and the history of our nation would be very different from what it is. Most probably, Obama wouldn’t be our president today.

If the president and Congress had sought «consensus» with all the southern states before the civil and voting rights acts were enacted, would they have been considered and enacted when they were? Of course not. They were passed because it was the right thing to do in our democracy, where «all men are created equal,» and because the majority ruled, as it should be, in a democracy.

Now, a plebiscite has been held that followed the guidelines and suggestions of the White House Task Force that was appointed by the president. As you may know, the plebiscite had two parts. The first part was a «Yes» or «No» answer to the question about whether we wanted to remain under the present territorial relationship with the nation. The result was a clear majority, or 54%, who voted «No» versus 46% who voted «Yes.»

The second part was an offer of three nonterritorial status options: statehood, independence or sovereign Commonwealth (i.e. an associated republic). The vote was 61.11% for statehood, which also had more votes than the «Yes» vote for the existing «commonwealth» status in the first question. The 61.11% majority support for statehood is a first, which is without a doubt a solid and clear majority.

By all political and fairness standards, the 2012 plebiscite was very fair to all status options. It even went so far as to include the free associated republic option as a separate option from independence, and with a much more politically attractive name. In addition, many more people voted in the 2012 plebiscite, in both parts, than in any other previous plebiscite, including the referendum on the Commonwealth Constitution.

If we want to achieve political and economic equality during President Barack Obama’s second term, we can. However, the New Progressive Party has to put personal ambitions aside, and concentrate on unifying efforts and dedicating our time to raising the money for an all-out campaign in the mainland U.S., establishing a strategy agreed to with as much participation of our leaders and committed statehooders as possible. We must convince the president, Senate and House leadership, as well as Latinos, African- Americans, women and other minority groups, to help us in our struggle for equality. We can do it, if we put our minds and hearts into it.

Carlos Romero Barceló is a two-term former governor of Puerto Rico (1977-84), a two-term former resident commissioner (1993-2000) and a two-term former mayor of San Juan (1969-78). He was president of the New Progressive Party for 11 years. He is now a consultant involved in real estate, doing business as CRB Realty. His email address is rbarcelo@prtc.net. Comments on this article are welcome at caribbeanbusiness.pr. Go to the «Sign in» link on the homepage to participate. Emails also may be sent to column@caribbeanbusiness.pr.