WASHINGTON –  Para el comisionado residente en Washington, Pedro Pierluisi, el gobernador Alejandro García Padilla “no puede gastar fondos públicos para desmentir, disputar, menospreciar o ignorar lo que el pueblo expresó en el plebiscito” de status de 2012.

Aunque reconoce que el gobernador García Padilla tiene derecho a “la libre expresión”, “no puede gastar ni un peso para echar hacia atrás el resultado del plebiscito”.

A raíz de la contratación por parte del gobernador de la empresa de cabildeo del republicano Charlie Black, Prime Policy Group – a un costo de hasta $250,000 entre febrero y junio -, Pierluisi, presidente del Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP), ha advertido que a cualquier asomo de que se utilizan fondos públicos para combatir el resultado del plebiscito, presentará una demanda en los tribunales.

García Padilla no ha precisado si las tareas de Black, un conocido consultor republicano que ha asesorado a gobiernos del PPD durante las últimas tres décadas, incluyen atender el tema del status.

«Sería inconstitucional que se utilicen fondos del pueblo para cabildear en contra de lo que el pueblo ya decidió», ha insistido el comisionado Pierluisi, quien regresaba esta tarde a Washington después de una semana en San Juan.

En el plebiscito del 6 de noviembre de 2012, el 54 % de los electores rechazó el actual status territorial de ELA, mientras un 61 % apoyó la Estadidad frente a la Independencia y el Estado Libre Asociado soberano. El porcentaje a favor de la Estadidad se queda en cerca de 45 % cuando se suman los votos en blanco solicitados por el ahora gobernador García Padilla García Padilla, quien también llegaba esta tarde a Washington para participar este fin de semana de la reunión de invierno de la Asociación de Gobernadores de Estados Unidos, pareció minimizar en San Juan las advertencias de Pierluisi. “Sobre ese tema, en particular, bendito sea Dios, nadie puede ir en contra de la voluntad del pueblo, y la voluntad del pueblo es clara. El 55% de los puertorriqueños rechazaron la estadidad. Esa es la verdad”, manifestó García Padilla, presidente del Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) en declaraciones hechas en San Juan.

Pierluisi marcó diferencia entre la situación legal a la que considera se enfrenta ahora el gobernador García Padilla y las que tuvo, por ejemplo, el gobierno de Pedro Rosselló a mediados de la década de 1990 cuando él era su secretario de Justicia.

Tras el plebiscito criollo de 1993, en el cual el Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) obtuvo el 48.6% por ciento de los votos, el gobierno de Pedro Rosselló realizó gestiones de cabildeo a favor de un proyecto de ley que buscaba terminar con el actual status territorial.

En las últimas décadas, ningún Gobierno de Puerto Rico ha destinado más fondos públicos a gestiones de cabildeo en Washington que el de Rosselló, que gastó cerca de $5.5 millones anuales en esas tareas.

“(A Pierluisi) nunca le preocupó el gasto injustificado en cabildeo de las administraciones de Luis Fortuño y Pedro Rosselló, y fue parte de ambas. En ambos gobiernos se promovieron proyectos pro estadidad, una petición que nunca ha sido avalada por la mayoría de los puertorriqueños en las urnas”, indicó el representante del PPD Luis Vega Ramos, presidente de la Comisión de lo Jurídico.

“Eran fondos dirigidos a propulsar un plebiscito (de alternativas de status), no dirigidos a favorecer una fórmula de status”, respondió Pierluisi.

Vega Ramos, por su parte, dijo que el gobierno de Puerto Rico tiene la obligación de “aclarar” en Washington los resultados de la consulta de status de noviembre pasado y promover la promesa del presidente Barack Obama de convocar a un “plebiscito justo” vinculante para el Congreso.

El representante del PPD, a su vez, no descartó que la Legislatura de Puerto Rico apruebe resoluciones que “aclaren la tergiversación” que hiciera el PNP “en torno a los resultados del plebiscito”.

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Statehood is the full implementation of the Constitution of the United States of America, guaranteeing full rights of American citizens, residents of Puerto Rico. For critics of statehood, this is a mechanism to keep creating more for the country, where 30% of our GDP comes from federal grants and social security. They are totally wrong, this is about claiming our rights as American citizens and values, not federal aid. Under the current system-colonial territorial denied Puerto Ricans the two major powers in sovereignty: (1) the power to choose their leaders, and not under this system we can choose our representatives in Congress, only Resident Commissioner to a voice but no vote in Congress, and (2) our statutory power, is sheltered by a Congress that sympathize most with the needs of Puerto Rico. We can not vote for president and vice-president of the nation, which send many Puerto Ricans to war and there is the abundant pride in Borinqueneers or 65 infantry, for example. Moreover, our country is not respected one of the basic foundations of sovereignty, our territory, and we are subject to the territorial clause of the U.S. Constitution, which provides Congress the power to determine which parts of the Constitution of the United States are valid in the territories under the Treaty of Paris, as we are on this status, a territory, a colony.

Statehood, like free association and independence, are non-territorial options, very decent too. But put a true end to the permanent union with the United States or leave in limbo and it would not be fair to the 3.5 million American citizens in Puerto Rico, that by supporting the permanent union with the United States in a non-territorial true. Under the law 600 of the Congress in 1950, to Puerto Rico was given the power to write their own constitution (by the way, Congress amended it many times) and it was to be established or developed in Puerto Rico in the status issue, only to Puerto Rico gave him the power to create a constitution, the ELA is just the name given to a constitution. Moreover, the organic laws still apply, hence we maintain our citizenship

American currently under the Jones Act and again the territorial clause remains in place, which also dictates that, «We are, but we are not part of the United States», as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Insular cases, Balzac vs. Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico vs. Downes enter others. These are few reasons why Puerto Rico is a colony and could remain so, so for statesmen, statehood is the most reasonable mechanism, uniform and equitable for the 3.7 million American citizens on the island. Under statehood, would have to elect our mayors, our governor of any of the two major parties in the nation, and / or other minority party than exist in the United States. But because of the opponents of statehood, are barely mentioned. And under the sovereign state that we would, we would have a camera, a senate and would continue under a republican system of three branches, judicial, legislative and executive, which would eradicate the contradictions of the Foraker Act, Jones and 600, and would give the state the power whole of its territory, without congressional intervention. But what would change and it would be more equitable, not only for the economic welfare, if not for the rights of American citizens devoted to fellow brothers, would be $ 20 billion would receive federal treasury every January. All this for the delivery of brothers patriots who have given their lives for the American flag. And finally, we have to choose five representatives to the federal chamber and 2 senators federal senate, as dictated by the constitution of America. And so says the constitution in Article 14, Section 1, that no state is more powerful than another and that the number of representatives in the chamber is chosen depending on the population density of the state. However, the reality is that if Puerto Rico enters the union, the states of California and Texas lost 5 seats in the chamber between federal and detractors that say statehood statehood never give us.

This is the reality, it now remains that the United States be made a question, Do you want to Become a multinational states?, That is the question. But if you started with Alaska and Hawaii for over 50 years, strengthening the American dream overseas and basing on the legal spirit of the Northwest Ordinance, do not come with the story that we dream and fight for statehood because only we need to take another step as Puerto Ricans to join the national vanguard. So the desired state will be 51 and weequal rights with fellow brothers living on the continent of North America. This is simple, that Congress endorses a plebiscite, to run in the country and this life is going to determine the future of Puerto Rico. And in case Congress does not endorse the decision of the people, the people have the power to amend the constitution, and awarded the same rights as a state and choose their congressmen, this is known as the Tennessee Plan, which is a mechanism pressure used by the citizens of that state in 1796 to force the authorities to include them as a state. After six additional territories followed the same strategy in the absence of congressional action: Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, California, Oregon and Alaska. These were territories, tired of seeing that Congress did not act, they chose to act themselves. It is a strategy that leads to 7-7. But for this there should be a mandate from the people and this should be clear. This is the view from statesmen clear arguments and opinions are legitimate.

ALERTA!!!!!!
LA MAYORÍA DE NOSOTROS, ESTAMOS MUY PREOCUPADOS PORQUE VENGA LA ESTADIDAD Y ESO ES BUENO!!! SOLO HABLAMOS DE ESTO, PERO MUCHOS NO SE ESTAN DANDO CUENTA QUE AQUÍ ESTÁN QUITANDO EL DERECHO A LA LIBRE EXPRESIÓN Y QUE LO QUE HAY YA ES UNA DICTADURA. SOLO PUEDE HABLAR UN GRUPO, LOS QUE ESTÁN CON EL GOBIERNO SEA DIRECTA O INDIRECTAMENTE(PJS)
ESTÁN COMENZANDO CON LOS GRUPOS O PERSONAS MÁS DEBILES!!!! LOS CRISTIANOS NO SE VAN ARMAR, NI AMOTINAR EN PELEAS COMO HACIAN EN LA UPR. POR LO TANTO ES UN GRUPO MAS VULNERABLE!!! TENEMOS QUE HACER ALGO YA!!! NOS ESTÁN METIENDO LA DICTADURA POR LA COCINA. SIGAMOS CON NUESTRA LUCHA POR LA ESTADIDAD, PERO TAMBIÉN ESTEMOS ATENTOS A LEVANTARNOS CONTRA ESTA DICTADURA. NO ME EXTRAÑARÍA QUE ESTA GENTE ESTE TANTIANDO PARA VER LA UNIDAD Y LA REACCIÓN DEL PUEBLO.