Question 1: Are we treated as participating, free citizens or as inmates by the PR government?
Short Answer: We are constantly told what to do, but never asked for real input. When we complain, we are either told that it must be done this way or promises are made to fix it which are never implemented.
Question 2: Do we have any real say in governing ourselves?
Short Answer: We technically have a vote, but practically it is so small that the majorities on the main island render our wishes moot.
Question 3: Are we the tip of the tail of the dog?
Short Answer: We are a colony of a colony. We are far from the seats of legislation. We have no power or clout. We have no money. We have no priority.
Question 4: Does the US government try to buy their way out of complex obligations to the island while not improving the condition of life or the future of our people?
Short Answer: The US has given millions upon millions of dollars to PR in part for the use of Roosevelt Roads and the Vieques bombing range. We see only a small fraction of that money. It is controlled by San Juan.
Question 5: Do we come under Federal rules and laws (from the Jones Act, to the war on drugs, to taxation….) with absolutely no input or control or vote?
Short Answer: Totally! And this brings with it a great deal of collateral damage.
Question 6: Are the services provided to us poor, inadequate, and unreliable? Are we allowed to improve or correct the problems ourselves?
Short Answer: Looking at some of the many services that are mandated and out of our control, we see that our community life and the futures of our children are locked into a cycle of poverty and depression:
- Education – PR is the worst in the US, and Vieques is the worst in PR
- Healthcare – Totally inadequate and difficult to access in PR
- Police Protection – Poorly trained, systemically corrupt, wholly ineffective
- Criminal Justice – Financially and morally bankrupt with victim access onerous
- Transportation (ATM) – Oppression of citizens to benefit employees and managers
- Access to government services – Rationing of services through limiting access
- Permits and Business Licenses – Extremely well designed to limit business formation, kill construction projects, and feed an army of self-serving bureaucrats
- Electrical and water services – Corrupt and designed to benefit employees and managers at the expense of the citizens
Question 7: As little power to govern our island has we have, will the cost cutting proposals to reduce the number of municipalities give us more autonomy?
Short Answer: Absolutely not. Under such a plan, we wouldn’t even be able to schedule garbage pickups ourselves. All our current resources would be managed in Fajardo under a regional government. Look at the way the dock area and surrounding streets are managed by Fajardo to welcome us at the ferry and envision how well we will be treated.
Question 8: Under PROMESA will the situation finally improve?
Short Answer: Quite to the contrary, the Fiscal Control Board is charged with restructuring debt, and this will mean reducing government services. The colony of the colony is out of sight and out of mind. We have no power and thus no defense. Cuts have begun, and we will see them first. We are expendable. Over a quarter of Vieques is owned by PR and can be sold by the Board.
Question 9: Will we benefit from economic development efforts by the Board?
Short Answer: There is NO specific effort demanded of the Board for economic development for PR at all. San Juan has undermined our efforts for growing tourism in Vieques, and it will only get worse.
Question 10: Will the Congressional Task Force on Economic Growth in Puerto Rico help our situation?
Short Answer: Maybe. There have been so many studies of our failed efforts at economic development that most of the possible solutions have been presented over and over, and it is doubtful they will come up with anything new. Congress (and the special interests holding the influence) never favored past recommendations so it is questionable whether repackaging these will make a difference. Vieques could become a key in a controversial plan to assist PR and grant us much needed autonomy.