Biography

Angel I. Rivera Ortiz is Professor of Political Science in the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. From 1992 to 1996, he was Director of the Political Science Department there. He is author of several recent books and was editor with Aarón Ramos of Islands at the Crossroads: Politics in the Non-Independent Caribbean (2001), published by Ian Randle and Lynne Rienner Publishers. He also is author of Chapter 3, “US Non Incorporated Territories in the Caribbean: Factors Contributing to Stalemate and Potential Political Change in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands”, in the book Governance in the Non- Independent Caribbean: Challenges and Opportunities in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Peter Clegg and Emilio Pantojas García and published in 2009 by Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston and Miami. Dr. Rivera Ortiz has been Visiting Professor at the Lehman College of City University of New York (1997-98) and at the University of the Andes, Bogotá, Colombia (1972-74).

Article Title

Horizons for the decolonization of Puerto Rico in the Twenty-first Century: a Critique of the Terms of the Current Public Debate on Puerto Rico's Political Status

Abstract

Throughout the history of Puerto Rico during the period of Commonwealth, the exit strategies from the Commonwealth have been an important source of debate. While political actors participate in the political arena with proposals that will lead the Island in the routes towards statehood, free association or independence, the substantive options and the procedural proposals have been stumbling blocks for self-determination in Puerto Rico. This paper will review the procedural debate since the beginnings of the Commonwealth, focusing on the main issues in the political debate during the second decade of the twenty-first century. The author elaborates on his critique of the terms of such debate demonstrating that the consultation methods, as a first procedural step of a supposed decolonization process, are part and parcel of a myth seated in the belief that Puerto Ricans may undergo real decolonization by voting on plebiscites.

In explaining the historical and current stalemate, the author explores the way so called "status options" and plebiscites have been sketched by political party elites during the past 50 years. The author also argues that such consultations are designed to perpetuate the present stalemate. That is, by choosing among "options" that are not realistic for Puerto Rican or United States interests, political status projects and procedures become real impediments for political status change in Puerto Rico. Finally, the author addresses a different proposal that may effectively conduct the Puerto Rican people to self-determination and decolonization in the twenty-first century.