AOC and Rep. Nydia Velázquez jet to Puerto Rico for talks on island’s statehood status

A congressional delegation including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) jetted into Puerto Rico Thursday for talks as Congress prepares to consider a bill that could lead to a decisive vote on statehood.

The New York lawmakers will meet with political players on all sides of the explosive debate over whether the island should seek to become the 51st state, declare independence or adopt a hybrid semi-independent status.

The issue has gained additional urgency because Democrats in the House of Representatives recently reached a breakthrough agreement to take up a measure that would authorize a plebiscite on the issue.

“The three options that are given to the public or the people, the residents of Puerto Rico, the American citizens of Puerto Rico, are fully democratic,” Gov. Pedro Pierlusi, who backs statehood, told the Hill ahead of the delegation’s three-day visit.

The measure, not yet introduced, follows months of negotiations between federal lawmakers who have long disagreed on what Puerto Rico’s political status should be.

“Getting to this point has not been an easy process. Is it perfection? No,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, chairman of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories.

[ Road to statehood for Puerto Rico could run through Florida ]

But some powerful Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) favor allowing Puerto Ricans to vote on their future status.

The issue of statehood, or estadidad in Spanish, is the biggest and most controversial issue for Puerto Ricans both on the island and in the 5 million-strong diaspora on the mainland, centered in New York City, Philadelphia and the Orlando area.

Velázquez, the dean of the Puerto Rican caucus in the House, fiercely opposes statehood, which some advocates believe would dilute the island’s vibrant culture and reliance on the Spanish language. She and AOC had favored a convention that would determine the island’s options.

On the other hand, Rep. Ritchie Torres (R-N.Y.), whose South Bronx district includes the highest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the nation, backs statehood as the only way for the island’s approximately 3 million residents to have an effective say over their governance.

[ Puerto Rico poised to vote on statehood — and make political waves from NYC to Washington, D.C. ]

The factions reached a breakthrough deal to move ahead with the bill under the auspices of Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), with all sides agreeing that the current commonwealth status is untenable and won’t be considered.

The proposal comes at a time when Puerto Rico is trying to emerge from a lengthy bankruptcy and recover from the devastation left by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

There is also growing discontent with Puerto Rico’s two main parties and ongoing government corruption scandals. The November 2020 elections were the first time that the territory’s two main parties failed to reach 40% of votes. Pierluisi won with only 33% of votes.

“I know we are all skeptical because of the political dynamics in Puerto Rico,” said Velázquez last month, who supports the new proposal.