Puerto Ricans must fulfill their obligation to defend America in respect for their beneficial commonwealth relationship with the United States, Puerto Rican Governor Sila M. Calder¢n said in a speech in Ward 1 Monday night.
Calder¢n, the first female governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, addressed nearly 100 AU students, faculty and Latin American community members about her efforts to fix the Puerto Rican economy.
The Kennedy Political Union, the Women & Politics Institute and the Latino and American Student Organization co-sponsored the event.
During a post-speech Q&A session, Jean-Paul Polo, a native Puerto Rican and AU master's film student in the School of Communication, asked her why Puerto Ricans "have brothers and sisters that go to war" for the United States, yet "cannot vote for the president."
"The [U.S.] federal government imposes laws on us, and we cannot have representatives," Polo said.
Calder¢n said she is "a true and staunch" believer in Puerto Rico's commonwealth status.
"I am a U.S. citizen, but not an American. I vote where I live," she said.
When asked why she did not the support voting rights for Puerto Ricans in U.S. elections, Calder¢n invoked the concept of "no taxation without representation," and said Puerto Rico's tax-exempt status gives them "the most important power ... to live decently and have your basic needs met."
Calder¢n said the former administration's pursuit of statehood was a "misguided quest that put development on the back burner."
"The founders of the commonwealth would not have recognized the government they left us," she said. "We set to restore the core values that we had departed from."
The governor also criticized the former administration's corruption, citing that 60 former officials are now either being prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice or serving sentences for their crimes.
Calder¢n plans to retire when her term ends this year to pursue further economic development in poor areas and character education in schools, causes she calls "close to her heart" and more important than politics.
"There are other ways to serve," she said. "We're all the same; character is all that's needed"
