Every time Puerto Ricans vote on changing the island’s commonwealth status, they opt to remain a commonwealth territory over either statehood or independence.
That changes next Tuesday, because the latest referendum doesn’t offer keeping the island’s current status as a choice:
When they walk into the polling booth on Election Day, Puerto Ricans will be offered three possibilities: (1) statehood, (2) complete independence from the U.S., and (3) sovereignty that includes an ongoing association with the United States. What they will not see is the option of maintaining the status quo.
Removing the status quo option effectively guarantees that statehood will win…
A big victory for statehood would constitute an obvious sham to anyone in the know, including Puerto Ricans themselves. The pro-status quo PPD has called the referendum an “anti-democratic mockery,” while the leader of the smaller Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) has called it a “plebiscite of lies.” Both parties have instructed their members–collectively constituting some 40 percent of the population–to leave the ballot blank in protest.
Bear that in mind when the very politicians who set up this rigged referendum use it to demand statehood for the good of the “democracy,” something they intentionally subverted.
What’s the hidden agenda here? Is it part of a sneaky scheme to add two more Democrats to the United States Senate?
