Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 15, 1993 TAG: 9311150228
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Knight-Ridder Newspapers
DATELINE: SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO LENGTH: Medium
The non-binding vote appeared to dim chances for Congress' consideration of Puerto Rican statehood for years, if not decades.
However slim the margin, the vote reaffirmed Puerto Ricans' preference for its 41-year-old status as a "free associated state," or commonwealth. Pro-commonwealth leaders said they would seek to modify the existing formula only slightly, hoping to win more federal benefits from Washington.
Miguel Hernandez Agosto, president of the pro-commonwealth party, predicted the vote would restrain the statehood movement into the next century.
"This should buy us several decades of tranquillity," he said, likening his party's victory over the better-financed statehood drive to David's triumph over Goliath. In voting down statehood, he said, islanders had defended their Spanish language and culture, as well as their right to field an Olympic team, against the forces of assimilation.
In the last plebiscite on status, in 1967, the pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party won 60 percent of the vote, followed by 39 percent for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party and less than 1 percent for the Puerto Rican Independence Party.
Gov. Pedro Rossello vowed to respect Sunday's results but not to abandon his dream: "I know that, step by step, we are moving toward the day when we can say to the Puerto Rican people that we have a mandate to become the 51st state."
Congress, for its part, escaped an imminent appeal for statehood. Lawmakers have refused to address Puerto Rico's status for decades, saying they first required a clear signal as to what residents want.
As a state, Puerto Rico would be the poorest in the union. Its 3.6 million residents, granted citizenship in 1917, probably would send a mixed-party delegation of two senators and six representatives to Congress.
Commonwealth party leaders said they would use Sunday's victory to press Congress to place certain welfare benefits on a par with the states, grant protective tariffs to island coffee and rum and end the erosion of an industry tax exemption.
The vote ended a feverish campaign that had the effect of rallying a demoralized Popular Democratic Party, mobilizing all the latest advertising techniques and fostering a soul-searching debate over what it means to be Puerto Rican.
Statehood advocates argued that joining the Union would end "colonial" status, granting Puerto Ricans the full privileges and obligations of citizenship. For the first time, they would pay federal taxes but receive welfare parity and vote for the president.
For Luis Alberto Qulichini, 22, statehood sounded dignified: "People say we are always asking for handouts from the Americans. We want to pay our share, so we can make our own demands."
But commonwealth advocates prevailed, saying their unique relationship with the United States combines "the best of both worlds": the benefits of U.S. tax incentives and citizenship with the autonomy to maintain a distinct language and culture.
Independence supporters, in turn, said Puerto Rico would forever search for its honor and identity until it breaks free of U.S. domination.
\ PUERTO RICAN REFERENDUM\ 100 percent of precincts:\ \ COMMONWEALTH: 48.4 percent\ \ STATEHOOD: 46.2 percent\ \ INDEPENDENCE: 4.4 percent
by CNB