A Proposal in Stimulating the Economy of Puerto Rico: Aiding the Destruction of an Island and Its People
Although the commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island that strays away from mainstream American culture, its distinction makes it a wonderful place to be in. In the island are countless tales told from the extravagant mixed backgrounds and its natural landscapes. Truly, Puerto Rico’s beauty flourishes in a lot of ways. The preservation of the island's natural beauty is a priority for the people; one could say its beauty is in direct competition with that of Hawai’i’s. However, rivers are drying out, plants and animals face extinction, and the levels of pollution continue to rise; it is very possible that Puerto Rico’s island paradise can become a wasteland in just a matter of years. Puerto Rico’s natural beauty faces the threat of destruction as a result of American corporations settling in and not providing any consideration for the island’s ecosystem or people; what vanishes are the magnificent inhabitants of the island along with the rights of the people.
Pollution has attacked the aquatic ecosystem directly by diminishing the levels of plankton that once thrived superfluously in Puerto Rico’s crystalline water. Looking back at it, La Parguera does not glow captivatingly now as it once did many years ago. Bioluminescent plankton that reside there are fundamental to the aquatic food chain; the existence of other aquatic animals depend on the survival of these micro-organisms. It is no wonder why there is a species endangerment of over one hundred species of plants and animals native to Puerto Rico. The root cause of the problem is the ongoing production of waste created by factories; Nelson Biaggi makes it clear that Puerto Rico’s so-called economic growth has “an increasing demand for adequate water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses” (Biaggi 381). Economic growth, as corporations and American government put it, are the very cause of the water’s contamination.
Responsibility for Puerto Rico’s water contamination is continuously denied by American government and corporations. The alarming rising cancer rate in Vieques is a direct result of nuclear weapons testing from the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. Speculation of the issue has led to mass protests in opposition of the naval station staying in Puerto Rico. Naval forces stated that such testing of explosives performed had no link to the rising cancer rate in Vieques. However the cancer rate in Vieques suggests otherwise; as of 1992 “cancer is 27% more common in Vieques than the rest of Puerto Rico” (Puerto Rico Herald). It is evident that the people of Puerto Rico, especially Vieques, have become subject to the victimization of economic growth proposed by business corporations like Johnson and Johnson and military forces.
“Economic growth” is also responsible for driving a lot of the island’s creature on the border of extinction. In recent studies of wildlife endangerment, one-hundred and forty five species of plants and animals that inhabit Puerto Rico are on the endangered species list. Even the island’s beloved frog and national symbol, the cook’s robber frog (or coqui), faces the possibility of extinction. It is horrific to consider that one will not hear its lovely melodic chirps on a quiet night one day. The brightly colored Puerto Rican parrot will vanish and no one will be able to see the bird in its breathtaking flight again. Thinking that these beautiful creatures will become no more is a thought considered mortifying. Numbers drop because of the plant-life destroyed by the effects of pollution created by corporations inconsiderate of Puerto Rico’s needs.
Destruction of the island’s nature began when the United States government saw Puerto Rico as a stagnant economy and proposed Operation Bootstrap. The proposal suggested that Puerto Rico’s economy should change from agrarian to industrial; Operation Bootstrap would stimulate the economy by introducing factories to the economy however, the people suffered a great deal after it was approved by elected governor Luis Muñoz Marín. Although production flourishes in the island, the unemployment rate increases and the standards of living become worse. As of 2011 the unemployment rate of Puerto Rico is 16.1%; it is the highest rate of unemployment than any state in the US (NCSL). EPA states, “The problem is intensified by the limited disposal space available on an island community and Puerto Rico's delicately balanced ecosystem,” when they forget to consider that the problem is not just the people, it is also the businesses (EPA). Exacerbating the problem is the lack of funding for proper waste management when most of the waste is generated by the same companies that propose to stimulate the economy. 1962, sugar cane alone, there was a produced waste of “30 million tons annually” (Guzmán 1213); there is not a finding that would suggest that the situation has improved since then.
Luckily, the Puerto Rican people have made a step in bettering their environment by shutting down the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, but progress for Puerto Ricans goes one step forward and two steps back. It was the increase in cancer and rise in protests in Vieques that led to the decommissioning of the naval base that practiced live-fire. Elected officials like Robert Kennedy Jr. supported the cause. However the Puerto Rican people need a voice that does not tie themselves to corporations in order to achieve prosperity. Puerto Rican governor Sila María Calderón was in favor in business but it was acknowledged that her son Francisco Xavier is an investment banker for Goldman and Sachs; Goldman and Sachs currently face an SEC fraud lawsuit from April 2010. It is a shame that the government officials would approve the audacities created from corporate greed. To make matters worse, Puerto Rico has a representative in the US senate but cannot vote in legislature. No vote equals no voice.
Puerto Ricans need to protest for a better voice in order to improve their environment but it seems more likely that it will very much so become like Hawai’i in the sense that statehood would further allow the exploitation of the people and natural resources by corporations. Revolts in Jayuya and Utuado demonstrated, to the people of Puerto Rico and US military officers, that silence is more radical than protest. Participation in politics and government is a step further in improving the economy, and most importantly, the environment and the people. Puerto Rican need to remind the US government with their voice, a vote in legislature, that it is their priority to continue being La Isla del Encanto.
Biaggi, Nelson. "Puerto Rico's Water Pollution Image". Water Pollution Control Federation. Vol 3. No 3. 1965. Pp 381.
"CDC Will Study Will Study Cancer Incidence in Vieques". Puerto Rico Herald. 20 Jun 2002.
Earth's Endangered Species List. Earth's Endangered Creatures. 2011-2012. Web. Dec 2011.
Guzmán, Ramón M. "Control of Sugar Cane Wastes in Puerto Rico". Water Pollution Control Federation. Vol 33. No 12. Dec 1962. Pp 1213.
"Solid Waste in Puerto Rico". US Environmental Protection Agency. Dec 2011. Web. Dec 2011.
"State Unemployment Rates for October 2011". National Conference of State Legislatures. 22 Nov, 2011. Web. Dec 2011.
