By Howard Hills
In its September 23 edition, The Hill published a political opinion commentary entitled “Puerto Rico doesn’t need remilitarization – it needs sovereignty.” The author, Javier Hernandez, advocates Puerto Rico’s political separation from the U.S. and transition to sovereign nationhood.
Separatism rejected
Hernandez fails to mention that separate sovereign nationhood for Puerto Rico has been rejected in every political status referendum held in Puerto Rico since 1967. Even the current territory status was rejected by a certified majority of the popular vote as far back as 2012.
Instead, statehood has been ratified by certified results of multiple political status votes, most recently by 58% in 2024. Of course, statehood inevitably would enable a current needs revival of Puerto Rico’s historic role in the defense of U.S. national security in the Caribbean.
That’s why Hernandez opposed re-opening the island territory’s historic Roosevelt Roads Naval Station during mobilization to launch of Operation Southern Spear. He hoped the Pentagon would forget that Puerto Rico forms the southeasternmost border of our nation, and is populated by 3.2 million U.S. citizens who serve in the U.S. military at a per capita rate higher than any state.
Distraction
Hernandez wants to distract readers from seeing that Operation Southern Spear also reminds us in 2025 that Congress has the same duty to manage the resolution of Puerto Rico’s political status that it had 1959 for the more distant territories of Hawaii and Alaska. Not only to promote democratic self-determination, but for national security purposes.
More pointedly, Hernandez doesn’t want Washington to know the current Governor, Senate President, and House Speaker in Puerto Rico support Operation Southern Spear, as well as modernization of the island’s once strategically indispensable capacity to support America’s national security.
A big lie
As a an anti-statehood nationalist, Hernandez is a purveyor of the big lie that Republicans are not competitive in Puerto Rico, so it will be a Democrat-controlled blue state. He does not want Congress to know that in recent decades both Republicans and Democrats supporting statehood for Puerto Rico have occupied the Governor’s mansion. The same is true for Speaker and Senate President in the constitutional legislature established by Congress in 1952. No surprise he didn’t mention the current Governor and Legislative leadership are pro-statehood Republicans.
Republican and Democrat leadership in the local pro-statehood party are united. Yet, Hernandez falsely claims it is support for “independence” that’s growing. Again, Hernandez misleads readers, because referendum pluralities and majorities since the 1952 constitution was adopted confirm that the real choices for Puerto Rico are not between political parties but rather between territory and statehood status options.
Dual citizenship?
The political limbo created by Congressional evasion of the status question has created a dystopian debate in which words like “sovereignty,” “autonomy’” “free association,” and “nationhood” are used by splintered political factions to propose unrealistic and desperate gambits to retain dual U.S. and Puerto Rico nationality under separate sovereignty.
But the U.S. Congress has never institutionalized divided allegiance by operation of U.S. law. Historically, change of sovereignty over a U.S. territory mandates an election of allegiance. That precedent applies because sovereignty for Puerto Rico would nullify the 1952 declaration of the people in the territorial constitution that, “We consider as determining factors…citizenship of the United States…and our loyalty to the principles of the federal Constitution.”
Yet, the Hernandez grandiose delusion calls for supremacy of Puerto Rican law over a U.S. citizen population in a separate sovereign nation! Absurdly, he idealizes future Puerto Rico relations with the U.S. modeled after our relations with Grenada, Trinidad-Tobago and Columbia. The inevitable clichés about Fantasy Island “economic miracle” scenarios aside, sovereignty would dramatically reduce Puerto Rico’s GNP. Visas or visa waivers for Puerto Ricans will be required for Puerto Ricans to visit the U.S. as non-immigrant aliens.
National security
Meanwhile, the U.S. has dusted off the Monroe Doctrine and with support of the local government is reinvesting in strategic assets on the island. The gangster in Caracas can rant about “Yankee imperialism,” but it was Venezuelan imperialism in America – through trafficking drugs and people, as well as invasion by criminals – that woke up Washington.
Instead of the demilitarization, retreat, and surrender espoused by Hernandez, our patriotic fellow Americans in Puerto Rico are delivering for America by hosting Operation Southern Spear forces and the Forward Operating Base of the U.S. Central Command, including 2,500 strong 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, Aerial Tankers, Tomahawk Missiles, F-35’s.
Maduro will find his Russian and Chinese arsenal badly wanting and soon depleted. Instead of planning to defend against a U.S. invasion, perhaps he should study the 1990 U.S. missile attack on Panama dictator Noriega’s bunker, reducing his Comandancia to rubble.
Thanks to Puerto Rico, the U.S. has the strength to keep the peace, and, hopefully, that will be enough to prevent war.
Howard Hills served as Counsel for Free Association Negotiations in the Executive Office of the President (1982-1988), and Senior Advisor to Special Presidential Envoy for Free Association Treaties (2020-2023)
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