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Latiin America Today - by Madeline Schwartz

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Latinos & Politics

April 29th 2007 16:37

Puerto Ricans as well as other Latinos are unique in this political system, for they tend to follow a pattern of circular migration which in turn affects their political participation. Circular migration "describes the back and forth flow of Latinos between the United States and Puerto Rico, Mexico and other homelands." Hardy-Fanta, 1993: 177 Some Puerto Ricans maintain that perhaps the low participation rates among Puerto Rican voters are due to the fact that many Puerto Ricans' "hearts and thoughts are really back on their little island south of Florida." Hardy-Fanta, 1993: 177 Some even conjecture that if Puerto Rico were to ever become the fifty-first state in the United States there would be a huge wave of Puerto Ricans returning to the island. Both of the most popular sides of the status debate, which include those in favor of autonomy and those in favor of statehood, seem to agree that if certain reforms were to take place on the island as dictated by their party's agenda, they would return to the island and gladly leave mainland life behind. Thus, many Puerto Ricans see their daily struggles as temporary burdens to bear while waiting for their dreams of their reformed homeland to come true so that they can return. In this present situation, it is difficult for the process of naturalization and assimilation to occur when many Latinos and especially Puerto Ricans want no part in a permanent commitment to the United States.

In the past decade, Latinos have become the fastest growing minority in the United States. Latinos are already the majority in Miami, which includes a large Cuban population, and the issue of political participation is sure to be an important one in the near future. Presidential candidates are paying more and more attention to this group of the population, and political mobilization of Latinos across the United States is sure to become crucial to attending to concerns particular to this group of people. Though naturalization is unlikely to be successful in attaining this goal of increased Latino political participation, Nationalism may be the key to recruiting more and more Latinos into joining the collective voice to create necessary reforms. Through the creation of "imagined political communities" characteristic of Nationalism, members of the community may feel that together their voices can be heard, and, as a collective, the community can bring about reforms. The ability of the status debate to create among Puerto Ricans a sense of community and Nationalism just shows that perhaps nationalist politics could be the answer to mass political mobilization among Latinos.

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