[speaker001:] okay so I guess um I start with maybe if if does do you know if the population favors statehood or what are we you were supposed to whether we favor it
[speaker002:] well I'm not I'm not sure what what the people of Puerto Rico feel uh how do you feel about uh the possibility of Puerto Rico becoming a state
[speaker001:] well see I have mixed feelings because um it it the with the financial situation I don't really quite understand what would happen there if they would be a burden to us or if they already are a burden so I I really what uh I really don't care you know I mean
[speaker002:] yeah well I question whether it's in their best interests to become a state right now they are a commonwealth and that means that they are under US protection in the event of uh defending their their country uh they do not have any voting privileges though and I don't believe they have any representation in Congress
[speaker001:] yes that I think that's true so that makes them feel definitely like outsiders but like getting back to the their government benefits they they do have a lot of uh tax benefits
[speaker002:] yeah I don't believe they have to pay any uh like federal tax uh
[speaker001:] yeah so um also of course they they can they join the they can always join the military service they are considered citizens I believe
[speaker002:] uh yeah I think they are they they do get uh privileges privileges like that
[speaker001:] yeah they can
[speaker002:] I'm not sure how much that uh carries on
[speaker001:] yeah that's a strange situation you you're a citizen yet you can't vote
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] so so if
[speaker002:] well I think we've got uh like a language barrier too I think most of the people there speak only Spanish I'm not sure how fluent they are in English and that's one of the major problems I I see with uh other countries as such being uh say the possibility of becoming states that we don't have a common language with them
[speaker001:] yes I went I worked um I went there for a class in a factory and some of the people in my class couldn't speak fluent English they had a very difficult time with it and they and they couldn't the ones that could speak speak it had a really hard time reading it so
[speaker002:] right I think we'd have the same type of problem say with Mexico uh Canada on the other hand uh English is one of their national languages they have
[speaker001:] yes as well as the the um the Quebec people that that speak French
[speaker002:] yeah uh-huh
[speaker001:] and they're supposed
[speaker002:] so I think they're
[speaker001:] they're supposed to be bilingual
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] but um
[speaker002:] I just see a lot of uh social and cultural differences that could uh pose problems with uh Puerto Rico becoming a state
[speaker001:] yes what do you what do you um do you do you think they should become independent maybe or do you think they should benefit
[speaker002:] um I don't think they're strong enough myself to become independent uh I think that it's in their best interest right now just uh to remain as is keep the status quo and uh keep uh stay under the United United States protection
[speaker001:] yeah I think if I was a middle class Puerto Rican maybe that that would be the um stablest thing to do
[speaker002:] yeah because I think that if they if they tried for independence they would probably have uh
[speaker001:] they would
[speaker002:] military factions that would oppose each other and and they would vie for leadership and uh the people who are well off there the middle upper class if there is such a thing uh they would probably be at a disadvantage losing possibility of losing their uh their assets or wealth
[speaker001:] yes so they've been talking about this for a long time do you think they're going to ever vote
[speaker002:] uh
[speaker001:] whether they want one one of the three choices
[speaker002:] I don't see it in the near future
[speaker001:] I know because I think I've been reading I read this ten years ago that they were having these big uh um rallies and people would be in the streets flashing signs statehood yes and other people would statehood down the statehood it's it down there if you're um familiar with their politics they uh it's very uh I I don't know it's called Latino there they have loudspeakers on their cars and they run down the neighborhood saying vote for you know Pierre he's or uh Pedro uh Pedro he's the best it's it's really kind of comical
[speaker002:] yeah well I've never been there I'm not quite familiar with with uh the way they do things
[speaker001:] yeah these these people they have the big loudspeakers because they have uh democratic system just like ours where they elect their mayors and their councilmens it's really kind of funny it's it's kind of an invasion of your privacy privacy too they're going down these streets with these really loud speakers
[speaker002:] uh-huh yeah oh I think that you know part of the biggest problem there is that they still really are third world country and they haven't uh caught up uh economically with uh say the United States
[speaker001:] yeah there there's some really poor areas where when I went uh it it looked like it was it was always you couldn't if you didn't know the area they they didn't advise you to go out and uh you know go in the the uh poorer sections of town but the the big cities where the uh big hotels were that that was that was safe ground to walk around but uh particularly in San Juan we wanted to go walk on the beach at night and they looked at us like we were crazy
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] says no you can't go at night because uh we were we our business was on the other side of the island we were only in San Juan it was at night
[speaker002:] okay
[speaker001:] they don't want us go out on the beach you know said it was very dangerous
[speaker002:] well did you have guides from the area or escorts or uh
[speaker001:] um actually we um met met some people that were in the naval base down there
[speaker002:] okay
[speaker001:] and uh they didn't particularly like living down there because it was very foreign very different the the people they they didn't treat them nice they you know um so I think there I what I learned from them there was a lot of resentment towards the Americans
[speaker002:] okay
[speaker001:] so and it was like they were they're Puerto Rican and were Americans
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] so that's why they're so um emotional about about statehood yet like you say it's they can't really support themselves so
[speaker002:] yeah well they've got that Latin blood they get fired up about every little thing anyway
[speaker001:] yeah that's very true
[speaker002:] I think one of the most interesting things about the possibility of uh attaining a fifty first state is what would we do about our flag how do you arrange fifty one stars what kind of pattern does do we come up with for that
[speaker001:] I don't know that that's a good one
[speaker002:] could have a contest
[speaker001:] yeah but the thing the thing that bothers me about it the most is they don't make decision they don't vote I I think if they voted that that as you say the um they they would probably stay commonwealth or that would be the best for them
[speaker002:] well that would give them them more of an interest in what goes on in this country if if they had uh uh a a uh a privilege of voting uh that would give them a vested interest in the government and uh I would see that as as a positive uh thing for them to consider
[speaker001:] yeah but as you say it's two different two different cultures I don't I don't know um so uh you like I say I was reading this ten years ago whether they could they're going to be talking about this in another ten years
[speaker002:] probably
[speaker001:] I don't see them doing anything
[speaker002:] uh yeah I really don't see any change in the near future
[speaker001:] so I don't know and it's also a long way away if you know if it was Cuba
[speaker002:] well Cuba's closer but uh
[speaker001:] yes Cuba's really close but uh Puerto Rica is uh is it's like uh I live in Vermont from Vermont to Florida it's another another uh what fourteen hundred miles across the ocean
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] but uh
[speaker002:] that is a good distance
[speaker001:] yeah and they have to they have to import a lot of their um cereals and things and and I don't understand now why they don't have a processing I guess it I uh they it's just as easy to bring the uh cereal in boxes as it is to bring it in in you know bulk grain and produce it there
[speaker002:] what is their major industry
[speaker001:] uh I really don't know um
[speaker002:] is it uh I I believe is it sugar cane or I'm not sure sure exactly what they do
[speaker001:] it could be I'm sure they rely heavily on tourism and even the all the American companies down there with their uh electronics industries and pharmaceuticals are big down there
[speaker002:] right okay
[speaker001:] that's one thing I did notice uh pharmaceuticals electronics that makes up I mean enough to be like eight or ten percent of their business but um I really don't know agriculturally they could have so much and they and they don't they don't seem to uh I don't know if I heard they don't feed themselves or not I don't think they support themselves agriculturally I found that to be really odd
[speaker002:] yeah I'm not very familiar with with the the state of their agriculture agriculture
[speaker001:] you know well they see they can't grow the grains I mean they're if the I guess their grains don't do well in the tropics so like you say they grow grow sugar beets and sugar cane and that's all export
[speaker002:] right you have to question you have to wonder how much tillable land they have uh being an island
[speaker001:] well yeah that is it's mountainous and uh but it
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] it looks fertile and it it um I mean it rains enough they have the climate and the rain and if not it's like I've been to Saint Thomas and it just starts from the ocean up
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and it's and it's very it's like one big rock but uh Puerto Rico has lots of uh
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] lots of uh mountainous region and coastal regions
[speaker002:] yeah I know they must have a lot of tourism too but I don't see as much advertising there as you do in the Bahamas the say the Bahamas
[speaker001:] yeah I don't know uh I it
[speaker002:] with uh say uh uh Saint Thomas uh Virgin Islands uh places like that
[speaker001:] that's very true I don't know if they just take it for granted that they you know it's an American commonwealth they really don't have to advertise that much but that is an interesting point but I I believe it's a very popular vacation destination
[speaker002:] right well the Virgin Islands are an American territory
[speaker001:] yep
[speaker002:] and but you see a lot of advertising for that uh as far as uh vacation uh cruises and retirement