Puerto Rican Campagn - Essay Example

? Puerto Rican Campaign Puerto Rican Campaign The nation of Puerto Rico is a neighbor of the United s and comprises mostly of Latinos. The nation had a number of campaigns for its freedom and other rights and privileges denied to it by its colonial masters as well as the neighboring United States. First among these campaigns, include the Puerto Rican Campaigns that incorporated an American military land and sea operation on the island of Puerto Rico during the military clashes of the Spanish – American War. This war offensive commenced on 12 may, 1898 after the navy of the United States attacked San Juan, the capital of the archipelago. The Americans managed to establish a blockade over the harbor of the city, i.e. the San Juan Bay, despite the minimal damages that they inflicted in the city after the attack (Bea, 2010: P. 19). This war went one for a number of weeks until on the 22 June the same year when two cruisers, the Destroyer Terror and the Isabel II delivered a serious Spanish counterattack against the blockade by the Americans on San Juan. However, this was a futile attempt s it did not yield any fruits since the Spaniards were unable to end the blockade. On the contrary, the Spaniards suffered a major lose through the destruction of the Terror. However, this blockade and warfare between the Americans and the Spaniards in Puerto Rico, fighting for control of the archipelago as well as for its people, and later the country got its independence from its colonial masters. As a result, the country was able to put up its own political structures such as setting up a governorship office as the supreme leadership in the country (Clark, 1975: P. 90). Governorship in the state of Puerto Rico was the highest level of power and authority on land. Ever since the nation has to learn of civilizations, it had its own systems of governance, which later matured into the state of governorship as the supreme leader of the country. Numerous candidates held the office of governor of Puerto Rico, both as elected or appointed holders of the office. As such, a long list exists of the individuals or candidates who held the office of the governor, both under the rule of the Spaniards as well as under the rule of Americans. The Spanish appointed their own to be governors of the state when they were in control of the island. Similarly, the federal government of the United States also appointed its own candidates to govern the state when they were its colonial masters. However, after the state gained total independence from the Americans, they were free to elect their own candidate as the governor of their country (Herrman, 2010: P.159). The Spaniards were the first to take control of the small island of Puerto Rico, before the Americans defeated and toppled them from their rule at the archipelago. In fact, the current independence and state of sovereignty that the country enjoys was a grant from the United States, when they walked out on the forceful leadership of the country. However, the United States still has strong influence in the country, with most of the governors requiring marshaling enough support from the political system of the United States to be elected into office. In fact, most of the governors elected into office in the state of Puerto Rico are affiliates of either the Democrats or the Republican parties that control the United States political system. These affiliations to the US political system assist them get elected into office, as well as ensure a cordial relationship between the country and its former colonial masters – a relationship that results in numerous political, trade and bilateral relations for both countries (Herrman, 2004: P.45). The Governor of the state of Puerto Rico becomes the supreme leader of the government of the Commonwealth state of Puerto Rico. The Spaniards established this position during their rule on the state in the 16th century after they managed to colonize the state through their Spanish empire. As such, the governor was the head of state and possessed all powers in the executive branch of the Puerto Rican government. Furthermore, he or she is also the commander-in-chief of all the military forces of the country as well as the National Guard of Puerto Rico. The government of Puerto Rico bestows on the governor powers, duties and responsibilities to perform on behalf of their citizens, chief among this is the duty to enforce laws of the state by upholding the constitution. The governor also has to convene the legislative assembly, whose main jurisdictions re to make laws and policies for the state (Torruella, 1985: P.139). The first official occupant of the governor’s seat was Juan Ponce de Leon, a Spanish conquistador, who took office in 1509 on appointment by the Spanish empire. However, the first native from Puerto Rico to perform this function, though on an interim basis, was Juan Ponce de Leon II who occupied the office in 1579. However, the leadership of Puerto Rico did not begin with the Spaniards establishment and appointment to the office of a governor. Historical facts provide that the country had tribal chiefs or caciques as the heads of government, known to the locals a Tainos, those who occupied the island before the arrival of the Spaniards. This rank was democratic position determined by the size of the individual’s tribe rather than their skills as a warlord. However, the colonization of the country by the Spaniard put power and authority onto the position to the extent that it was somewhat a dictatorship position (Bea, 2010: P. 19). The governors of this country after independence jostled for office amongst each other to the extent that some general officers assumed office without prior permission from the citizens who were to grant them powers to rule through a democratic election. The election of the first governor of Rico, legitimately elected into office by the citizens of the country was after the Americans handed over power to the people. This was in the 1940s after the colonization era, which saw the election into office, in the late 40’s in 1948, of Luis Munoz Marin, as the first official governor of the Puerto Rican state, a native from the country, and not an appointed puppet y either the United States or the Spanish empire (Clark, 1975: P. 90). The people of Puerto Rico held their first free election to elect a governor in 1948. This election of a new governor was a new development from the old system whereby the United States president or the king of Spain appointed a governor into office. As such, these governors had to watch over the interests of their masters and not to serve the innocent citizens of Puerto Rico. However, on this election year, the people got an opportunity to elect into office an officer who would protect and look after their rights and interests. This was not the first time that a native was holding office as the governor of Puerto Rico. For instance, in 1946, Harry S. Truman, while president of the united states appointed a Puerto Rican as a full time governor for the country, named Jesus T. Pinero (Herrman, 2010: P.159). Nonetheless, the Puerto Rican natives twice held office of the governor though on a temporary basis. The first was Juan Ponce de Leon II in 1579 while the second one was Juan Bernado Huyke in 1923. The election policy of governors in the state of Puerto Rico was after the Congress of the United States passed the Elective Governors’ Act in 1947. This act allowed Puerto Rican citizens to elect their own governor. The nation of Puerto Rico held its first democratic elections on November 2, 1947, whereby they elected their first governor, by the name Luis Munoz Marin. Marin belonged to the Popular Democratic Party. He was victorious in the lection after garnering a staggering 61.2% of the total votes cast during the election. Before winning the office of the governor, Marin was previously the senate president of Puerto Rico from 1941 to 1949. After his election into office, Marin governed Puerto Rico for seventeen years from 1948 to 1965 (Herrman, 2004: P.45). In 1952, the state of Puerto Rico joined the United States Commonwealth. This year also saw the approval of the first constitution of the country by the congress. This constitution outlined the rules governing election of candidates into office of the governor. Furthermore, this constitution stipulated the victory margins that a candidate should score during an election in order to be declared a true and fair winner of the election, as well as assuming the office of governor. The constitution states that the winner should garner more than fifty percent of the cast votes in order to be declared winner. In fact, it states that if the victory margin is anywhere lesser than half a percent between the two major competitors, the elections must go to a full recount in order to determine the rightful winner, e.g. the cases in 1980 and in 2004 (Torruella, 1985: P.1). Bibliography Bea, Keith. Political Status of Puerto Rico: Options for Congress. Darby, PA: DIANE Publishing, 2010, P. 19. Clark, Truman. Puerto Rico and the United States, 1917-1933. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Pre, 1975, P. 90. Herrman, KarlStephen. Recent Campaigns within Puerto Rico by the Independent Regular Brigade under the Command of Brig General Schwan. Charleston, South Carolina: Bibliobazaar, 2010, P.159. Herrman, KarlStephen. From Yauco to Las Marias: A Recent Campaign in Puerto Rico. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2004, P.45. Torruella, Juan. Puerto Rico and The Supreme Court: The Doctrine of Separate and Unequal. San Juan, PR: La Editorial, UPR, 1985, P. 139. Read More