Latino Rebels Radio: March 21, 2019.

More than 50 of the world’s top economists have slammed Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) for recent remarks he made about Cuba and Venezuela, asking that he “stop spreading the false narrative” that there is no connection between the crises in those countries and the U.S. sanctions against them.

The Puerto Rico Status Act is “the product of an our-way-or-the-highway approach from pro-statehood House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer that has backed advocates of a fair and just decolonization process for Puerto Rico into a corner,” the two groups said in a joint statement.

The legislative clock is running out on the Puerto Rico Status Act, and according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), votes have yet to be counted due to what he says are “outside interests” delaying progress on the bill.

Rep. Grijalva, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee which has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico, says the sudden increase in lobbying against the Puerto Rico Status Act is not about process but instead about maintaining the island’s current colonial status.

Latinos make up a small percentage of Congress, a little over eight percent. Of the 45 Latinos currently serving in Congress, 18 (40 percent) represent states where abortion is banned, restricted, or expected to have restrictions soon

After the Natural Resources Committee passed the Puerto Rico Status Act on Wednesday, all eyes are now on Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, whose support or defection from the bill she helped negotiate will likely decide the bill’s fate in the House.

Twenty-nine amendments were debated by members of the House Natural Resources Committee who ultimately voted 20-25 to advance the bill, with every Republican voting against the bill except Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner, Jenniffer González-Colón.

On Friday, Natural Resources Committee chair Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) introduced a bill that outlines a process for the people of Puerto Rico to decide their political status in a binding resolution that would force Congress to carry out their decision.

Pleased by the Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday that sided with President Biden’s move to end the “Remain in Mexico” policy, immigrant advocacy groups took a moment to celebrate but are calling for more immigrant relief, including an end to Trump-era Title 42 restrictions.

Last week Thursday, a coalition of Puerto Ricans living in the diaspora sent a letter to Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, urging him and other House members for transparency in their proceedings on a draft bill to resolve Puerto Rico’s status.

Latino Rebels reached out to Peter R. Rosenblatt, who from 1977 to 1981 served as President Carter’s ambassador to the negotiations on the future political status of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which established the Compact of Free Association between the U.S. government and the former UN-controlled, U.S.-administered territories of Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Fearing that one of the two other status options may win, specifically the “Free Association” option, members of the Puerto Rican statehood movement plan to pressure House Natural Resources Committee chair Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) to revise the language of a draft bill that looks to resolve Puerto Rico’s 100-plus status issue once and for all, according to a draft letter provided to Latino Rebels by an anonymous source directly familiar with the proceedings.

In the end, the congressional visit was Boricua political theater at its best, with a showy guest list.

On Tuesday afternoon, Latino Rebels caught up with the House Committee on Natural Resources Chair in the Speaker’s Lobby of the House of Representatives for an update on the bill that has brought the two policy factions supporting statehood and self-determination bills together for the first time.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A discussion is brewing in the House of Representatives over whether or not the new Puerto Rico Status Discussion Draft will be translated into Spanish.

As anticipated, there was no overarching agreement over the future of the political status of Puerto Rico—although the predominantly shared sentiment from speakers was that the discussion draft was a good start to relinquishing themselves of colonialism.

Over the weekend, Latino Rebels received testimonies from three speakers, each representing a different take on the status question and the discussion draft bill. We are sharing each testimony here to show the broad political spectrum this discussion draft debate represents.

Patience with Joseph V. Cuffari is growing thin in Congress and at the White House, with sources telling Latino Rebels that the embattled Department of Homeland Security Inspector General has embarrassed the agency, snubbed the White House, and fueled a lack of faith in Congress about his ability to continue in the role.

Following a press conference on Thursday, members of the House negotiating team behind a potential consensus bill on Puerto Rico’s status released what is likely a messaging bill meant to act as a framework for further negotiations and their outcome.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner, Jenniffer González Colón, tell Latino Rebels that, despite their opposing perspectives on Puerto Rico’s status question, there are at least two areas of common ground driving the negotiations on a consensus bill.