True Colors: Divided Loyalties in Puerto Rico

[Ecuajey]

On my way from work today, I went and bought this month's National Geographic to read the article on PR. I was unimpressed. It wasn't true to its title. It was good in the first page but it all went downhill from there. The same with the pictures. It was pretty much an introduction to those who know nothing about Puerto Rico, which is understandable, but it was too simply written. Many in Puerto Rico are screaming bloody murder, many think this is some pro-independence scheme. First of all, the writer and photographer are both Caucasion-Americans who love Puerto Rico, but only can view it from the outside looking in. They wrote and photographed what they saw, which was a fiercely nationalistic people who are subversive colonial subjects of the USA and which many like it that way. There's a crime problem, drug problem, urban sprawl problem, and corruption, and the writer tried to put that all in a few pages and it didn't work out and he didn't sum it up.

What I didn't like the most was that he skimmed through much of the historical value of all this, besides a few mentionings of Operation Boostrap, (No mention of Luis Muñoz Marín or the PPD by name) section 936, the Americanization campaign, and Las Carpetas. He didn't sum it all to make one complete article on as to why these people are so nationalistic, but subversive and what does all its problems have to do with that.

I know he wasn't trying to make a book, but I looked at the sources at the magazine's website and there are tons of books that would've been more helpful in the history of PR and its relationship with PR; "The Disenchanted Island" for one.

People are overreacting over this article, it did a semi-good job in potraying the problems we have from an outsiders view and our uncertain future, but it didn't do a good job in answering the questions it presented in the article.

[Ecuajey]

Tourism to cancel ads in National Geographic

Wednesday, March 12th, 2003.

SAN JUAN (AP) – The Puerto Rico Tourism Co. is canceling plans to advertise in National Geographic magazine, a reaction to an article that some have criticized as presenting a negative portrayal of the island.

Economic Development & Commerce Secretary Milton Segarra demanded an apology from Editor-in-Chief William L. Allen in a letter sent last week and obtained Tuesday.

Segarra said he ordered the Tourism Co. "to immediately cancel its plans to place ads in National Geographic and its sister publications," as well as pull a new commercial to run on the National Geographic Channel.

The magazine defended the article titled "True Colors: Divided Loyalties in Puerto Rico," which was the cover story of its March Spanish-language edition.

"One of the most difficult issues a writer faces when covering a topic as broad as Puerto Rico is what to include and what must be left out due to space limitations," the editors said in the statement.

Written by Andrew Cockburn, the article reflects on the politically charged subject of Puerto Rico's relationship to the United States.

Photographs by Amy Toensing range from images of demonstrators protesting U.S. Navy bombing exercises on Vieques to heroin addicts shooting up, landscapes, and a woman parading in a sequined dress adorned with the Puerto Rican flag.

Radio talk shows have received phone calls denouncing the article, with several callers saying they fear it will put off tourists. Some 4.4 million tourists visited the island in the fiscal year ended June 2002.

In the letter sent Friday, Segarra and Resident Commissioner Anibal Acevedo Vila took issue with a photograph showing a Santeria chicken sacrifice, "an exotic religion practiced by merely 1% of the population."

They claimed the article ignored "the historical and cultural influences of Catholicism and other Christian religions, practiced by well over 85% of the population."

However, a photograph posted on the National Geographic Web site shows crosses at a Puerto Rican cemetery bathed in morning light, described as "stone symbols of the Catholic faith."

San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini criticized the depiction of drug addicts given that the problem exists in cities throughout the United States.

"There are negative things that happen, but we aren't the only ones in the world," Santini said. He said he didn't think the article would hurt the movement to make Puerto Rico the 51st U.S. state.

Acevedo Vila and Segarra said "our unique relationship with the United States is not an example of 'divided loyalties' - as you entitled the article" but is a "mutually beneficial relationship."