Juan Gonzalez on Obama's Plan To Make First Presidential Visit to Puerto Rico Since Kennedy

Run time: 07:25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nexF-4mjG5A   Posted on YouTube: May 25, 2011 By YouTube Member: mediagrrl9 Views on YouTube: 90   Posted on DU: May 27, 2011 By DU Member: democracy1st Views on DU: 548

 
President Barack Obama has announced he will visit Puerto Rico next month, fulfilling his 2008 campaign promise and making him the first U.S. President to visit to the island since John Kennedy's trip almost 50 years ago. A task force recently called on the United States to resolve the issue of Puerto Rico's statehood by 2012. "All of the four million people on the island and those in the U.S. are U.S. citizens, but they inhabit a territory that is separate and distinct from the rest of the United States that has its own language, culture, and history," notes Juan Gonzalez, who writes about the country in his newly revised book, "Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America." "It is this identity problem that really is reflection of the continuing colonial—Puerto Rico is the last major colony of the United States, one of the last remaining colonies in the world," Gonzalez said on Democracy Now! May 25.

To watch the entire interview, read the complete transcript, download the video/audio podcast, and for more Democracy Now! archives of related stories on Puerto Rico, visit http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/25/obama_to_make_first_presidential_visit

FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/democracynow
Twitter: @democracynow
Daily Email News Digest: http://www.democracynow.org/subscribe

Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today, visit http://www.democracynow.org/donate/YT

they're usually so serious, this was like a morning zoo by comparison. :-)