Republicans have long balked at the notion of granting statehood to Puerto Rico, a move broadly supported by Democrats, but in an op-ed for The Hill, a former staffer for Secretary of State Marco Rubio broke with the party to support the idea, calling it a "no-brainer" for national security.
Cesar Conda was Rubio's first chief of staff from his days in the Senate, and now serves as an advisor for the Puerto Rico Statehood Council. On Tuesday, alongside former vice commander for the U.S. Special Operations Command headquarters General Thomas Trask, he co-wrote an editorial where he proclaimed, "If the White House is serious about protecting America’s citizens and future, then welcoming Puerto Rico as the 51st state is a great place to start."
Puerto Rico has been a U.S. territory since 1898, and its residents have been American citizens since 1917. The Caribbean island, however, lacks the full representation conferred to states, an issue that forms the basis of the argument in favor of its becoming a state. Supporters also note that the island boasts a population of around 3.2 million, already higher than that of 19 states in the union. Puerto Rican residents are in favor of the move as well, voting in support of statehood in four non-binding referendums since 2012.
While Democrats have largely been in favor of the idea, Republicans have opposed it out of concern that it would introduce another state that largely votes Democrat. Given that statehood would add two new Senate seats and a handful of House seats from Puerto Rico, such a move could dramatically shift the power balance in Congress. Similar concerns have also been cited for making Washington, D.C., a state as well.
Conda and Trask, however, argued in their op-ed that Puerto Rican statehood could be a major boon for U.S. national security, especially given Trump and Rubio's ambitions in Central and South America.
"In recent months, Puerto Rico has been instrumental in safeguarding America’s Caribbean border, functioning as a base of operations for increased U.S. military activity in the region and as a launchpad from which American interests in the Western Hemisphere are protected," Conda and Trask wrote. "Even during the operation against [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro, he was first taken to the airport in Aguadilla on the island en route to the U.S. to stand trial."
The op-ed continued: "It is clear that, as President Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio seek to shift the balance of power in Latin America, Puerto Rico will continue to be vital to that mission. But the uncertainty caused by the island’s current territory status could jeopardize this initiative. As currently constituted, the relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico remains at arm’s length, and the interests of the territorial legislature and American leadership do not always align."
To remedy this issue, and ensure "seamless coordination between our military interests in the Caribbean," the pair urged the Trump administration to move forward with granting Puerto Rico full statehood. As the 51st state, the island could be "on equal footing with states that serve as staging grounds for major deployments, such as California and North Carolina." It would also serve to counter what they called a "vocal minority" of Puerto Ricans who desire independence from the U.S. over statehood, a prospect that would have the inverse effect and complicate security operations considerably.