Why I, a young Puerto Rican living Texas, is scared of a Biden Presidency.
I have to be honest, it is very easy to hate Donald Trump. He is an outrageous lunatic with no censor that won’t shut up about how great he is. It’s even easier to say that Trump is racist, homophobic, sexist, and all the other ‘phobics’ and ‘ists’ ever known to man. From first glance, it might seem that a 15 year old Puerto Rican that resides just outside of the Dallas Metroplex should be pleased when he hears the name Biden, but that is just simply not the case.
In the same way that it is easy to see what Donald Trump is, who Joe Biden is might be even more visible. A politician for the last 47 years, Biden has changed his policy to better cater toward voters, and although that may be good for voters at first glance, it’s a bad sign for a long term relationship.
The Biden-Harris ticket is promising a cornucopia of surprises for Puerto Rico, including extra funding, recognition, and even statehood.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
So then why do I believe that Biden is such a threat to Puerto Ricans?
Socialism’s place in Puerto Rico
Socialism (and more scarily Communism) has been a familiar concept in the Caribbean political scene. Countries like Venezuela and Cuba are both part of the tight-knit Caribbean family. However, Cuba and Puerto Rico’s relationship has lead many Puerto Ricans (and many more Cuban-Americans) to make a decisive choice for Trump in this election.
Cuba and Puerto Rico’s relationship in history dates back even before the creation of the United States. The two islands were conquered by Spain shortly after Columbus’ journey to the New World, and they were sister colonies up until the Spanish-American war, which was rumored to be started on purpose to fulfill America’s “imperialistic dreams”. Once the United States took control of the two islands, they promptly kept Puerto Rico and liberated Cuba to work as a ‘puppet state’
It may seem like thats where the line is drawn, but the two islands are practically identical in cultural senses, with identical histories, and similar modern day qualities, they are similar to say the least.
Which explains why Socialism and Communism are such difficult topics for Puerto Ricans and Cubans alike to discuss. The entrance into power by Fidel Castro deeply affected the relationship of the two islands, and gave Puerto Ricans a first row seat at the horrors of Communism. Food shortages, suppressed economy, and horrible living conditions. In fact, most of the Cuban population in the United States fled Cuba’s Communist state, so there are very vivid details regarding Communism in the Latino population.
What does this mean for Biden?
Puerto Rico is a troubled place, high crime rate, poor living conditions, fleeing population, and constant hardship in hurricane season. It seems that Biden believes that if he makes enough promises, he will win the hearts and minds of latino voters, but it looks like that is just not the case. The state of Florida, a big prize for the Latino vote, went for Trump. 55% of Cuban-Americans went to vote for Trump in the polls.
Democrats have painted themselves as the party for the suppressed, and a home for the marginalized, but with their lean into Socialism, are they losing a big part of the vote?
I say, yes. Cubans and Puerto Ricans alike have seen the horrors of Communism, and both are ready to depart the Democratic party that has so willingly embraced the culprits of their nightmares.
