European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse T at left a policeman watches passers by while diners enjoy lunch on the Cobblestone Street that leads to the Chapel of Christ in the old Section of san Juan. Above Ricardo Alegria with a display of carnival masks at the Center for advanced studies of puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Setting a Tad rap right artist Rafael Tufino works at his Home in san Juan. By Robert Glass associated press one image of puerto Picans emerges from the Graffiti sprayed tenements of Brooklyn and the Bronx where poverty Breeds Street gangs drug dealers and welfare dependence. But 1,600 Miles away on the Caribbean Island that generations of poor uneducated puerto Picans have fled you can find the other puerto Rico. The other puerto Rico is a old san Juan a walled City founded by the explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in the 1500s, with narrow cobbled streets and pastel painted colonial mansions a the Casals festival an annual series of classical music concerts started by the legendary Spanish cellist Pablo Casals. A and the Ponce museum of Art which boasts one of the most extensive collections of italian baroque paintings in the americas. The other puerto Rico is also the novels of Manuel Zeno Gandia and Luis Rafael Sanchez the plays of Rene Marques the paintings of Rafael Tufino and Lorenzo Homar and the All puerto rican movie to Oue be paso a Santiago Santiago what happened to his new life nominated for an Academy award As Best foreign language film of 1989. It is the tropical beat of Salsa and merengue the minstrel Folk tales of the Ribaro Mountain Farmer religious Wood carvings of saints known As Santos four stringed Cuatro guitars and papier mache carnival masks with multiple Devil horns. It is a saturday night concert by the puerto Rico symphony orchestra in the 3,000-seat performing arts Center and a sunday afternoon guitar recital in la Casa Del Libro the Book Housea Little known museum of ancient manuscripts in old san Juan. It is what artist Katherine Harman Harding who does abstract Watercolours and collages found soon after arriving a year ago from Indianapolis a i moved to puerto Rico from the Midwest and i see More Art More progressive Art done Here than there including Ricardo Alegria director of the Center for advanced studies of puerto Rico and the Caribbean which is housed in a beautifully restored 16th Century Convent in old san Juan regards Spanish speaking puerto Rico at least in cultural terms As a separate and older country than the United states. Quot puerto Rico was already a country with Greco roman roots two centuries before the United states Quot he says. Still the other puerto Rico exists alongside the Caribbean islands helter shelter commercial development widespread poverty and High Levels of drug related crime and aids among 3.3 million people crowded onto an area Only 100 Miles Long by 35 Miles wide. Moreover the islands image is blurred by West Side Story stereotypes of the 2.5 million puerto Picans living in the crumbling Urban Barrios of the United states. West Side Story was a Beautiful musical but a very bad thing for puerto Rico because it gave the wrong impression of puerto Rico Quot says a former governor Luis Ferre 86, father of puerto Rico a statehood movement and multimillionaire Benefactor of the impressive Ponce museum of Art in the Southern coastal City of Ponce his Birthplace. With the Island planning a plebiscite in 1991 on whether to remain a . Commonwealth form an Independent nation or become the 51st state some feel prejudices against puerto Picans could Dampen any enthusiasm for statehood in the . Congress. Sure it s a problem for us Quot says former gov. Carlos Romero Barcelo Leader of the pro statehood new progressive party Quot jts a problem for Mississippi the image the nation has of he says polls have shown two thirds of americans \ out he willing to accept puerto Rico As a state if the and favored it. But if puerto Picans wanted dependence 80 percent say they would accept that. Quot there san underlying prejudice somewhere there Quot i Picans of course have distinguished i Ems elves in Many Fields in the United states a Singer ise Feliciano film stars Raul Julia and Rita Moreno t Iseball slate Roberto Clemente and surgeon Antonia f sevello to name a few. But the overriding image Quot is of a people who have not i act to full advantage the a Golden opportunity1 of f iving a crack at the american dream Quot says Frank Scilla director of the Center for puerto rican studies City University of new York. I Bonilla says the Tough but romanticized portrayal of Jerto Picans in West Side Story has Long since been placed by a More sinister concept focusing on poverty Street crime drugs family disorganization e usual underclass is an image he says that Quot has very Little to do with by to Day life of Ordinary puerto Picans on the but Alegria says even Many puerto Picans fail to in recite the islands cultural achievements. Some people used to Call puerto rican culture the Hilture of the codfish fritter Quot he says a a slur meant to biggest that frying fish was Quot the Only thing the puerto can has Alegria an anthropologist with a doctorate from Arvard attributes such attitudes to a cultural inferiority simplex resulting from four centuries of Spanish Rule id nearly 100 years of . Control. To be worthwhile i literature or academic research must come from the Apt Side. For example Here in puerto Rico they emphasize t in experts from the United states Quot Alegria says. Quot you could be the Best in your Field and even if you have died in the Best american universities if someone James from the United states he s supposed to be t at Ter than you Are in your own the tried to show the people that we have something to be proud of Quot adds Alegria who has Ritten several books on Indian and african influences a puerto rican culture organized a dozen Small museums and spearheaded restoration of colonial Hildings in old san Juan. Alegria says puerto Rico a diverse culture results am the mix of aboriginal indians Spanish settlers and rican slaves who have inhabited the Island Over the Turies along with regional influences. The colourful carnival masks of Ponce and Loiza for stance Date to medieval Spain White the music of i Ilsa and merengue links puerto Rico with the rest of Itin America and the Caribbean. Art historians say puerto Rico a artistic tradition can Jfe traced As far Back As the 1700s when Jose Page 14 the stars and stripes puerto Rico at a glance area 3,435 Square Miles population 3.3 million people racial distribution 99.9% hispanic As of 1980 capital san Juan labor Force 34% govt 20% services 19% Trade 18% manufacturing major industries pharmaceuticals chemicals machinery and metals Petroleum refining food products apparel yet a 25 Miles Florida Ocean Sart Juan. Puerto Rico Fata do / Cuba Jamaica Caribbean sea Haiti dominican Republic 300 Miles Colombia Venezuela agriculture Coffee plantains bananas yams Taifas pineapples Pigeon peas pumpkins coriander lettuce tobacco current political status Commonwealth gives citizens virtually the same control Over their internal affairs As the fifty states of the . However they do not vote in National elections although they do vote in National primaries. Puerto Rico is represented in Congress solely by a resident commissioner who has a voice but no vote except in committees no Federal income tax is collected from residents on income earned from local puerto rican sources. Source the world almanac and Book of fads Apap Heather Eatman Campeche emerged As a major Painter. Later Francisco Oiler who lived from 1833 to 1917, gained International recognition with colourful landscapes celebrating the islands Beauty. Contemporary puerto rican artists such As Tufino Homar Rafael Ferrer Myrna Baez and Jorge Zeno have established themselves across the whole Range of modern Art from Oil canvases to printmaking. The development of classical music on the Island owes much to Casals the great cellist and composer who lived in puerto Rico for 16 years until his death in 1973 at the age of 97. He founded both the puerto Rico symphony orchestra and the conservatory of music. In 1957, the year Casals arrived from France in exile from the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco he established the Casals festival a two week concert series that is still attracting internationally known musicians to puerto Rico every summer much puerto rican Art and literature Springs not from the Island but from the Tough hispanic Barrios of new York City a Pedro Juan Soto s hard edged Short stories collected in his first Book spies being just one example a and the seemingly endless debate Over domination by the United states. Quot this is a really schizophrenic society Quot Rene Marques one of puerto Rico a Best known writers has observed. Quot puerto Picans have two languages two citizenship two Basic philosophies of life two flags two anthems two loyalties. It is very hard for human beings to Deal with All this both the supporters of statehood and the current Commonwealth relationship argue in favor of retaining puerto Rico s language and culture while being part of the United states. Alegria says he accepts the current relationship with the United states As an economic necessity but ideally would prefer Independence. Under statehood he says puerto rican culture would be swallowed up As he believes has happened with such states As California new Mexico Arizona and Hawaii. Quot i would say that undoubtedly not immediately but in a few years our culture would be totally san Juan a City Hall begun in 1602, dominates the Plaza de armas. The building is a replica of the City Hall in Madrid Spain. The stars and stripes a a a Page
