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{
    "localId": "1554455",
    "label": "Puerto Rico - Compact of Permanent Union, October 1975",
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    "id": "1554455",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1554455",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Puerto Rico - Compact of Permanent Union, October 1975",
    "description": "This file contains a published report of the Ad hoc Advisory Group on Puerto Rico.",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1554455",
    "collections": [
        "White House Special Files Unit Files",
        "Issue Decision Papers for the President"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "Puerto Rico",
        "Intergovernmental relations",
        "Territories and possessions"
    ],
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        "logicalDate": "1975-10-31",
        "month": 10,
        "year": 1975
    },
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        "logicalDate": "1975-10-01",
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{
    "seq": 41,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/ford/grf-0010/569572/1554455/1554455_Page_042_Image_0001.jpg",
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    "ocrText": "not debase the spirit. It is evident that such aid cannot cease\ndoes immediately as we have built a socio-economic structure based to\nsignificant extent on such aids. They should be reduced grad-\na ually as the stronger powers and the wider autonomic range of\nSEPARATE VIEWS OF\naction allow Puerto Rico to deal effectively with its problems\nVICTOR M. PONS, J R .\nfrom the realistic perspective of what Puerto Rico really is and not\nfrom the self-destructive perspective of what other countries are.\nTo my mind, it is when we obtain the above that the Free\n(Translated from the Spanish)\nAssociated State will have achieved full maturity and will facilitate\nand strengthen even more the association between the peoples of\nI find it necessary to briefly express my position with regard\nPuerto Rico and of the United States of America with a maximum\nto the work of this Advisory Group.\nof dignity and with the very strong bonds of the common en-\nI have voted in favor of the draft of a new compact because\ndeavor to defend and foster individual liberty, democracy as a\nundoubtedly it represents a significant step forward in the request\nsystem of government, and justice as the guide to human conduct.\nfor the widest possible autonomy made by the Puerto Rican people\nTo that end we should dedicate our future efforts.\nby way of the only plebiscite ever held on the subject in Puerto\nRico. I have endorsed the draft also because it has the additional\nvirtue of clarifying and strengthening the legal and political struc-\ntures which constitute the base of the Free Associated State.\nNevertheless, I wish to make clear that the draft expresses only\nthe consensus of the Advisory Group. It does not represent my\nown personal vision of the Free Associated State, neither does it\nrepresent that of other members of the Group inasmuch as the\nconsensus of all is not the opinion of anyone in particular. I am\none of those who expound that the powers of the Free Associated\nState must, in many cases, be stronger and its range of autonomic\naction wider. It is in this context that I wish to make my position\nclear as to the only specific matter to which I will address myself\nin these comments.\nIt is indeed unfortunate that in this day and age some wish to\nestablish a correlation between political liberties and economic\naid. Yet, as long as man exists, the eternal conflict between the\nchains of avarice and the flourishing of liberty will continue to\nexist. Bearing in mind this reality I, contrary to others who\nshare with me this position, believe that the best way to dissipate\nthis issue and break the chains that bind the spirit, is not for\nPuerto Rico to aspire to contribute to the general expenses of the\nfederation which constitutes the United States of America, but to\ngradually end all aid that is not necessary to provide, not a rich life,\nbut a life free from hunger and misery which dignifies man and\n73\n72"
}