Word: statehood
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...stunning political metamorphosis. After August's aborted coup, Kravchuk, then chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, straddled the fence, neither endorsing nor categorically condemning the coup leaders until failure was no longer in doubt. In quick succession, he resigned from the Communist Party and anointed himself the main champion of statehood. His 11th-hour conversion coincided with the political awakening of a majority of the republic's 53 million citizens...
...STATEHOODERS pledged, if elected in 1992, to offer a referendum solely around the question of statehood--there-by disregarding the island's commonwealth tradition and pro-independence sentiment. The statehooders claim that commonwealth status can serve as a route to independence. But provisions in the law were offered to safeguard both our American citizenship and the permanency of our association with the United States...
...very high on a personal as well as partisan level. He knew that losing would mean his political death and gravely weaken the Popular Democratic Party. But he had no reason to expect defeat and was pressured to assert the validity of the commonwealth option as an alternative to statehood...
...voters the decision was made at the last moment. As election day neared, the vote was anybody's ballgame. In a "Schwarzeneggerian" feat, "Dr. No" came from a 30-point deficit in the polls and three "knockouts" on tripartite debates to emerge as the unquestionable leader of a snowballing statehood movement. Even the combined commonwealth and independence forces were unable to stymie the statehooders. It now seems as though no force can come in the way of statehood, except of course the discriminatory power of the United States Congress...
...alert signal has been sent loudly and unavoidably to those opposed to statehood. It remains on their hands to listen to the voice of history and adapt their expectations to reality. They can either resign themselves to the notion that the needy pockets of the island's poor are mightier than their hearts, or they can refuel the struggle for the defense of our national identity and right to self-determination. The hope of Puerto Rico lies in their ability to look intimidatingly at the eyes of fear--and defeat it at its own game...