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    June 14, 2011

Obama Making Rare Presidential Visit to Puerto Rico

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   A boy stands by a poster showing President Barack Obama and former
   president John F. Kennedy, a day before Obama's visit to Puerto Rico,
   on the grounds of El Morro National Park in San Juan, Puerto Rico, June
   13, 2011.
   Photo: AP
   A boy stands by a poster showing President Barack Obama and former
   president John F. Kennedy, a day before Obama's visit to Puerto Rico,
   on the grounds of El Morro National Park in San Juan, Puerto Rico, June
   13, 2011.

   U.S. President Barack Obama is visiting the commonwealth of Puerto Rico
   Tuesday, becoming the first sitting American president to make an
   official trip to the island in 50 years.
   The White House says President Obama will speak briefly at a welcome
   event when he arrives in San Juan. He then will meet with the island's
   governor, Luis Fortuno.
   During the talks at the governor's mansion, the president is expected
   to draw attention to the $7 billion in stimulus money Puerto Rico
   received. Governor Fortuno says the stimulus has led to net gains in
   employment, although it has taken a long time for the spending to have
   an effect.
   Tuesday's stop will last only five hours, but it fulfills a promise
   President Obama made when he was running for office in 2008. During a
   campaign visit to Puerto Rico, Obama vowed to return if elected
   president.
   Tuesday's visit also has significance for Obama's 2012 campaign as he
   continues to reach out to an increasingly powerful Hispanic voting
   bloc.
   Citizens of Puerto Rico are not able to vote in a U.S. general
   election, but Puerto Ricans within the United States make up the
   second-largest group of Hispanics after Mexicans.
   Obama is the fifth U.S. president to travel to the island and the first
   since former president John Kennedy went there in 1961.
   Governor Fortuno says Obama's visit will allow the president to
   understand the issues that concern Puerto Ricans, particularly the need
   for job creation, and the impact of a worsening drug-trafficking
   problem in the Caribbean.
   Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States by Spain in 1898 after the
   Spanish-American war. The island elects its own governor and sends
   delegates to major U.S. party nominating conventions. It also has a
   non-voting representative in the U.S. Congress.
   Statehood has long been a hot political issue in the territory.
   Although the matter is not likely to come up during the president's
   five-hour visit, Obama supports a referendum to be held before the end
   of next year that would allow the island's residents to choose among
   statehood, independence or the current semi-autonomous commonwealth
   status.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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