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The Nome Nugget
Nome, Nome County, Alaska
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Gov. Luis Munoz Marin of Puerto Rico states that Alaska's statehood does not change Puerto Rico's plans to remain a commonwealth, emphasizing its unique status, economic progress from poverty to industrial growth, mild recession impact, shift to heavier industry, and tax policies that do not lure firms from the U.S. mainland.
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SAN JUAN, P.R., (AP) Statehood for Alaska is not altering the plans or aspirations of Gov. Luis Munoz Marin for Puerto Rico.
"We're not on that road at all," Munoz says. "In our status of Commonwealth, we are a unique creation within the American system.
"The people here, by their voting, prefer this. Our commonwealth can be improved. Nothing is perfect.
But our position is not a way station toward statehood or independence."
Interviewed in his office in historic La Fortaleza, oldest executive mansion the western hemisphere, Munoz spoke optimistically of the future of his island homeland.
He has seen Puerto Rico transformed from an "unsolvable" economic problem-as Congressional investigators once described it-to an expanding industrial economy with ever rising per capita income.
Munoz admits the current recession has been felt in Puerto Rico, but "not as much as on the United States mainland."
Having lured much light industry to the sunny island in recent years, Munoz said the tendency now is toward heavier industry to provide more jobs to balance the economy and fight the poverty of bygone years.
Does Puerto Rico, with its exemption from the federal income tax and its tax exemptions for industry, steal industry from the mainland?
The governor contends it does not. Islanders pay a commonwealth income tax.
As for plants deserting the United States and moving to Puerto Rico, he says:
"We have a deliberate policy that no tax exemption will be granted to a plant moving out of another location."
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San Juan, P.R.
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Gov. Luis Munoz Marin affirms Puerto Rico's commitment to its commonwealth status despite Alaska's statehood, describing it as a unique American creation preferred by voters, not a step toward statehood or independence. He discusses economic transformation from poverty to industrial growth, milder recession effects, shift to heavier industry for jobs, and tax policies that exempt from federal income tax but require commonwealth tax and deny exemptions to relocating U.S. plants.