One of the oldest and most noxious vices of public service was exposed once again before a country tired of such news in a report released in recent days by the Comptroller’s Office. The document hits us, once again, with details about what the despicable practice of political discrimination in government costs us, in money and much more.
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Lee este artículo en español.
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This is a very old evil, which has represented the loss of millions of dollars for decades. Moreover, it has turned the lives of countless state workers into hell and has ruined, in some of its most important ways, public service itself. All because unscrupulous officials marginalize, harass, degrade or simply fire co-workers for the sole “sin” of belonging to another political party.
Of course, we condemn in the strongest terms these despicable actions that should never have any place in a democratic system of law and order. We demand, also in the strongest terms, that every person entrusted with the sacred task of directing a government agency or program respect both human dignity and the dignity of public service and never again engage in these actions that do so much harm.
Comptroller Yesmin Valdivieso’s report, which was released by this newspaper on Monday, reveals how rampant political discrimination remains in the government. Between 2018 and 2023, lawsuits for $105 million were filed against the Puerto Rico government for political discrimination, as well as for sexual and labor harassment as well, two other serious problems that also deserve attention.
The lawsuits cover 81 executive agencies and 68 public corporations, which illustrates, with disturbing accuracy, how widespread this serious problem is. In the period examined by the Comptroller, 12 political discrimination lawsuits were settled for $415,000.
The Comptroller’s report is the first time this issue has been analyzed at the government level since 2010. Other entities have documented the serious problem in frankly appalling terms. In 2016, then-law students Jean Santiago Cruz and Alejandra Sabater Baerga revealed, in an article published in the University of Puerto Rico Law Review, that between 1970 and 2005, 51% of the political discrimination claims seen in federal appellate courts across the United States came from just one of dozens of U.S. jurisdictions - Puerto Rico.
In 2021, writing about a political discrimination lawsuit in the government, Federal Judge Francisco Besosa said that political discrimination lawsuits cost the government “hundreds of millions of dollars”.
It is clear, and we have known for a long time, that this is a very serious problem, which those who have governed until now have either not given it importance, or have deliberately ignored it or, even worse, have encouraged it. It is time, without further delay, to put an end to this evil.
We urge the government that takes office in January 2025 to remove this burden once and for all from the people of Puerto Rico, respecting the dignity of the worker and the human being and establishing a merit system in the government that guarantees to all of us that no one enters public service, nor is promoted, without exams that demonstrate that they have the competencies and qualifications for their jobs.
No society can boast of being modern and orderly with such a basic lack as the guarantee that those who serve in government are there on merit and not because of their political affiliation, or by engaging in the horrendous practice of persecuting and harassing those who do not identify with the color of the party in power.
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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.
