The Official Language Act of 1991

Abstract

Representative Héctor López Galarza got the ball rolling in 1989 by introducing a bill declaring Spanish the island’s only official language. An ardent cultural nationalist, he drafted his proposal without consulting with the party’s leadership. The PPD leadership took its time deliberating over this matter while it also faced hearings in Washington over a proposed federal status plebiscite. PNP spokespersons insisted on inserting language that would guarantee Puerto Rico cultural autonomy under statehood. Senator J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana strongly recommended against such an amendment, concerned that it would not sit well with many Americans. He openly revealed that the civic creed’s rhetoric of equality might not apply to those who are culturally dissimilar. Subsequently Gov. Hernández Colón signed the unilingual bill, a move that some of his PNP rivals suggested was carried out to hurt the statehood cause in Washington.