Quo Vadis Puerto Rico?

Here I am, writing in English what my heart is yelling in Spanish. It is often cited that Puerto Rico has suffered from a "brain-drain" in the last couple of decades. Anecdotally, I can relate closely to this statement because I have lived it. As many of my dearest friends; some of the smartest people I know; have left our beautiful shores to find their future somewhere else.

What can be done to help our your professionals stay? For starters, as in words read in the newspaper the other day; Puerto Rico is in dire need of true stateswomen and statesmen (to be politically correct) that will place the collective needs ahead of their short term political motives and allegiances. It is imperative the only agenda that matters is that of moving Puerto Rico forward. No matter how you call it a bus, a train, a ship, or a plane - opportunity is saying good bye and will leave Puerto Rico behind.

It is clear that the current system is not sustainable. Big and inefficient government, duplicity of work, a demoralized workforce, lack of job creation power, the cancer of politics in the workplace, the list can go on forever and many in the island as well as outside of it know them very well. A vibrant private sector is necessary to bring about the change that Puerto Rico needs. Examples of community based organizations are few but often successful in bringing about change. We must not loose sight that sometimes the so called "grandes intereses" might be those of ourselves.