Ambitions of immediate statehood for Puerto Rico appear on the verge of falling victim to the rise of ultra-conservative groups in the United States, groups in which leaders of the "New Right" see the Island as yet another issue to defeat in the so-called "cultural wars" that dominate the landscape in this election year.

In the case of Puerto Rico, an inquiry by El Vocero into the positions taken by conservative legislators and political commentators, as well as by groups such as the "Tea Party" – a sociopolitical movement that emerged last year to protest programs initiated by the Obama administration, such as the economic stimulus plan and comprehensive health care reform – reveals that the leadership among these sectors is nearly unanimous in their opposition to the Island becoming the 51st state.

The "pull" of the growing right became evident in the "partial failure" of the Republican branch of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico [a political party that supports statehood] in April when Congress voted on HR 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2010. The bill, presented by Pedro Pierluisi, resident commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States, called for a plebiscite vote, and was heavily lobbied by Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño and other members of his administration.

Despite the fact that at one point, the bill relied on a large group of supporters from both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, half of the latter group voted against it in the end even though they had been co-sponsors of the measure.

This last-minute "withdrawal" allowed several Republican congressmen, among them Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), to provide ammunition for those critical of statehood for Puerto Rico. It also fueled the anger of political commentator Glenn Beck of Fox News, who is described by many as the de facto spokesman of the most conservative Republicans. He described the Puerto Rican effort as a massive conspiracy between the New Progressive Party and left-wing American groups "to [fundamentally] transform" the United States.

On both radio and television, the controversial Beck has tied statehood for Puerto Rico to the racial problems and battles with immigration in Arizona and Texas.

"They're going to paint this as a vote for freedom, but Puerto Rico has already voted and they've [Puerto Ricans] already spoken. When they send the delegates to Washington, if you stand against this, you'll be labeled a racist," he said, in an erroneous reference to the provisions of the Tennessee Plan.

Meanwhile, right before the Congressional vote, Congressman Smith launched his own anti-statehood campaign from Texas by sending a letter to all members of Congress, urging them to vote against the bill.

Smith's arguments were numerous, among them: that Puerto Ricans did not want statehood, which they had showed by voting against it on several prior occasions; that Puerto Rico as a state would be a burden on the federal government, costing billions of dollars every year; and last but not least, that the Island would disrupt the balance of power in Congress with the election of two new senators and six congressmen – all of whom, according to Smith, would be Democrats. To emphasize this point, Smith cites – in bold and underlined letters – a 2008 poll from the respected Pew Hispanic Center, which indicated that 61 percent of Puerto Ricans living in the United States are registered as Democrats, 24 percent as Independents and only 11 percent as Republicans.

"What is happening is a bit worrisome," says Dr. Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer, who has spent years trying to personally recruit supporters from the circles of power in Washington for the statehood cause; and who claims to agree with many of the positions of the Tea Party movement.

"The Fortuño administration is not doing anything to attract groups like the Tea Party and if they are doing it, it doesn't seem to be effective," Ramírez de Ferrer said.

The former senator from the New Progressive Party emphasizes that the problem lies in the fact that "the New Progressive Party is not establishing the relationships or contacts it needs to prevent us from being associated with immigrant groups."

As for political analyst Luis Dávila Colón, he ties the defeat of the petition for Puerto Rican statehood to American political problems.

"We're in a critical moment in American history. It is a moment that is going to pass but it comes with the usual resistance that emerges when there is a change to traditional power," says Dávila Colón. "Demographics show that whites will be in the minority in the United States and, of course, the trend with the greatest increase belongs to Hispanics. These are the cultural wars, those ethnocentric wars that are nothing more than a swan song."

Even though most of the opposition that statehood supporters face in Washington comes from members of conservative groups, Governor Luis Fortuño fails to mention the critics found among his fellow Republicans, who have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Hispanicization of American society.

This week, in fact, Fortuño called for President Barack Obama to fulfill his campaign promises and be more "aggressive" in providing a solution to the debate over Puerto Rico's status.

"May he [Obama] rise to this historic moment for us and support the right of the Puerto Rican people to a direct plebiscite vote," Fortuño said in a ceremony commemorating the birth of national hero José Celso Barbosa. He added, "We must free ourselves from the chains of colonization so we can move forward. We want to be free to protect our culture."

Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, on his part, supported, without hesitation, Fortuño's statements. "I found Governor Fortuño's appeal to President Obama appropriate and timely," said Pierluisi. "It is time that the White House support our efforts to hold a plebiscite vote and allow our people to choose from the four available options of status: our current [Commonwealth] status; statehood; independence; and sovereign association."

When El Vocero asked Pierluisi what he believes is the impact of ultra-conservative groups on his efforts, he responded, "Until we obtain statehood, there will always be a very conservative faction in the United States that is going to oppose it. But they are in a race against time because the United States is increasingly becoming a mosaic of cultures that includes ours."

He added, "On the other hand, we can't generalize when we refer to the forces behind movements like the Tea Party. The presence of the Tea Party caucus has recently gained momentum in Congress and we see, among its members, leaders who accept statehood as one of our status options, including Representatives Dan Burton (R-IN) and Mike Pence (R-IN)."