Will we find common ground again? How do we rebuild a shared sense of purpose?
I look at our daily debates and can’t help but feel that it’s becoming much harder for us to look each other in the eye, to listen to one another, to shake hands, and to search for solutions together.
Taking a side is easy. Those who surround themselves with people who think just like them earn hollow applause and recognition for their positions. The difficult thing to do, the truly brave position, is to hold on to an independent point of view. Those who know how to listen to opposing perspectives and respectfully debate with each other achieve something far greater than those who don’t, because the noblest goal of any debate is not to win, but to understand.
Often, choosing this path is lonely. It takes great emotional and intellectual courage to do so, but it is well worth it.
The Center for a New Economy (CNE) has spent more than 25 years navigating those paths, always in search of knowledge, of deeper understanding, and truth. We begin with the premise that the world is neither black nor white, but gray, and we must shade it with in-depth research, with rigor, and with firm, yet not absolute, positions.
That’s why we strive to debate thoughtfully, test new ideas, and create better public policies together.
It pains me that our current politics are so petty and shallow, that ideology and slander have taken the place of facts and research.
I want a better Puerto Rico, one that aspires to more. A place where those forced to leave can return. That includes my siblings, my nieces and nephews, and so many friends and family. I don’t want to have to wait until the Holidays to see them.
Everyone has their own vision for the island, but I have discovered that, at the very least, we all share the same desire to call it home. And even though we may have lost the habit of speaking with one another, I always hold on to the hope that bonds like those are unbreakable.
I have seen it with my own eyes. In our moments of greatest adversity, empathy rises, our distrust of “the other” collapses, we transcend social classes, we cast off preconceived fears, and we reclaim a sense of our collective wellbeing.
That is what I’m betting on: that we can build, together.
That is precisely the vision I carry forward at CNE. Now that I am preparing to lead this great organization, with the deepest honor, I want us to be a space to meet each other, a forum for healthy and productive debates, a source of clear and reliable information, and a benchmark for fair and effective public policy.
Today, more than ever, we need to create spaces that foster consensus. Puerto Rico cannot bear any more division. That is why I take on this responsibility convinced that CNE must and can build bridges without compromising its impartiality; and that it must also serve as a beacon, to illuminate all that unites us, and to guide us in the right direction.
This has always been the spirit of CNE, since its founding in 1998. Here, we have never stopped thinking and dreaming big. In this next chapter, I hope we continue to grow—both in Puerto Rico and as an organization.
Whether you have worked with us before or not, I invite you to join the conversation, to share ideas, and hold each other accountable with transparency.
It is up to all of us to face Puerto Rico’s challenges and move forward together.