“Free Palestine and Haiti too.” Why did Kamala Harris suddenly stop clapping for a Spanish song?

US Vice President Kamala Harris applauds a song protesting her presence on the island of Puerto Rico (French)

A video clip showed US Vice President Kamala Harris clapping unconsciously and smiling while singing a song in Spanish during her visit to the island of Puerto Rico, before she suddenly stopped clapping after the song's lyrics were translated to her.

While Harris, 59, was visiting the courtyard of a new home at the Joyoco Community Center in the island's capital, San Juan, a protester began singing in Spanish, saying, "We want to know, Kamala, why did you come here? We want to know. The vice president is here making history. We want to know." Her opinion on the colony: Free Palestine and Haiti as well.”

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Kamala Harris claps along to a protest song in Puerto Rico — but stops after an aid tells her what it means: “We want to know, Kamala, what did you come here for? … Long live Free Palestine and Haiti too!” pic.twitter.com/ruXTB2Y5tP

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 24, 2024

Trying to be friendly, Harris nodded and unintentionally clapped, before an aide appeared to inform her of what the words meant, and she suddenly stopped clapping.

Hours before Harris' arrival, dozens of demonstrators gathered in the capital of Puerto Rico to denounce the territorial status of the island and to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.

Rechazamos la presencia de quien representa a un gobierno genocida, invader, neoliberal, y violador de rechos humanos. Ayer, denunciamos and our hermanamos in Haiti and Palestina, como ellas, Puerto Rico enfrenta los neofastos impactos del colonialismo and el imperialismo. pic.twitter.com/47nRG9cTjS

— Jornada: SALP (@JSALPPR) March 23, 2024

The demonstrators greeted Harris' convoy with a banner reading, "Kamala Harris is a war criminal," in a demonstration against the Biden administration's support for Israel in its war on the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing for about 171 days.

Rechazamos la presencia de quien representa a un gobierno genocida, invader, neoliberal, y violador de rechos humanos. Ayer, denunciamos and our hermanamos in Haiti and Palestina, como ellas, Puerto Rico enfrenta los neofastos impactos del colonialismo and el imperialismo. pic.twitter.com/47nRG9cTjS

— Jornada: SALP (@JSALPPR) March 23, 2024

¡Vivan Haiti, Palestina and Puerto Rico LIBRES! #puertoricoconpalestina#puertoricoconhaití#abajolacolonia#seacabaronlaspromesas pic.twitter.com/IRyLtC2L83

— Jornada: SALP (@JSALPPR) March 23, 2024

First visit since Hurricane Maria.

This is Harris's first visit to Puerto Rico as Vice President, as she previously visited the island as a US Senator in 2017 after it was struck by the devastating Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

In May 2017, the island submitted an official request to Washington to restructure its debts amounting to $70 billion, in the largest bankruptcy in the history of the US states, as nearly 50% of Puerto Rico’s population lives below the poverty line.

Harris' visit to Puerto Rico at the time came as part of promoting the federal aid she received in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which struck the island in 2017 and killed about 3,000 people.

As for the last trip, the US Vice President visited an area in the town of Canovas, which received federal housing funds disbursed by the Biden administration to rebuild homes for about 6,300 families across the island in the wake of the hurricane.

The visit was also aimed at Latino voters in light of the upcoming US elections in November 2024, although Puerto Ricans do not have representatives to cast their votes in the presidential electoral college.

Harris also commemorated the 151st anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the country when it was under Spanish rule, along with community leaders and artists in San Juan where the island's cultural heritage and African influence were celebrated.

Harris was accompanied on the visit, which lasted about five hours, by US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Adrian Todman, and they were received by state Governor Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat whose New Progressive Party has long sought statehood.

“To date, our administration has invested more than $140 billion in Puerto Rico,” Harris said during the visit.

Americans do not vote in elections

Since Puerto Rico is a US territory and not a state, people living on the island cannot vote in presidential elections, even though they are US citizens by birth, but political parties allow them to participate in primaries that help elect presidential candidates.

The Democratic Party primaries in Puerto Rico are scheduled to be held on April 28, and the Republican Party primaries are scheduled for April 21.

Nearly 6 million Puerto Ricans live on the U.S. mainland, many of them in competitive states like Florida and Pennsylvania.

Biden-Harris supporters hope that touting the Biden administration's victories in Puerto Rico will sway Latino voters of Puerto Rican descent who live on the U.S. mainland and can register to vote in the presidential election.

A Spanish-speaking American island

Since 1493, Puerto Rico has been under the control of the Spanish Empire, and after four centuries of rule, the Spaniards ceded it to the United States of America, which was victorious over them. It was officially called the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, with its capital being San Juan. Spanish and English are the national languages.

The island, whose name means port of the rich in Spanish, is located in the Caribbean region between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, and its area is 13,790 square kilometers.

Puerto Rico adopts a republican political system and enjoys self-rule within the framework of a union with the United States. It officially became independent on July 25, 1952 after adopting a constitution that includes self-rule, and its currency is the US dollar.

The island was granted a special “free state partner” status, a phrase that sums up all the complexity of relations with the American authority.

In June 2017, voters in Puerto Rico chose for their island to become a US state in a referendum that witnessed a huge abstention rate, and was boycotted by the opposition.

Source: Al Jazeera + American press