SAN JUAN – First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Juan R. Torruella said Tuesday that under no circumstances should Puerto Rico accept the imposition of a federal fiscal control board, warning that it would do away with what little autonomy Puerto Rico has.

“It is absolutely insulting,” said Torruella, who noted that the idea makes his blood boil. He noted that the island has worked hard to obtain a level of autonomy that should not be given up. He said Puerto Rico should be able to govern itself during the current fiscal crisis and that the island can solve it own problems.

Torruella made his remarks during a Rotary Club meeting in San Juan.

The U.S. House Indian, Insular & Alaska Native Affairs Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Don Young (R., Alaska), held a hearing Tuesday on the potential establishment of a federal fiscal control board on Puerto Rico.

The latest hearing marked the seventh time since last year that a Congress committee publicly discussed issues related to the island’s fiscal and economic crisis. Most of the witnesses testified in favor of such a board.

Torruella said Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States that is subordinate culturally and politically to a more developed country and whose decisions are made by Congress. He gave a history of the U.S. occupation of Puerto Rico, starting with the Treaty of Paris, which gave Congress control over Puerto Rico, to the repeal of Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code, which gave stateside companies an exemption from federal taxes on income earned on the island, as he stressed that Puerto Rico’s problems are not only fiscal, but also caused by its lack of political equality.

He noted the impact of the Insular Cases, which are U.S. Supreme Court rulings that he described as “political apartheid”and that must be repealed. The Insular Cases are a series of rulings about the rights of residents living in territories from the early 20th century. These cases established that newly acquired territories belonged to, but were not a part of, the United States. The cases created a distinction between incorporated and unincorporated territories that remains today. The consequence was that in territories including Puerto Rico and Guam, constitutional protections do not apply unless they are fundamental, and territories have no ultimate guarantee of statehood.

While he believes the courts will eventually decide on Puerto Rico’s status, he stressed the need for Puerto Ricans to unite with those living in the United States to force a change on the island’s status. “Puerto Rico needs to create a civil rights movement to cause political equality,” he said