Puerto Rico honors Obama, LBJ with statues

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rican officials marked Presidents Day by unveiling bronze statues of U.S. President Barack Obama and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, pointedly noting that people who live on the island can't vote in the U.S. general election and lack other basic rights.

The two life-sized statues are the newest additions to the "Avenue of Heroes," outside the capitol building in the U.S. island territory. The statues honor every sitting president who ever visited Puerto Rico, dating back to Theodore Roosevelt. Obama became the eighth when he visited in June.

Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, who represents Puerto Rico in the U.S. Congress but has limited voting powers, said the Obama administration has been helpful to Puerto Rico, including it in economic stimulus funding and health reform, among other initiatives.

But he and other officials who spoke at the ceremony complained about a lack of other basic rights, including representation in the U.S. Senate and the right to vote in the general presidential election.