Former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño made an emotional case for his island’s statehood on Tuesday during an interview with Jorge Ramos.

A majority of voters on the island backed statehood in a non-binding referendum last year, but so far no progress has been made on the issue in Congress. Ramos pressed him on whether statehood could actually become a reality.

Fortuño told the story of a Puerto Rican veteran who he became close with during his time in office.

“I think he should have the right to decide whether we go to the next war or not,” he said. “He should have a right to decide who’s going to be his commander in chief. He should have a right to decide whether we’re going to pay more taxes or less taxes. And today we don’t have that right.”

Fortuño said that achieving statehood “will take time.”

“God gave us this time. Time addresses and solves everything,” he added.