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Political status of Puerto Rico

October 20, 2023

The political status of Puerto Rico is that of an unincorporated territory of the United States. As such, the island of Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign nation nor a U.S. state. It is because of that ambiguity, the territory, as a polity, lacks certain rights but enjoys certain benefits that other polities have or lack. For instance, in contrast to U.S. states, Puerto Rico residents cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections nor can they elect their own senators and representatives to the U.S. Congress. On the other hand, in contrast to U.S. states, only some residents of Puerto Rico are subject to federal income taxes.[a] The political status of the island thus stems from how different Puerto Rico is politically from sovereign nations and from U.S. states.

The status of the island is the result of various political activities within both the United States and Puerto Rican governments. The United Nations removed it from the list of non-self-governing territories in 1953,[17] but it remains subject to the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution. According to the Insular Cases, Puerto Rico is "a territory appurtenant and belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States within the revenue clauses of the Constitution".[18][b]

American and Puerto Rican political activities regarding the status question have revolved around three sets of initiatives: presidential executive orders, bills in the U.S. Congress, and referendums held in Puerto Rico. U.S. Presidents have issued three executive orders on the subject, and Congress has considered four major bills on Puerto Rico's political status. Puerto Rican status referendums have been held four times to determine the desired political status of Puerto Rico in relation to the United States of America. None of them have been binding on U.S. Congress.

Internationally, several organizations have called for the U.S. government to expedite the process to allow self-determination in Puerto Rico while considering Puerto Rico a Caribbean nation with its own national identity.[22][23][24][25][26] For instance, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has called for the United States "to allow the Puerto Rican people to take decisions in a sovereign manner, and to address their urgent economic and social needs, including unemployment, marginalization, insolvency and poverty."[27]

Background Edit

The United States acquired the islands of Puerto Rico in 1898 after the Spanish–American War, and the archipelago has been under U.S. sovereignty since. In 1950, Congress enacted legislation (P.L. 81-600) authorizing Puerto Rico to hold a constitutional convention and, in 1952, the people of Puerto Rico ratified a constitution establishing a republican form of government for the island. After being approved by Congress and the President in July 1952 and thus given force under federal law (P.L. 82-447), the new constitution went into effect on July 25, 1952.

Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917.[28][29][30] After the promulgation of the Commonwealth constitution in 1952, the government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico presented its voters with plebiscites regarding the political status of its body politic in 1967, 1993, and 1998. An additional referendum held in 1991 sought to amend the relationship through an amendment to the Puerto Rican constitution. Each time, the results favored retaining the current status over the possible independence of Puerto Rico and statehood alternatives.

As a result of Puerto Rico's status as a U.S. territory, the citizens of Puerto Rico do not have any voting representation in the U.S. Federal government. Instead of outright representation through Senators and House Representatives, Puerto Rico has one non-voting Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives. Furthermore, Puerto Rico is not represented in the Electoral College, and thus U.S. citizens resident there are unable to vote in U.S. presidential elections. Citizens of Puerto Rico can vote in the Republican and Democratic primary elections.

Although Puerto Rico presently has a certain amount of local autonomy, according to the U.S. Constitution ultimate governance of the island is retained by both the U.S. Congress and President.[31][32][33] Thus, results of plebiscites, whether or not authorized by Congress, while they reflect public sentiment, and thus bear some impact, can be ignored by Congress. Ultimately, the results of Puerto Rican plebiscites are opinions, although congressional resolutions have expressed support for following the will of the Puerto Rican people.[34][full citation needed]

Terminology Edit

The English term "commonwealth" has been used for a number of different types of entities:

The definition of the term "commonwealth" as per current U.S. State Department policy (as codified in the department's Foreign Affairs Manual) reads: "The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific political status or relationship. It has, for example, been applied to both states and territories. When used in connection with areas under U.S. sovereignty that are not states, the term broadly describes an area that is self-governing under a constitution of its adoption and whose right of self-government will not be unilaterally withdrawn by Congress."[36]

Juan R. Torruella, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (which has jurisdiction over the Federal Court for the District of Puerto Rico), states that the use of the term "commonwealth" is a label that "can deceive and obscure the true nature of things". He states that Puerto Rico is obviously not a state, and that "neither Puerto Rico's status nor its relationship with the U.S. supports any legitimate claim that a British type of 'commonwealth' exists between Puerto Rico and the United States".[37]

Then U.S. Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman, under whose Department resided responsibility of Puerto Rican affairs, clarified the new commonwealth label by stating, "The bill (to permit Puerto Rico to write its own constitution) merely authorizes the people of Puerto Rico to adopt their own constitution and to organize a local government. ... The bill under consideration would not change Puerto Rico's political, social, and economic relationship to the United States."[38]

The Insular Cases Edit

It has been said that "any inquiry into Puerto Rico's status must begin with the Constitution of the United States, as well as various Supreme Court and lower court decisions".[39]

Almost immediately after Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States, Puerto Rico's political status was defined by a series of landmark decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court in what are collectively known as The Insular Cases. From 1901 to 1905, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore to the territories. However, the Court in these cases also established the doctrine of territorial incorporation. Under the same, the Constitution only applied fully in incorporated territories such as Alaska and Hawaii, whereas it only applied partially in the new unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. Although other cases followed, strictly speaking the Insular Cases are the original six opinions issued concerning acquired territories as a result of the Treaty of Paris (1898). The six cases were:[40]

  • De Lima v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 1 (1901) A plaintiff challenged the imposition of duties for the import of sugar from Puerto Rico to the United States proper. The Court sided with the plaintiff holding that Puerto Rico was not a "foreign country" and hence the duties were invalid.[41]
  • Goetze v. United States (Crossman v. United States), 182 U.S. 221 (1901)
  • Dooley v. United States, 182 U.S. 222 (1901)
  • Armstrong v. United States, 182 U.S. 243 (1901)
  • Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244 (1901)

    Considered the leading Insular case, concluded that the United States could acquire territory and exercise unrestricted power in determining what rights to concede to its inhabitants. It included the "fateful phrase" that:[42]

    While in an international sense Porto Rico (sic) was not a foreign country, since it was subject to the sovereignty of and was owned by the United States, it was foreign to the United States in a domestic sense, because the island has not been incorporated into the United States, but was merely appurtenant thereto as a possession.[43]

    The case created the constitutionally unprecedented category of "unincorporated territories".[44]
  • Huus v. New York and Porto Rico Steamship Co., 182 U.S. 392 (1901)

Other authorities, such as José Trías Monge, state that the list also includes these additional two cases:[42]

The Supreme Court later made other rulings. For example, in Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298, 305 (1922), explained the distinction between an incorporated and a non-incorporated territory. Juan R. Torruella restated it this way, "an unincorporated territory is a territory as to which, when acquired by the United States, no clear intention was expressed that it would eventually be incorporated into the Union as a State".[45]

Since the Insular Cases had established that only those rights in the U.S. Bill of Rights that are determined to be "fundamental" are applicable in unincorporated territories, the implications of Balzac v. Porto Rico have been enormous. For example:

  • The Court held that the right to trial by jury is not a fundamental right, and thus need not be given to criminal defendants in Puerto Rico.[37] (see Dorr v. United States.[46] See also Balzac v. Porto Rico[47][48]
  • The Court relied on Downes and Balzac to justify the outright denial of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to United States citizens who had relocated to Puerto Rico from the States. This ruling allowed Congress to deny Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments to the aged and benefits to children and the poor who reside in Puerto Rico, even in the case of an insured who had worked all his life as a resident of the States proper but then moved to live in Puerto Rico.[49][50] (see Califano v. Torres, 435 U.S. 1 (1978) (per curiam))

In a brief concurrence in the United States Supreme Court judgment of Torres v. Puerto Rico, 442 U.S. 465 (1979), Supreme Court Justice Brennan, argued that any implicit limits from the Insular Cases on the basic rights granted by the Constitution (including especially the Bill of Rights) were anachronistic in the 1970s.[51]

Implications of the current political status Edit

Main article: Implications of Puerto Rico's current political status

Puerto Rico's current political status limits the autonomy of the Puerto Rican government. For example, the Island's government is not fully autonomous, and a degree of federal presence in the Island is commonplace, including a branch of the United States Federal District Court.

 
In 1917, "The Evening journal" newspaper stated, "United States colonies have responded enthusiastically to his call for recruits" with an image of Puerto Ricans ready to go to Panama to guard the Canal for the US.

People born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens by birth, but that citizenship is protected only by an Act of the US Congress rather than by the U.S. Constitution, with the implication that the U.S. Congress can unilaterally revoke the American citizenship of those born there, either individually or collectively. Puerto Ricans are also covered by a group of "fundamental civil rights" but, because Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory, they are not covered by the full Bill of Rights. All residents must pay federal taxes but, for a variety of reasons, only some pay federal income taxes.[52][a]

Puerto Ricans lack a voting representative in the U.S. Congress, but they do have a Resident Commissioner who has a voice in Congress (but no vote other than committee-level voting). Puerto Ricans must also serve in the United States military whenever it is compulsory in the mainland United States, with the same duties and obligations as U.S. citizens residing in the 50 states.

Status questions Edit

Puerto Rico's main political issue is the territory's relationship with the United States. A United States territory since 1898, and known as "Estado Libre Asociado" (Free Associated State) or as commonwealth since 1952, Puerto Rico today is torn by profound ideological rifts, as represented by its political parties, which stand for three distinct future political scenarios: the status quo (commonwealth), statehood, and independence. The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) seeks to maintain or improve the current status toward becoming a more sovereign territory of the United States, the New Progressive Party (PNP) seeks to fully incorporate Puerto Rico as a U.S. state, and the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) seeks national independence.

When asked, in non-binding plebiscites, to choose between independence, statehood, or continuation of the status quo with enhanced powers, as proposed by the PPD, Puerto Ricans have voted to remain a commonwealth. In the penultimate plebiscite in 1998, Puerto Ricans voted for "none of the above" by a slight majority. While 50.3% of them voted for the status quo, it has been asserted[by whom?] that "the oldest strategy for governing recalcitrant subjects—divide and conquer—was subtly at work."[53]

The issue is debated and is on the agenda of all the political parties and civil society groups. Several pro-commonwealth leaders within the PPD are proposing an Associated Republic or Free Association similar to that of the former U.S. territories of the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands or Palau.

Plebiscites Edit

Main article: Puerto Rico political status plebiscites

In general, three main alternatives were presented to Puerto Rican voters in status plebiscites: full independence, maintenance or enhancement of the current commonwealth status, and U.S. statehood. The exact expectations for each of these status formulas are a matter of debate by a given position's adherents and detractors. Puerto Ricans have proposed positions that modify the alternatives above: indemnified independence with phased-out U.S. subsidy, expanded political but not fiscal autonomy, statehood with a gradual phasing out of industrial federal tax incentives.

In 1967 and 1993, Commonwealth (the name listed for current territorial status) won. In another plebiscite held on November 6, 2012, 54% of respondents voted to reject the current status under the territorial clause of the U.S. Constitution.[54] In a second question, 61% favored statehood as the preferred alternative; however, when blank ballots were counted, statehood support dropped to 45%.[55] Another referendum was held on June 11, 2017, in which voters had three options: "Statehood", "Free Association/Independence" or "Current Territorial Status". While 97% of voters chose "Statehood", turnout was only 23% (the lowest in history) due to a boycott from pro-Independence and pro-Commonwealth supporters. The latest referendum was held on November 3, 2020, during the general election. The voters were asked, “Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as State?”. The “Yes” option received 52.52% of the vote. The “No” option received 47.48% and turnout was at 54.72%.[56]

The following table summarizes the results of Puerto Rico's plebiscites so far.

Results of Puerto Rico's status referendums, vote total (% total)[57]
Year
Portion
 1967[58] 1993[59] 1998[60][61] 2012[62] 2017 2020
Part I Part II
Independence 4,248 (0.6%) 75,620 (4.4%) 39,838 (2.5%) 74,895 (5.5%) 7,981 (1.5%)[c] N/A
Commonwealth 425,132 (60.4%) 826,326 (48.6%) 993 (0.1%) 828,077 (46.0%) 7,048 (1.4%)[d] N/A
Free Association N/A N/A 4536 (0.3%) 454,768 (33.3%) N/A[e] N/A
Statehood 274,312 (39.0%) 788,296 (46.3%) 728,157 (46.5%) 834,191 (61.2%) 508,862 (97.1%) 655,505 (52.5%)
None of the above N/A N/A 787,900 (50.3%) N/A N/A 592,671 (47.5%)
Electoral turnout 66% 74% 71% 78.19% 23.2% 54.7%

In the 2012 Puerto Rican status referendum,[63] 54.0% of voters indicated "No" to maintaining the current political status. A full 61.1% of voters chose statehood, 33.3% chose free association, and 5.6% chose independence.[64][65] Because there were almost 500,000 blank ballots, creating confusion as to the voters' true desire, Congress decided to ignore the vote.[66][67] The 2014 budget bill included $2.5 million in funding for a future vote on Puerto Rico's political status.[68][69]

The previous plebiscites provided voters with three options: remain a Commonwealth, Statehood and Independence/Free Association. The Puerto Rican status referendum, 2017 was to offer only two options: Statehood and Independence/Free Association. If the majority favor Independence/Free Association, a second vote will be held to determine the preference: full independence as a nation or associated free state status with independence but with a "free and voluntary political association" between Puerto Rico and the United States. The specifics of the association agreement[70] would be detailed in the Compact of Free Association that would be negotiated between the U.S. and Puerto Rico. That document might cover topics such as the role of the U.S. military in Puerto Rico, the use of the U.S. currency, free trade between the two entities, and whether Puerto Ricans would be U.S. citizens.[71]

Former governor Ricardo Rosselló was strongly in favor of statehood to help develop the economy and help to "solve our 500-year-old colonial dilemma ... Colonialism is not an option .... It’s a civil rights issue ... 3.5 million citizens seeking an absolute democracy," he told the news media.[72][73]

Statehood might be useful as a means of dealing with the financial crisis, since it would allow for bankruptcy and the relevant protection. According to the Government Development Bank, this might be the only solution to the debt crisis. Congress has the power to vote to allow Chapter 9 protection without the need for statehood, but in late 2015 there was very little support in the House for this concept. Other benefits to statehood include increased disability benefits and Medicaid funding, the right to vote in presidential elections and the higher (federal) minimum wage.[74]

At approximately the same time as the referendum, Puerto Rico's legislators are also expected to vote on a bill that would allow the Governor to draft a state constitution and hold elections to choose senators and representatives to the federal Congress. Regardless of the outcome of the votes, Congress will be the body to make the final decision on the status of Puerto Rico.[73]

Presidential executive orders Edit

Main article: Presidential executive orders on the political status of Puerto Rico

Various U.S. presidents have signed executive orders to help define, study, and generate activity regarding the political status of Puerto Rico. Three major orders were the 2005, 2007, and 2011 executive orders to establish the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status.

Bills in U.S. Congress Edit

Main article: Bills in U.S. Congress regarding the political status of Puerto Rico
See also: The United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act and Puerto Rico Democracy Act

The Territories Clause of the United States Constitution (Art. IV, Sec. 3, cl. 2) allows for Congress to "dispose of" Puerto Rico and allow it to become independent of the U.S. (in the same way as the Philippines did in 1945) or, under the authority of the Admissions Clause (Art. IV, Sec. 3, cl. 1) for it to be admitted as a state of the United States (with a vote of Congress in the same way that Alaska and Hawaii were admitted in 1958 and 1959 respectively).

It has been asserted that, since Congress must approve of any political status change for Puerto Rico, congressional agreement to the options [on a ballot], prior to a plebiscite would save the people of Puerto Rico the grief of an emotionally draining and politically divisive vote that might result in a status not acceptable to Congress.[75] Former Resident Commissioner and Former Governor Carlos Romero Barceló echoed this sentiment when he recalled, at a 1997 congressional hearing, that both "[Representatives] Young and Miller were clear in stating [in their March 3, 1997, letter to the presidents of the three political parties in Puerto Rico] that there was no purpose in presenting the people of Puerto Rico a status definition which does not represent an option that the Congress will be willing to ratify should it be approved in a plebiscite."[76]

A catalyst for the legislative activity taking place in Congress was the release in December 2005 of the presidential task force's report.[77] Per United States v. Sanchez, 992 F.2d 1143, 1152–53 (11th Cir. 1993), "Congress continues to be the ultimate source of power [over Puerto Rico] pursuant to the Territory Clause of the Constitution". (quoting United States v. Andino, 831 F.2d 1164, 1176 (1st Cir. 1987) (Torruella, J., concurring), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1034 (1988)), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 11 10 (1994).9[78] An Act of Congress is therefore ultimately required to modify the current political status of Puerto Rico.

On June 9, 2016, a 6–2 majority of the United States Supreme Court determined in the case of Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, that Puerto Rico is a territory and lacks sovereignty. The opinion of the court stated: "Back of the Puerto Rican people and their Constitution, the 'ultimate' source of prosecutorial power remains the U. S. Congress, just as back of a city’s charter lies a state government."[79]

In September 2023, legislation providing for a two-round consultation process to decide the territorial status of Puerto Rico was reintroduced in the United States Congress by Roger Wicker The first vote is scheduled for August 4, 2024, where Puerto Ricans will have the choice between four alternatives: annexation to the United States, independence, sovereignty in free association, and a free state associated with the United States.[80]

United Nations classification Edit

The United Nations has intervened in the past to evaluate the legitimacy of Puerto Rico's political status, to ensure that the island's government structure complies with the standards of self-government that constitute the basic tenets of the United Nations Charter, its covenants, and its principles of international law. Some authorities, such as Trias Monge, argue that Puerto Rico "clearly does not meet the decolonization standards set by the United Nations in 1960".[81]

Resolution 748 Edit

During its 8th session, the United Nations General Assembly recognized Puerto Rico's self-government on November 27, 1953, with Resolution 748 (VIII).[82] (UN Resolution "748 (VIII)", adopted on November 27, 1953, during its 459th Plenary Meeting.) This removed Puerto Rico's classification as a non-self-governing territory (under article 73(e) of the Charter of the United Nations). The resolution passed, garnering a favorable vote from some 40% of the General Assembly, with over 60% abstaining or voting against it (20 to 16, plus 18 abstentions). Today, however, the UN "still debates whether Puerto Rico is a colony" or not.[83]

UN vote aftermath Edit

However, Puerto Rico's political status is still debated in many international forums, possibly in part because of the circumstances surrounding the vote: "Under United States pressure, General Assembly Resolution 748 passed—though only narrowly and with many countries abstaining. The debate over Resolution 748 prompted the United Nations to agree on governing arrangements that would provide full self-government to non-self-governing territories: in United States terms, these arrangements were statehood, independence, and free association. Yet, under international law, a freely associated state is a sovereign nation in a joint governing arrangement with another nation that either nation can unilaterally end."[84] Though the subject continues to be debated in many forums it is clear that (1) the current territorial status has not satisfied Puerto Rican political leaders,[84] and (2) that despite the divergent views that Puerto Ricans have with respect to their preferred political status, 'all factions agree on the need to end the present undemocratic arrangement whereby Puerto Rico is subject to the laws of Congress but cannot vote in it.'[84]

Attempts to reintroduce a new UN vote Edit

The list of factors for determining when a colony has achieved a full measure of self-government appears in Resolution 1541 (XV) of the General Assembly of the United Nations, 15 UN GAOR Supplement (No. 16) at 29, UN Document A/4684 (1960).[85][86]

The General Assembly did not apply its full list of criteria to Puerto Rico[86][87] for determining whether or not self-governing status had been achieved. The UN's Committee on Non-Self-Governing States recently unanimously agreed to ask the General Assembly to take up the issue of Puerto Rico.[88] In June 2007, the Puerto Rico Senate approved a Concurrent Resolution urging the UN General Assembly to discuss Puerto Rico's case.

Starting in 1971, "Cuba introduced annual resolutions on the issue in the UN's Decolonization Committee but the United States has blocked General Assembly action and stopped cooperating with the Decolonization Committee. On August 23, 1973, the United States vigorously opposed that members of Puerto Rico's independence movement be allowed to speak at the UN.[89] The U.S. position has not been that Puerto Rico is not a territory; rather, the U.S. position of record, based on General Assembly Resolution 748, is that the Decolonization Committee lacks jurisdiction, that the matter is one for the United States and Puerto Rico to resolve, and that Puerto Rico has not sought a new status."[84]

In 1972, the UN set a precedent when, after approving Puerto Rico's association with the United States in 1953[90] as sufficient evidence to remove PR from the list of Colonized Countries, the United Nations reopened the matter in 1972 and it is still under review.[91][92][93] "Failure [of the United States] to include independence as an option and harassment of [Puerto Rican] pro-independence organizations were reasons for the United Nations' recent reconsideration of the status of Puerto Rico".[93]

Since 1972, the Decolonization Committee has called for Puerto Rico's decolonization and for the United States to recognize the island's right to self-determination and independence. Most recently, the Decolonization Committee called for the General Assembly to review the political status of Puerto Rico, a power reserved by the 1953 resolution.[94][95]

In 1993, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit stated that Congress may unilaterally repeal the Puerto Rican Constitution or the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 and replace them with any rules or regulations of its choice.[96] In a 1996 report on a Puerto Rico status political bill, the U.S. House Committee on Resources stated, "Puerto Rico's current status does not meet the criteria for any of the options for full self-government under Resolution 1541" (the three established forms of full self-government being stated in the report as (1) national independence, (2) free association based on separate sovereignty, or (3) full integration with another nation on the basis of equality). The report concluded that Puerto Rico "remains an unincorporated territory and does not have the status of 'free association' with the United States as that status is defined under United States law or international practice", and that the establishment of local self-government with the consent of the people can be unilaterally revoked by the U.S. Congress.[97][98] The application of the U.S. Constitution applies partially to Puerto Rico by the Insular Cases.

United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization Edit

Since 1953, the UN has been considering the political status of Puerto Rico and how to assist it in achieving "independence" or "decolonization". In 1978, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization determined that a "colonial relationship" existed between the U.S. and Puerto Rico.[99]

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has often referred to Puerto Rico as a nation in its reports, because, internationally, the people of Puerto Rico are often considered to be a Caribbean nation with their own national identity.[23][22] In a June 2016 report, the Special Committee called for the United States to expedite the process to allow self-determination in Puerto Rico. The group called on the United States to expedite a process that would allow the people of Puerto Rico to exercise fully their right to self-determination and independence. ... [and] allow the Puerto Rican people to take decisions in a sovereign manner and to address their urgent economic and social needs, including unemployment, marginalization, insolvency and poverty".[27]

Distinct national group Edit

Internationally Edit

Though politically associated with the United States, Puerto Rico is considered by many other nations to have its own distinct national identity.[22] Internationally, it has been reported that "the Fourteenth Ministerial Conference of the Movement of Non-aligned Nations...reaffirms that Puerto Rican people constitute a Latin American and Caribbean nation."[23]

Among Puerto Ricans Edit

Although Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States classified as a commonwealth, many Puerto Ricans consider it to be a country in and of itself.[100][101][102][103] In their book on American expansionism titled The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion, 1803–1898, Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H. Sparrow also determined that "Most Puerto Ricans consider themselves a distinct national group."[104] They also observed that both Americans and Puerto Ricans see themselves as separate cultures—"even separate nationalities".[105]

At the local level, it has been observed that Puerto Ricans "consider themselves a territorially distinct national unit, a nation defined by its cultural distinctiveness".[106]

Position of U.S. political parties Edit

Main article: United States politics and the political status of Puerto Rico

Both major United States political parties (Democratic and Republican) have expressed their support for the U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico to exercise their right to self-determination, with the Republican Party platform explicitly mentioning support for statehood and the Democratic Party platform expressing explicitly broader support for right to self-determination.[citation needed]

Controversies Edit

The U.S.–Puerto Rico relationship is a matter of debate. Some contend[who?] that the current political status of Puerto Rico, perhaps with enhancements, remains a viable option.[citation needed] Others argue[who?] that commonwealth status is or should be only a temporary fix to be resolved in favor of other solutions considered permanent, non-colonial, and non-territorial.[citation needed] Some contend[who?] that if independence is achieved, the close relationship with the United States could be continued through compact negotiations with the federal government.[citation needed] One element apparently shared by all discussants is that the people of Puerto Rico seek to attain full, democratic representation, notably through voting rights on national legislation to which they are subject.[107]

Decolonization by the UN and political empowerment Edit

Controversy exists surrounding the "real" political status of Puerto Rico, with some[who?] calling it a colony and others disagreeing.[108] Some (especially independentistas and statehooders) claim Puerto Rico is still a colony despite the UN's removing Puerto Rico from its list of non self-governing countries in 1953. Others (notably those who vote for the current commonwealth status option) argue that Puerto Rico is not a colony because the UN has not revoked its resolution after 55 years.[citation needed]

Some authors[who?] have called Puerto Rico "the world's oldest colony". (2001)[109] Former chief justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court José Trías Monge wrote a book that referred to it as the "oldest colony in the world".[110] Those who argue that Puerto Rico is still a colony insist that despite the UN resolution, Puerto Rico remains what some call a "post-colonial colony".[111] Defenders of this point of view argue that Puerto Rico has less self-determination than before the U.S. invasion—it no longer has its own Puerto Rican citizenship,[112] free maritime control,[113] nor congressional representation as it did in the Spanish Cortes. Trías Monge argues that just prior to the U.S. invasion, Puerto Rico enjoyed greater freedom and rights in certain areas:

  • The insular parliament could legislate in matters of monetary policy, banking, import/export duties, and public credit
  • Puerto Rico could negotiate its own commercial treaties
  • Puerto Ricans were Spanish citizens, equal in all respects to mainland Spanish citizens
  • The Spanish Constitution applied in Puerto Rico in the same manner as it applied in Spain proper
  • The Autonomic Charter of 1897, which governed Puerto Rico's relation with Spain, could not be changed except with Puerto Rico's consent

Those who claim Puerto Rico is not a colony will say[editorializing][speculation?] that in its 8th session, the United Nations General Assembly recognized Puerto Rico's self-government on November 27, 1953, with Resolution 748.[82] This side points out that such recognition removed Puerto Rico's classification as a non-self-governing territory (under article 73(e) of the Charter of the United Nations). They add that the Resolution has not been revoked even though Puerto Rico's political status is still debated in many international forums.[114]

Those who claim Puerto Rico is still a colony argue that Puerto Rico was vested with the commonwealth status by the U.S. Congress to give the appearance of self-government but that genuine decolonization never occurred.[115] These supporters claim that the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1947 allowed the U.S. to continue its colonial policy of Puerto Rico in a post-colonial world.[116] They see the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 (P.L. 600[117]) as a gimmick to maintain the colonial status of PR "The U.S. Congress, however, carefully preserved its exclusive right to [unilaterally] alter the political status of Puerto Rico. Some saw the commonwealth as at best as temporary arrangement or at worst as a relic of the old colonial past."[118] They also point to the fact that no change in the political status of Puerto Rico is possible unless authorized by the U.S. Congress as proof of the real current status.[118] Rivera Ramos argues that the "deepest question pertains to the source of rights and the source of authority to govern...In the case of [unincorporated] territories, the rights deemed to apply to their people, as well as those denied them, have their source in a constitution they have not approved nor have the power to amend".[119]

Luis Muñoz Marín and other leaders of the Puerto Rican Popular Democratic Party heve asserted that Puerto Rico is no longer a colony, contending that the advent of the Commonwealth brought about a new, quasi-autonomous structure within the U.S. federal system, putting an end to its territorial status.[120]

Those claiming it is still a colony point to Congress legislating for Puerto Rico, and to bills where text such as those authorizing plebiscites in Puerto Rico (example "to conduct a second plebiscite between the options of (1) independence, (2) national sovereignty in association with the United States, and (3) U.S. statehood. The three options in the plebiscite also correspond to the options that the United Nations has identified as the options for decolonizing a territory." (HR 2499, section 2(c) ) clearly include content to satisfy the United Nations demand for decolonizing a territory. In addition to judicial decisions like the 1993 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decision, which stated that Congress may unilaterally repeal the Puerto Rican Constitution or the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act and replace them with any rules or regulations of its choice.[96]

Granting of U.S. citizenship and cultural identity Edit

Some claim[who?] that granting of U.S. citizenship on Puerto Ricans on March 2, 1917 was devised by the United States in order to further reiterate its hold of Puerto Rico as a possession while others claim that it was a serious attempt to pave the way for statehood.[citation needed]

Former chief of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court José Trías Monge insists that statehood was never intended for the island and that, unlike Alaska and Hawaii, which Congress deemed incorporated territories and slated for annexation to the Union from the start, Puerto Rico was kept "unincorporated" specifically to avoid offering it statehood.[121] And Myriam Marquez has stated that Puerto Ricans "fear that statehood would strip the people of their national identity, of their distinct culture and language".[122] Ayala and Bernabe add that the "purpose of the inclusion of U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans in the Jones Act of 1917 was an attempt by Congress to block independence and perpetuate Puerto Rico in its colonial status".[123] Proponents of the citizenship clause in the Jones Act argue that "the extension of citizenship did not constitute a promise of statehood but rather an attempt to exclude any consideration of independence".[124]

The preamble of the Commonwealth constitution approved by the people of Puerto Rico in 1952 in part reads: "We consider as determining factors in our life our citizenship of the United States of America and our aspiration continually to enrich our democratic heritage in the individual and collective enjoyment of its rights and privileges;

For the island's pro-statehood movement, the concession of U.S. citizenship has been seen, ever since, as the key that would eventually guarantee statehood for the island, as soon as the people of Puerto Rico demanded equality in citizenship.

As former Puerto Rico House of Representatives Speaker Miguel A. García Méndez subsequently declared, "For an American citizen, there cannot be another political goal other than equality with his or her fellow American citizens. To seek other solutions – to repudiate equality – is to repudiate the natural destiny of American citizenship."[125]

However, as early as 1912, President William Howard Taft had already said that there was no connection between the extension of citizenship to Puerto Ricans and the prospect of admission of Puerto Rico into the American Union. "I believe the demand for citizenship is just, and amply earned by the sustained loyalty on the part of the inhabitants of the island. But it should be remembered that the demand must be entirely dissociated from any thought of statehood".[126] President Taft's views in 1912 became a Supreme Court opinion when, in 1922, as Chief Justice, Taft wrote the opinion on Balzac, the last of the so-called Insular Cases.[127][128]

Thus, in the end, U.S. citizenship has had multiple meanings for Puerto Ricans. For some[who?] it is a welcome link to the United States, regardless of the political status of the territory. For others, it has been nothing more than an imposed identity by an imperial power. Still others regard it as a useful asset that provides access to certain rights and tangible benefits and opportunities. And there are those that cherish it as a constituent element of their self-image and identity.[129]

Economic survival and self-support Edit

Statehood supporters contend that Puerto Rico cannot become a fully independent republic because there will be economic chaos due to insufficient natural resources, especially food.[130][131]

According to educational scientists Francesco Cordasco and Eugene Bucchioni, in their 1973 work The Puerto Rican Experience: a Sociological Sourcebook, the belief that Puerto Rico cannot survive on its own results from teachings since grade school. "Puerto Ricans here and in Puerto Rico are taught three things: Puerto Rico is small and the U.S. is big, Puerto Rico is poor and the U.S. is rich, Puerto Rico is weak and the U.S. is strong."[132] This theory of non-sustainability is not new; it has been held by various groups at least since the 1930s.[133]

Commonwealth partisans argue that Puerto Rico cannot afford statehood, that post-war economic growth in Puerto Rico was the result of special treatment via exemption from Federal corporate taxes. Statehooders respond that such tax exemptions primarily benefit the large industrialists and not the population as a whole since low income Puerto Ricans would not pay taxes.[134]

An example given by Angel Collado Schwarz, who believes the Island has the potential of supporting itself, is Singapore, an island nation approximately 1/14th[135] the size of Puerto Rico with a drastically higher level of population density and fewer natural resources, but has a per capita income much greater than Puerto Rico.[136]

Far-left independence activist Juan Mari Brás stated, "Only through a great unified movement looking beyond political and ideological differences, can the prevalent fears of hunger and persecution be overcome for the eventual liberation of Puerto Rico, breaking through domination by the greatest imperialist power of our age."[137]

English as an official language Edit

See also: English in Puerto Rico

After the invasion by the United States in 1898, the Americans made English the official language.[138][139] In 1991 under the pro-Commonwealth PPD administration of Rafael Hernández Colón Spanish was declared the only official language in the Island. Then, in 1993, under the pro-statehood PNP administration of Pedro Rosselló, the law was reversed, and English was again reinstated as an official language alongside Spanish.[140] In a 1993 survey by the Ateneo Puertorriqueño, a leading cultural institution in Puerto Rico, 93 percent of respondents indicated that they would not relinquish Spanish as their language if Puerto Rico ever became a state of the American Union, even if the United States required English as the only official language of the Island.[141][142]

Suffrage and representation in the U.S. Congress Edit

In a First Circuit Court of Appeals case Igartúa v. United States, two of three members of the three-judge panel that dismissed the appeal on procedural grounds suggested in separate opinions that, in an en banc reconsideration, the United States could be required to extend full voting representation to the United States citizens in Puerto Rico if (1) the en banc Court determines that, contrary to current Circuit precedent, the Constitution does not prohibit extending such rights "under another source of law", (2) that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which, at Article 25, states that "[e]very citizen shall have the right and the opportunity...[t]o vote and to be elected at genuine and periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage", is self-executing.[143][144]

Stateside Puerto Ricans and status Edit

See also: Puerto Ricans in the United States
 
Stateside Puerto Rican members of the United States Congress: Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) (left), José Serrano (D-NY) (center), and Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) (right) speaking at the Encuentro Boricua Conference at Hostos Community College in New York City, 2004

More Puerto Ricans live stateside in the U.S. than in Puerto Rico. A 2009 report by the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that, as of 2007, 4.1 million Puerto Ricans lived in the mainland versus 3.9 million living in the Island.[145] Since the 1967 referendum, there have been demands that stateside Puerto Ricans be allowed to vote in these plebiscites on the political status of Puerto Rico. Since the 1990s, the role of stateside Puerto Ricans in advocating for Puerto Rico in Washington, D.C., on issues such as the Navy's removal from Vieques and others has increased, especially given that there have been three voting members of the U.S. Congress who are stateside Puerto Ricans (two from New York City and one from Chicago), in contrast to Puerto Rico's single Resident Commissioner in the U.S. Congress with no vote.

Between February 24-March 6, 2006, the National Institute for Latino Policy conducted an opinion survey over the Internet of a broad cross-section of stateside Puerto Rican community leaders and activists across the United States. The survey had a total of 574 respondents, including 88 non-Puerto Rican members of the Institute's national network of community leaders.

The views of the 484 Puerto Ricans in the survey found broad support among them for the holding of a plebiscite on the future political status of Puerto Rico. While 73% were in favor of such a vote, they were split on the options to be voted upon. Those supporting the 2005 proposal made by the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status that the vote be ultimately limited to the options of statehood versus independence made up 31% of the total respondents. 43% supported including the commonwealth option in the proposed plebiscite.[146][failed verification]

U.S. public opinion on the status of Puerto Rico Edit

In a 1991 Gallup Poll more than 60% of Americans said they would support independence or statehood if a majority of Puerto Ricans voted for either.[citation needed]

A 1998 Gallup Poll[147] asked Americans: "Do you personally think Puerto Rico: Should become a completely independent nation; should remain a territory of the United States, or, should be admitted to the United States as the fifty-first state?"

The responses were:

  • Become independent – 28%
  • Remain a U.S. territory – 26%
  • Be admitted as the fifty-first state – 30%
  • None/Other – 5%
  • No opinion – 11%

In a 2007 Opinion Dynamics/Fox News poll, 46% of Americans preferred Puerto Rico continue to be a U.S. territory, 30% believed it should be a state, 11% believed it should be an independent nation, and 13% didn't know.[148][149]

In a 2016 Economist/YouGov poll, 29% supported statehood, 25% believed Puerto Rico should retain its present status, 20% believed it should be an independent nation, and 26% were not sure. However, only 43% knew that a person born in Puerto Rico is an American citizen, with 41% believing that person would be a Puerto Rican citizen, and 15% not sure.[150]

See also Edit

Notes Edit

  1. ^ a b Contrary to common misconception, residents of Puerto Rico do pay U.S. federal taxes: customs taxes (some of which (see note about rum taxes below) are subsequently returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury),[1] import/export taxes,[2] and federal commodity taxes.[2][3] Residents pay federal payroll taxes, such as Social Security[3] and Medicare,[4] as well as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico income taxes.[5][6] All federal employees,[7] those who do business with the federal government,[8] Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S.,[9] and some others (for example, Puerto Rican residents that are members of the U.S. military;[7] and Puerto Rico residents who earned income from sources outside Puerto Rico)[10] also pay federal income taxes. In addition, because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the U.S. IRS code, and because the per capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the average per capita income on the mainland, more Puerto Rico residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if the IRS code were applied to the island. This occurs because "the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government has a wider set of responsibilities than do U.S. State and local governments".[11] As residents of Puerto Rico pay into Social Security, Puerto Ricans are eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement, but are excluded from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Commonwealth of Puerto Rico residents, unlike residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and residents of the 50 States, do not receive the SSI.[12] The island receives less than 15% of the Medicaid funding it would normally receive if it were a U.S. state. Also, Medicare providers receive less-than-full state-like reimbursements for services rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico, even though the latter paid fully into the system.[13] Additionally, it has been estimated that, because the population of the island is greater than that of 50% of the States, if it were a state, Puerto Rico would have six to eight seats in the House, in addition to the two seats in the Senate.[14][15][16] Another misconception is that the import/export taxes collected by the U.S. on products manufactured in Puerto Rico are all returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury. This is not the case. Such import/export taxes are returned only for rum products, and even then the U.S. Treasury keeps a portion of those taxes.[16]
  2. ^ In November 2008 a U.S. federal district court judge ruled that a sequence of prior Congressional actions had had the cumulative effect of changing Puerto Rico's status to incorporated.[19] However, as of April 2011 the issue had not yet made its way through the courts:.[20] As of August 2021, the U.S. government still considered Puerto Rico as unincorporated.[21]
  3. ^ denoted as "Independence/Free Association"
  4. ^ denoted as "Current territorial status"
  5. ^ Combined with Independence

References Edit

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  • "An Overview of the Special Tax Rules Related to Puerto Rico and an Analysis of the Tax and Economic Policy Implications of Recent Legislative Options". The Joint Committee on Taxation – Congress of the United States: 9. June 23, 2006.

Further reading Edit

  • "The Singularly Strange Story of the English Language in Puerto Rico" by A Pousada.
  • "Puerto Rico's Political Status and the 2012 Plebiscite: Background and Key Questions."
  • The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory and does not have the status of 'free association' with the U.S. as defined under United States law or international practice.

External links Edit

U.N. Resolutions Edit

  • 2011-06-20. Special Committee on Decolonization Calls on United States, in Consensus Text, to Speed up Process Allowing Puerto Rico to Exercise Self-Determination: Nearly 25 Petitioners Underscore Gravity of Situation on Island, Buckling Under Economic Strain; Vigorous Opposition to Death Penalty Also Expressed.(June 20, 2011) Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  • 2010-06-21. Special Committee on Decolonization Passes Text Urging General Assembly to Consider Formally Situation Concerning Puerto Rico: Draft Resolution Calls on United States to Expedite Island's Self-Determination. (June 21, 2010) Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  • 2009-06-15. Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Self-determination Process for Puerto Rico. Members Hear Petitioners Speak up for Independence, Statehood, Free Association. (June 15, 2009) Retrieved Sept 3, 2010.
  • 2006-06-13. Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Puerto Rican Self-determination Process. Draft Resolution Urges Probe of Pro-Independence Leader's Killing, Human Rights Abuses; Calls for Clean-up, Decontamination of Vieques. (June 13, 2006) Retrieved Dec 3, 2009.

Bills before Congress Edit

  • 2022-12-15 H.R.8393 - Puerto Rico Status Act of the 117th Congress on Congress.gov
  • 1996-03-23. HR-3024, U.S.-Puerto Rico Political Status Act. San Juan, PR. (March 23, 1996) Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  • 1997-03-19. 1997 Puerto Rico Status Hearing before the Committee on Resources, House of Representatives. 105th Congress. First Session on H.R. 856, "A Bill to Provide a Process Leading to Full Self-government for Puerto Rico". (March 19, 1997) — Washington, D.C. (Serial No. 105–16)
  • 2007-02-07. Text of H.R. 900: Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007. Union Calendar No. 370. 110th CONGRESS, 2d Session. H.R. 900. Report No. 110-597. To provide for a federally sanctioned self-determination process for the people of Puerto Rico. In the House of Representatives. (February 7, 2007)

Others Edit

  • Will Puerto Rico Finally Become Our 51st State?
  • Portal de la Comisión Estatal de Elecciones de Puerto Rico (In Spanish)
  • Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration
  • at the Wayback Machine (archived August 7, 2007) (archived from the original on 2007-08-07)
  • Again with the 51st State ... by Eric Lurio, The Huffington Post, August 1, 2009
  • House Vote On Puerto Rico's Status Divides Hispanic Lawmakers – video report by Democracy Now!
  • 1993-07-13. Puerto Rico Self-Determination Part I. Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs of the Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives. 103rd Congress, First Session. On H. Con. Res. 94: Expressing the Sense of the Congress Regarding the Expression of Self-determination by the People of Puerto Rico. Washington, D.C. (July 13, 1993) Retrieved Dec 3, 2009.
  • Text of Law #283 of 2011, ordering the 2012 Political Status plebiscite, and which provides a fairly complete picture of the events related to Puerto Rico's political status that have taken place since the 1898 U.S. annexation of the island. Retrieved January 10, 2012.

October 20, 2023
political, status, puerto, rico, political, status, puerto, rico, that, unincorporated, territory, united, states, such, island, puerto, rico, neither, sovereign, nation, state, because, that, ambiguity, territory, polity, lacks, certain, rights, enjoys, certa. The political status of Puerto Rico is that of an unincorporated territory of the United States As such the island of Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign nation nor a U S state It is because of that ambiguity the territory as a polity lacks certain rights but enjoys certain benefits that other polities have or lack For instance in contrast to U S states Puerto Rico residents cannot vote in U S presidential elections nor can they elect their own senators and representatives to the U S Congress On the other hand in contrast to U S states only some residents of Puerto Rico are subject to federal income taxes a The political status of the island thus stems from how different Puerto Rico is politically from sovereign nations and from U S states The status of the island is the result of various political activities within both the United States and Puerto Rican governments The United Nations removed it from the list of non self governing territories in 1953 17 but it remains subject to the Territorial Clause of the U S Constitution According to the Insular Cases Puerto Rico is a territory appurtenant and belonging to the United States but not a part of the United States within the revenue clauses of the Constitution 18 b American and Puerto Rican political activities regarding the status question have revolved around three sets of initiatives presidential executive orders bills in the U S Congress and referendums held in Puerto Rico U S Presidents have issued three executive orders on the subject and Congress has considered four major bills on Puerto Rico s political status Puerto Rican status referendums have been held four times to determine the desired political status of Puerto Rico in relation to the United States of America None of them have been binding on U S Congress Internationally several organizations have called for the U S government to expedite the process to allow self determination in Puerto Rico while considering Puerto Rico a Caribbean nation with its own national identity 22 23 24 25 26 For instance the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has called for the United States to allow the Puerto Rican people to take decisions in a sovereign manner and to address their urgent economic and social needs including unemployment marginalization insolvency and poverty 27 Contents 1 Background 1 1 Terminology 1 2 The Insular Cases 2 Implications of the current political status 3 Status questions 3 1 Plebiscites 3 2 Presidential executive orders 3 3 Bills in U S Congress 4 United Nations classification 4 1 Resolution 748 4 2 UN vote aftermath 4 3 Attempts to reintroduce a new UN vote 4 4 United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization 5 Distinct national group 5 1 Internationally 5 2 Among Puerto Ricans 6 Position of U S political parties 7 Controversies 7 1 Decolonization by the UN and political empowerment 7 2 Granting of U S citizenship and cultural identity 7 3 Economic survival and self support 7 4 English as an official language 7 5 Suffrage and representation in the U S Congress 8 Stateside Puerto Ricans and status 9 U S public opinion on the status of Puerto Rico 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External links 14 1 U N Resolutions 14 2 Bills before Congress 14 3 OthersBackground EditThe United States acquired the islands of Puerto Rico in 1898 after the Spanish American War and the archipelago has been under U S sovereignty since In 1950 Congress enacted legislation P L 81 600 authorizing Puerto Rico to hold a constitutional convention and in 1952 the people of Puerto Rico ratified a constitution establishing a republican form of government for the island After being approved by Congress and the President in July 1952 and thus given force under federal law P L 82 447 the new constitution went into effect on July 25 1952 Puerto Ricans have been U S citizens since 1917 28 29 30 After the promulgation of the Commonwealth constitution in 1952 the government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico presented its voters with plebiscites regarding the political status of its body politic in 1967 1993 and 1998 An additional referendum held in 1991 sought to amend the relationship through an amendment to the Puerto Rican constitution Each time the results favored retaining the current status over the possible independence of Puerto Rico and statehood alternatives As a result of Puerto Rico s status as a U S territory the citizens of Puerto Rico do not have any voting representation in the U S Federal government Instead of outright representation through Senators and House Representatives Puerto Rico has one non voting Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives Furthermore Puerto Rico is not represented in the Electoral College and thus U S citizens resident there are unable to vote in U S presidential elections Citizens of Puerto Rico can vote in the Republican and Democratic primary elections Although Puerto Rico presently has a certain amount of local autonomy according to the U S Constitution ultimate governance of the island is retained by both the U S Congress and President 31 32 33 Thus results of plebiscites whether or not authorized by Congress while they reflect public sentiment and thus bear some impact can be ignored by Congress Ultimately the results of Puerto Rican plebiscites are opinions although congressional resolutions have expressed support for following the will of the Puerto Rican people 34 full citation needed Terminology Edit The English term commonwealth has been used for a number of different types of entities In the style formal name for four states of the United States Kentucky Massachusetts Pennsylvania and Virginia and one other unincorporated organized U S territory the Northern Mariana Islands In the style of various independent countries the Commonwealth of Australia or the Commonwealth of The Bahamas For the international organizations like the Commonwealth of Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States formerly parts of the Soviet Union In the style of the Philippines before gaining its independence from the United States in 1947 and becoming a republic prior to which the U S Supreme Court had declared it was an unincorporated territory of the United States 35 The definition of the term commonwealth as per current U S State Department policy as codified in the department s Foreign Affairs Manual reads The term Commonwealth does not describe or provide for any specific political status or relationship It has for example been applied to both states and territories When used in connection with areas under U S sovereignty that are not states the term broadly describes an area that is self governing under a constitution of its adoption and whose right of self government will not be unilaterally withdrawn by Congress 36 Juan R Torruella a federal judge on the U S Court of Appeals for the First Circuit which has jurisdiction over the Federal Court for the District of Puerto Rico states that the use of the term commonwealth is a label that can deceive and obscure the true nature of things He states that Puerto Rico is obviously not a state and that neither Puerto Rico s status nor its relationship with the U S supports any legitimate claim that a British type of commonwealth exists between Puerto Rico and the United States 37 Then U S Secretary of the Interior Oscar L Chapman under whose Department resided responsibility of Puerto Rican affairs clarified the new commonwealth label by stating The bill to permit Puerto Rico to write its own constitution merely authorizes the people of Puerto Rico to adopt their own constitution and to organize a local government The bill under consideration would not change Puerto Rico s political social and economic relationship to the United States 38 The Insular Cases Edit It has been said that any inquiry into Puerto Rico s status must begin with the Constitution of the United States as well as various Supreme Court and lower court decisions 39 Almost immediately after Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States Puerto Rico s political status was defined by a series of landmark decisions made by the U S Supreme Court in what are collectively known as The Insular Cases From 1901 to 1905 the Supreme Court held that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore to the territories However the Court in these cases also established the doctrine of territorial incorporation Under the same the Constitution only applied fully in incorporated territories such as Alaska and Hawaii whereas it only applied partially in the new unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico Guam and the Philippines Although other cases followed strictly speaking the Insular Cases are the original six opinions issued concerning acquired territories as a result of the Treaty of Paris 1898 The six cases were 40 De Lima v Bidwell 182 U S 1 1901 A plaintiff challenged the imposition of duties for the import of sugar from Puerto Rico to the United States proper The Court sided with the plaintiff holding that Puerto Rico was not a foreign country and hence the duties were invalid 41 Goetze v United States Crossman v United States 182 U S 221 1901 Dooley v United States 182 U S 222 1901 Armstrong v United States 182 U S 243 1901 Downes v Bidwell 182 U S 244 1901 Considered the leading Insular case concluded that the United States could acquire territory and exercise unrestricted power in determining what rights to concede to its inhabitants It included the fateful phrase that 42 While in an international sense Porto Rico sic was not a foreign country since it was subject to the sovereignty of and was owned by the United States it was foreign to the United States in a domestic sense because the island has not been incorporated into the United States but was merely appurtenant thereto as a possession 43 The case created the constitutionally unprecedented category of unincorporated territories 44 Huus v New York and Porto Rico Steamship Co 182 U S 392 1901 Other authorities such as Jose Trias Monge state that the list also includes these additional two cases 42 Dooley v United States 183 U S 151 1901 Fourteen Diamond Rings v United States 183 U S 176 1901 The Supreme Court later made other rulings For example in Balzac v Porto Rico 258 U S 298 305 1922 explained the distinction between an incorporated and a non incorporated territory Juan R Torruella restated it this way an unincorporated territory is a territory as to which when acquired by the United States no clear intention was expressed that it would eventually be incorporated into the Union as a State 45 Since the Insular Cases had established that only those rights in the U S Bill of Rights that are determined to be fundamental are applicable in unincorporated territories the implications of Balzac v Porto Rico have been enormous For example The Court held that the right to trial by jury is not a fundamental right and thus need not be given to criminal defendants in Puerto Rico 37 see Dorr v United States 46 See also Balzac v Porto Rico 47 48 The Court relied on Downes and Balzac to justify the outright denial of Supplemental Security Income SSI to United States citizens who had relocated to Puerto Rico from the States This ruling allowed Congress to deny Supplemental Security Income SSI payments to the aged and benefits to children and the poor who reside in Puerto Rico even in the case of an insured who had worked all his life as a resident of the States proper but then moved to live in Puerto Rico 49 50 see Califano v Torres 435 U S 1 1978 per curiam In a brief concurrence in the United States Supreme Court judgment of Torres v Puerto Rico 442 U S 465 1979 Supreme Court Justice Brennan argued that any implicit limits from the Insular Cases on the basic rights granted by the Constitution including especially the Bill of Rights were anachronistic in the 1970s 51 Implications of the current political status EditMain article Implications of Puerto Rico s current political status Puerto Rico s current political status limits the autonomy of the Puerto Rican government For example the Island s government is not fully autonomous and a degree of federal presence in the Island is commonplace including a branch of the United States Federal District Court nbsp In 1917 The Evening journal newspaper stated United States colonies have responded enthusiastically to his call for recruits with an image of Puerto Ricans ready to go to Panama to guard the Canal for the US People born in Puerto Rico are U S citizens by birth but that citizenship is protected only by an Act of the US Congress rather than by the U S Constitution with the implication that the U S Congress can unilaterally revoke the American citizenship of those born there either individually or collectively Puerto Ricans are also covered by a group of fundamental civil rights but because Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory they are not covered by the full Bill of Rights All residents must pay federal taxes but for a variety of reasons only some pay federal income taxes 52 a Puerto Ricans lack a voting representative in the U S Congress but they do have a Resident Commissioner who has a voice in Congress but no vote other than committee level voting Puerto Ricans must also serve in the United States military whenever it is compulsory in the mainland United States with the same duties and obligations as U S citizens residing in the 50 states Status questions EditPuerto Rico s main political issue is the territory s relationship with the United States A United States territory since 1898 and known as Estado Libre Asociado Free Associated State or as commonwealth since 1952 Puerto Rico today is torn by profound ideological rifts as represented by its political parties which stand for three distinct future political scenarios the status quo commonwealth statehood and independence The Popular Democratic Party PPD seeks to maintain or improve the current status toward becoming a more sovereign territory of the United States the New Progressive Party PNP seeks to fully incorporate Puerto Rico as a U S state and the Puerto Rican Independence Party PIP seeks national independence When asked in non binding plebiscites to choose between independence statehood or continuation of the status quo with enhanced powers as proposed by the PPD Puerto Ricans have voted to remain a commonwealth In the penultimate plebiscite in 1998 Puerto Ricans voted for none of the above by a slight majority While 50 3 of them voted for the status quo it has been asserted by whom that the oldest strategy for governing recalcitrant subjects divide and conquer was subtly at work 53 The issue is debated and is on the agenda of all the political parties and civil society groups Several pro commonwealth leaders within the PPD are proposing an Associated Republic or Free Association similar to that of the former U S territories of the Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands or Palau Plebiscites Edit Main article Puerto Rico political status plebiscites In general three main alternatives were presented to Puerto Rican voters in status plebiscites full independence maintenance or enhancement of the current commonwealth status and U S statehood The exact expectations for each of these status formulas are a matter of debate by a given position s adherents and detractors Puerto Ricans have proposed positions that modify the alternatives above indemnified independence with phased out U S subsidy expanded political but not fiscal autonomy statehood with a gradual phasing out of industrial federal tax incentives In 1967 and 1993 Commonwealth the name listed for current territorial status won In another plebiscite held on November 6 2012 54 of respondents voted to reject the current status under the territorial clause of the U S Constitution 54 In a second question 61 favored statehood as the preferred alternative however when blank ballots were counted statehood support dropped to 45 55 Another referendum was held on June 11 2017 in which voters had three options Statehood Free Association Independence or Current Territorial Status While 97 of voters chose Statehood turnout was only 23 the lowest in history due to a boycott from pro Independence and pro Commonwealth supporters The latest referendum was held on November 3 2020 during the general election The voters were asked Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as State The Yes option received 52 52 of the vote The No option received 47 48 and turnout was at 54 72 56 The following table summarizes the results of Puerto Rico s plebiscites so far Results of Puerto Rico s status referendums vote total total 57 YearPortion 1967 58 1993 59 1998 60 61 2012 62 2017 2020Part I Part IIIndependence 4 248 0 6 75 620 4 4 39 838 2 5 74 895 5 5 7 981 1 5 c N ACommonwealth 425 132 60 4 826 326 48 6 993 0 1 828 077 46 0 7 048 1 4 d N AFree Association N A N A 4536 0 3 454 768 33 3 N A e N AStatehood 274 312 39 0 788 296 46 3 728 157 46 5 834 191 61 2 508 862 97 1 655 505 52 5 None of the above N A N A 787 900 50 3 N A N A 592 671 47 5 Electoral turnout 66 74 71 78 19 23 2 54 7 In the 2012 Puerto Rican status referendum 63 54 0 of voters indicated No to maintaining the current political status A full 61 1 of voters chose statehood 33 3 chose free association and 5 6 chose independence 64 65 Because there were almost 500 000 blank ballots creating confusion as to the voters true desire Congress decided to ignore the vote 66 67 The 2014 budget bill included 2 5 million in funding for a future vote on Puerto Rico s political status 68 69 The previous plebiscites provided voters with three options remain a Commonwealth Statehood and Independence Free Association The Puerto Rican status referendum 2017 was to offer only two options Statehood and Independence Free Association If the majority favor Independence Free Association a second vote will be held to determine the preference full independence as a nation or associated free state status with independence but with a free and voluntary political association between Puerto Rico and the United States The specifics of the association agreement 70 would be detailed in the Compact of Free Association that would be negotiated between the U S and Puerto Rico That document might cover topics such as the role of the U S military in Puerto Rico the use of the U S currency free trade between the two entities and whether Puerto Ricans would be U S citizens 71 Former governor Ricardo Rossello was strongly in favor of statehood to help develop the economy and help to solve our 500 year old colonial dilemma Colonialism is not an option It s a civil rights issue 3 5 million citizens seeking an absolute democracy he told the news media 72 73 Statehood might be useful as a means of dealing with the financial crisis since it would allow for bankruptcy and the relevant protection According to the Government Development Bank this might be the only solution to the debt crisis Congress has the power to vote to allow Chapter 9 protection without the need for statehood but in late 2015 there was very little support in the House for this concept Other benefits to statehood include increased disability benefits and Medicaid funding the right to vote in presidential elections and the higher federal minimum wage 74 At approximately the same time as the referendum Puerto Rico s legislators are also expected to vote on a bill that would allow the Governor to draft a state constitution and hold elections to choose senators and representatives to the federal Congress Regardless of the outcome of the votes Congress will be the body to make the final decision on the status of Puerto Rico 73 Presidential executive orders Edit Main article Presidential executive orders on the political status of Puerto Rico Various U S presidents have signed executive orders to help define study and generate activity regarding the political status of Puerto Rico Three major orders were the 2005 2007 and 2011 executive orders to establish the President s Task Force on Puerto Rico s Status Bills in U S Congress Edit Main article Bills in U S Congress regarding the political status of Puerto Rico See also The United States Puerto Rico Political Status Act and Puerto Rico Democracy Act The Territories Clause of the United States Constitution Art IV Sec 3 cl 2 allows for Congress to dispose of Puerto Rico and allow it to become independent of the U S in the same way as the Philippines did in 1945 or under the authority of the Admissions Clause Art IV Sec 3 cl 1 for it to be admitted as a state of the United States with a vote of Congress in the same way that Alaska and Hawaii were admitted in 1958 and 1959 respectively It has been asserted that since Congress must approve of any political status change for Puerto Rico congressional agreement to the options on a ballot prior to a plebiscite would save the people of Puerto Rico the grief of an emotionally draining and politically divisive vote that might result in a status not acceptable to Congress 75 Former Resident Commissioner and Former Governor Carlos Romero Barcelo echoed this sentiment when he recalled at a 1997 congressional hearing that both Representatives Young and Miller were clear in stating in their March 3 1997 letter to the presidents of the three political parties in Puerto Rico that there was no purpose in presenting the people of Puerto Rico a status definition which does not represent an option that the Congress will be willing to ratify should it be approved in a plebiscite 76 A catalyst for the legislative activity taking place in Congress was the release in December 2005 of the presidential task force s report 77 Per United States v Sanchez 992 F 2d 1143 1152 53 11th Cir 1993 Congress continues to be the ultimate source of power over Puerto Rico pursuant to the Territory Clause of the Constitution quoting United States v Andino 831 F 2d 1164 1176 1st Cir 1987 Torruella J concurring cert denied 486 U S 1034 1988 cert denied 510 U S 11 10 1994 9 78 An Act of Congress is therefore ultimately required to modify the current political status of Puerto Rico On June 9 2016 a 6 2 majority of the United States Supreme Court determined in the case of Puerto Rico v Sanchez Valle that Puerto Rico is a territory and lacks sovereignty The opinion of the court stated Back of the Puerto Rican people and their Constitution the ultimate source of prosecutorial power remains the U S Congress just as back of a city s charter lies a state government 79 In September 2023 legislation providing for a two round consultation process to decide the territorial status of Puerto Rico was reintroduced in the United States Congress by Roger Wicker The first vote is scheduled for August 4 2024 where Puerto Ricans will have the choice between four alternatives annexation to the United States independence sovereignty in free association and a free state associated with the United States 80 United Nations classification EditThe United Nations has intervened in the past to evaluate the legitimacy of Puerto Rico s political status to ensure that the island s government structure complies with the standards of self government that constitute the basic tenets of the United Nations Charter its covenants and its principles of international law Some authorities such as Trias Monge argue that Puerto Rico clearly does not meet the decolonization standards set by the United Nations in 1960 81 Resolution 748 Edit During its 8th session the United Nations General Assembly recognized Puerto Rico s self government on November 27 1953 with Resolution 748 VIII 82 UN Resolution 748 VIII adopted on November 27 1953 during its 459th Plenary Meeting This removed Puerto Rico s classification as a non self governing territory under article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations The resolution passed garnering a favorable vote from some 40 of the General Assembly with over 60 abstaining or voting against it 20 to 16 plus 18 abstentions Today however the UN still debates whether Puerto Rico is a colony or not 83 UN vote aftermath Edit However Puerto Rico s political status is still debated in many international forums possibly in part because of the circumstances surrounding the vote Under United States pressure General Assembly Resolution 748 passed though only narrowly and with many countries abstaining The debate over Resolution 748 prompted the United Nations to agree on governing arrangements that would provide full self government to non self governing territories in United States terms these arrangements were statehood independence and free association Yet under international law a freely associated state is a sovereign nation in a joint governing arrangement with another nation that either nation can unilaterally end 84 Though the subject continues to be debated in many forums it is clear that 1 the current territorial status has not satisfied Puerto Rican political leaders 84 and 2 that despite the divergent views that Puerto Ricans have with respect to their preferred political status all factions agree on the need to end the present undemocratic arrangement whereby Puerto Rico is subject to the laws of Congress but cannot vote in it 84 Attempts to reintroduce a new UN vote Edit The list of factors for determining when a colony has achieved a full measure of self government appears in Resolution 1541 XV of the General Assembly of the United Nations 15 UN GAOR Supplement No 16 at 29 UN Document A 4684 1960 85 86 The General Assembly did not apply its full list of criteria to Puerto Rico 86 87 for determining whether or not self governing status had been achieved The UN s Committee on Non Self Governing States recently unanimously agreed to ask the General Assembly to take up the issue of Puerto Rico 88 In June 2007 the Puerto Rico Senate approved a Concurrent Resolution urging the UN General Assembly to discuss Puerto Rico s case Starting in 1971 Cuba introduced annual resolutions on the issue in the UN s Decolonization Committee but the United States has blocked General Assembly action and stopped cooperating with the Decolonization Committee On August 23 1973 the United States vigorously opposed that members of Puerto Rico s independence movement be allowed to speak at the UN 89 The U S position has not been that Puerto Rico is not a territory rather the U S position of record based on General Assembly Resolution 748 is that the Decolonization Committee lacks jurisdiction that the matter is one for the United States and Puerto Rico to resolve and that Puerto Rico has not sought a new status 84 In 1972 the UN set a precedent when after approving Puerto Rico s association with the United States in 1953 90 as sufficient evidence to remove PR from the list of Colonized Countries the United Nations reopened the matter in 1972 and it is still under review 91 92 93 Failure of the United States to include independence as an option and harassment of Puerto Rican pro independence organizations were reasons for the United Nations recent reconsideration of the status of Puerto Rico 93 Since 1972 the Decolonization Committee has called for Puerto Rico s decolonization and for the United States to recognize the island s right to self determination and independence Most recently the Decolonization Committee called for the General Assembly to review the political status of Puerto Rico a power reserved by the 1953 resolution 94 95 In 1993 the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit stated that Congress may unilaterally repeal the Puerto Rican Constitution or the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 and replace them with any rules or regulations of its choice 96 In a 1996 report on a Puerto Rico status political bill the U S House Committee on Resources stated Puerto Rico s current status does not meet the criteria for any of the options for full self government under Resolution 1541 the three established forms of full self government being stated in the report as 1 national independence 2 free association based on separate sovereignty or 3 full integration with another nation on the basis of equality The report concluded that Puerto Rico remains an unincorporated territory and does not have the status of free association with the United States as that status is defined under United States law or international practice and that the establishment of local self government with the consent of the people can be unilaterally revoked by the U S Congress 97 98 The application of the U S Constitution applies partially to Puerto Rico by the Insular Cases United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization Edit Since 1953 the UN has been considering the political status of Puerto Rico and how to assist it in achieving independence or decolonization In 1978 the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization determined that a colonial relationship existed between the U S and Puerto Rico 99 The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has often referred to Puerto Rico as a nation in its reports because internationally the people of Puerto Rico are often considered to be a Caribbean nation with their own national identity 23 22 In a June 2016 report the Special Committee called for the United States to expedite the process to allow self determination in Puerto Rico The group called on the United States to expedite a process that would allow the people of Puerto Rico to exercise fully their right to self determination and independence and allow the Puerto Rican people to take decisions in a sovereign manner and to address their urgent economic and social needs including unemployment marginalization insolvency and poverty 27 Distinct national group EditInternationally Edit Though politically associated with the United States Puerto Rico is considered by many other nations to have its own distinct national identity 22 Internationally it has been reported that the Fourteenth Ministerial Conference of the Movement of Non aligned Nations reaffirms that Puerto Rican people constitute a Latin American and Caribbean nation 23 Among Puerto Ricans Edit Although Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States classified as a commonwealth many Puerto Ricans consider it to be a country in and of itself 100 101 102 103 In their book on American expansionism titled The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion 1803 1898 Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H Sparrow also determined that Most Puerto Ricans consider themselves a distinct national group 104 They also observed that both Americans and Puerto Ricans see themselves as separate cultures even separate nationalities 105 At the local level it has been observed that Puerto Ricans consider themselves a territorially distinct national unit a nation defined by its cultural distinctiveness 106 Position of U S political parties EditMain article United States politics and the political status of Puerto Rico Both major United States political parties Democratic and Republican have expressed their support for the U S citizens in Puerto Rico to exercise their right to self determination with the Republican Party platform explicitly mentioning support for statehood and the Democratic Party platform expressing explicitly broader support for right to self determination citation needed Controversies EditThis section has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message This section contains weasel words vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information Such statements should be clarified or removed October 2021 This section possibly contains unsourced predictions speculative material or accounts of events that might not occur Information must be verifiable and based on reliable published sources Please help improve it by removing unsourced speculative content October 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message The U S Puerto Rico relationship is a matter of debate Some contend who that the current political status of Puerto Rico perhaps with enhancements remains a viable option citation needed Others argue who that commonwealth status is or should be only a temporary fix to be resolved in favor of other solutions considered permanent non colonial and non territorial citation needed Some contend who that if independence is achieved the close relationship with the United States could be continued through compact negotiations with the federal government citation needed One element apparently shared by all discussants is that the people of Puerto Rico seek to attain full democratic representation notably through voting rights on national legislation to which they are subject 107 Decolonization by the UN and political empowerment Edit Controversy exists surrounding the real political status of Puerto Rico with some who calling it a colony and others disagreeing 108 Some especially independentistas and statehooders claim Puerto Rico is still a colony despite the UN s removing Puerto Rico from its list of non self governing countries in 1953 Others notably those who vote for the current commonwealth status option argue that Puerto Rico is not a colony because the UN has not revoked its resolution after 55 years citation needed Some authors who have called Puerto Rico the world s oldest colony 2001 109 Former chief justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court Jose Trias Monge wrote a book that referred to it as the oldest colony in the world 110 Those who argue that Puerto Rico is still a colony insist that despite the UN resolution Puerto Rico remains what some call a post colonial colony 111 Defenders of this point of view argue that Puerto Rico has less self determination than before the U S invasion it no longer has its own Puerto Rican citizenship 112 free maritime control 113 nor congressional representation as it did in the Spanish Cortes Trias Monge argues that just prior to the U S invasion Puerto Rico enjoyed greater freedom and rights in certain areas The insular parliament could legislate in matters of monetary policy banking import export duties and public credit Puerto Rico could negotiate its own commercial treaties Puerto Ricans were Spanish citizens equal in all respects to mainland Spanish citizens The Spanish Constitution applied in Puerto Rico in the same manner as it applied in Spain proper The Autonomic Charter of 1897 which governed Puerto Rico s relation with Spain could not be changed except with Puerto Rico s consentThose who claim Puerto Rico is not a colony will say editorializing speculation that in its 8th session the United Nations General Assembly recognized Puerto Rico s self government on November 27 1953 with Resolution 748 82 This side points out that such recognition removed Puerto Rico s classification as a non self governing territory under article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations They add that the Resolution has not been revoked even though Puerto Rico s political status is still debated in many international forums 114 Those who claim Puerto Rico is still a colony argue that Puerto Rico was vested with the commonwealth status by the U S Congress to give the appearance of self government but that genuine decolonization never occurred 115 These supporters claim that the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1947 allowed the U S to continue its colonial policy of Puerto Rico in a post colonial world 116 They see the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 P L 600 117 as a gimmick to maintain the colonial status of PR The U S Congress however carefully preserved its exclusive right to unilaterally alter the political status of Puerto Rico Some saw the commonwealth as at best as temporary arrangement or at worst as a relic of the old colonial past 118 They also point to the fact that no change in the political status of Puerto Rico is possible unless authorized by the U S Congress as proof of the real current status 118 Rivera Ramos argues that the deepest question pertains to the source of rights and the source of authority to govern In the case of unincorporated territories the rights deemed to apply to their people as well as those denied them have their source in a constitution they have not approved nor have the power to amend 119 Luis Munoz Marin and other leaders of the Puerto Rican Popular Democratic Party heve asserted that Puerto Rico is no longer a colony contending that the advent of the Commonwealth brought about a new quasi autonomous structure within the U S federal system putting an end to its territorial status 120 Those claiming it is still a colony point to Congress legislating for Puerto Rico and to bills where text such as those authorizing plebiscites in Puerto Rico example to conduct a second plebiscite between the options of 1 independence 2 national sovereignty in association with the United States and 3 U S statehood The three options in the plebiscite also correspond to the options that the United Nations has identified as the options for decolonizing a territory HR 2499 section 2 c clearly include content to satisfy the United Nations demand for decolonizing a territory In addition to judicial decisions like the 1993 U S Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decision which stated that Congress may unilaterally repeal the Puerto Rican Constitution or the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act and replace them with any rules or regulations of its choice 96 Granting of U S citizenship and cultural identity Edit Some claim who that granting of U S citizenship on Puerto Ricans on March 2 1917 was devised by the United States in order to further reiterate its hold of Puerto Rico as a possession while others claim that it was a serious attempt to pave the way for statehood citation needed Former chief of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court Jose Trias Monge insists that statehood was never intended for the island and that unlike Alaska and Hawaii which Congress deemed incorporated territories and slated for annexation to the Union from the start Puerto Rico was kept unincorporated specifically to avoid offering it statehood 121 And Myriam Marquez has stated that Puerto Ricans fear that statehood would strip the people of their national identity of their distinct culture and language 122 Ayala and Bernabe add that the purpose of the inclusion of U S citizenship to Puerto Ricans in the Jones Act of 1917 was an attempt by Congress to block independence and perpetuate Puerto Rico in its colonial status 123 Proponents of the citizenship clause in the Jones Act argue that the extension of citizenship did not constitute a promise of statehood but rather an attempt to exclude any consideration of independence 124 The preamble of the Commonwealth constitution approved by the people of Puerto Rico in 1952 in part reads We consider as determining factors in our life our citizenship of the United States of America and our aspiration continually to enrich our democratic heritage in the individual and collective enjoyment of its rights and privileges For the island s pro statehood movement the concession of U S citizenship has been seen ever since as the key that would eventually guarantee statehood for the island as soon as the people of Puerto Rico demanded equality in citizenship As former Puerto Rico House of Representatives Speaker Miguel A Garcia Mendez subsequently declared For an American citizen there cannot be another political goal other than equality with his or her fellow American citizens To seek other solutions to repudiate equality is to repudiate the natural destiny of American citizenship 125 However as early as 1912 President William Howard Taft had already said that there was no connection between the extension of citizenship to Puerto Ricans and the prospect of admission of Puerto Rico into the American Union I believe the demand for citizenship is just and amply earned by the sustained loyalty on the part of the inhabitants of the island But it should be remembered that the demand must be entirely dissociated from any thought of statehood 126 President Taft s views in 1912 became a Supreme Court opinion when in 1922 as Chief Justice Taft wrote the opinion on Balzac the last of the so called Insular Cases 127 128 Thus in the end U S citizenship has had multiple meanings for Puerto Ricans For some who it is a welcome link to the United States regardless of the political status of the territory For others it has been nothing more than an imposed identity by an imperial power Still others regard it as a useful asset that provides access to certain rights and tangible benefits and opportunities And there are those that cherish it as a constituent element of their self image and identity 129 Economic survival and self support Edit Statehood supporters contend that Puerto Rico cannot become a fully independent republic because there will be economic chaos due to insufficient natural resources especially food 130 131 According to educational scientists Francesco Cordasco and Eugene Bucchioni in their 1973 work The Puerto Rican Experience a Sociological Sourcebook the belief that Puerto Rico cannot survive on its own results from teachings since grade school Puerto Ricans here and in Puerto Rico are taught three things Puerto Rico is small and the U S is big Puerto Rico is poor and the U S is rich Puerto Rico is weak and the U S is strong 132 This theory of non sustainability is not new it has been held by various groups at least since the 1930s 133 Commonwealth partisans argue that Puerto Rico cannot afford statehood that post war economic growth in Puerto Rico was the result of special treatment via exemption from Federal corporate taxes Statehooders respond that such tax exemptions primarily benefit the large industrialists and not the population as a whole since low income Puerto Ricans would not pay taxes 134 An example given by Angel Collado Schwarz who believes the Island has the potential of supporting itself is Singapore an island nation approximately 1 14th 135 the size of Puerto Rico with a drastically higher level of population density and fewer natural resources but has a per capita income much greater than Puerto Rico 136 Far left independence activist Juan Mari Bras stated Only through a great unified movement looking beyond political and ideological differences can the prevalent fears of hunger and persecution be overcome for the eventual liberation of Puerto Rico breaking through domination by the greatest imperialist power of our age 137 English as an official language Edit See also English in Puerto Rico After the invasion by the United States in 1898 the Americans made English the official language 138 139 In 1991 under the pro Commonwealth PPD administration of Rafael Hernandez Colon Spanish was declared the only official language in the Island Then in 1993 under the pro statehood PNP administration of Pedro Rossello the law was reversed and English was again reinstated as an official language alongside Spanish 140 In a 1993 survey by the Ateneo Puertorriqueno a leading cultural institution in Puerto Rico 93 percent of respondents indicated that they would not relinquish Spanish as their language if Puerto Rico ever became a state of the American Union even if the United States required English as the only official language of the Island 141 142 Suffrage and representation in the U S Congress Edit In a First Circuit Court of Appeals case Igartua v United States two of three members of the three judge panel that dismissed the appeal on procedural grounds suggested in separate opinions that in an en banc reconsideration the United States could be required to extend full voting representation to the United States citizens in Puerto Rico if 1 the en banc Court determines that contrary to current Circuit precedent the Constitution does not prohibit extending such rights under another source of law 2 that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which at Article 25 states that e very citizen shall have the right and the opportunity t o vote and to be elected at genuine and periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage is self executing 143 144 Stateside Puerto Ricans and status EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message See also Puerto Ricans in the United States nbsp Stateside Puerto Rican members of the United States Congress Luis Gutierrez D IL left Jose Serrano D NY center and Nydia Velazquez D NY right speaking at the Encuentro Boricua Conference at Hostos Community College in New York City 2004More Puerto Ricans live stateside in the U S than in Puerto Rico A 2009 report by the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that as of 2007 4 1 million Puerto Ricans lived in the mainland versus 3 9 million living in the Island 145 Since the 1967 referendum there have been demands that stateside Puerto Ricans be allowed to vote in these plebiscites on the political status of Puerto Rico Since the 1990s the role of stateside Puerto Ricans in advocating for Puerto Rico in Washington D C on issues such as the Navy s removal from Vieques and others has increased especially given that there have been three voting members of the U S Congress who are stateside Puerto Ricans two from New York City and one from Chicago in contrast to Puerto Rico s single Resident Commissioner in the U S Congress with no vote Between February 24 March 6 2006 the National Institute for Latino Policy conducted an opinion survey over the Internet of a broad cross section of stateside Puerto Rican community leaders and activists across the United States The survey had a total of 574 respondents including 88 non Puerto Rican members of the Institute s national network of community leaders The views of the 484 Puerto Ricans in the survey found broad support among them for the holding of a plebiscite on the future political status of Puerto Rico While 73 were in favor of such a vote they were split on the options to be voted upon Those supporting the 2005 proposal made by the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico s Status that the vote be ultimately limited to the options of statehood versus independence made up 31 of the total respondents 43 supported including the commonwealth option in the proposed plebiscite 146 failed verification U S public opinion on the status of Puerto Rico EditIn a 1991 Gallup Poll more than 60 of Americans said they would support independence or statehood if a majority of Puerto Ricans voted for either citation needed A 1998 Gallup Poll 147 asked Americans Do you personally think Puerto Rico Should become a completely independent nation should remain a territory of the United States or should be admitted to the United States as the fifty first state The responses were Become independent 28 Remain a U S territory 26 Be admitted as the fifty first state 30 None Other 5 No opinion 11 In a 2007 Opinion Dynamics Fox News poll 46 of Americans preferred Puerto Rico continue to be a U S territory 30 believed it should be a state 11 believed it should be an independent nation and 13 didn t know 148 149 In a 2016 Economist YouGov poll 29 supported statehood 25 believed Puerto Rico should retain its present status 20 believed it should be an independent nation and 26 were not sure However only 43 knew that a person born in Puerto Rico is an American citizen with 41 believing that person would be a Puerto Rican citizen and 15 not sure 150 See also EditOne country two systems Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007 H R 900 amp S 1936 Puerto Rican citizenship Voting rights in Puerto Rico Politics of Puerto Rico 51st state Puerto Rico proposed state Sovereigntism Puerto Rico Special Committee on Decolonization Proposed political status for Puerto Rico Statehood movement in Puerto Rico Privileges and Immunities Clause United States territorial court Federal tribunals in the United States Index of Puerto Rico related articlesNotes Edit a b Contrary to common misconception residents of Puerto Rico do pay U S federal taxes customs taxes some of which see note about rum taxes below are subsequently returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury 1 import export taxes 2 and federal commodity taxes 2 3 Residents pay federal payroll taxes such as Social Security 3 and Medicare 4 as well as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico income taxes 5 6 All federal employees 7 those who do business with the federal government 8 Puerto Rico based corporations that intend to send funds to the U S 9 and some others for example Puerto Rican residents that are members of the U S military 7 and Puerto Rico residents who earned income from sources outside Puerto Rico 10 also pay federal income taxes In addition because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the U S IRS code and because the per capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the average per capita income on the mainland more Puerto Rico residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if the IRS code were applied to the island This occurs because the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government has a wider set of responsibilities than do U S State and local governments 11 As residents of Puerto Rico pay into Social Security Puerto Ricans are eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement but are excluded from the Supplemental Security Income SSI Commonwealth of Puerto Rico residents unlike residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and residents of the 50 States do not receive the SSI 12 The island receives less than 15 of the Medicaid funding it would normally receive if it were a U S state Also Medicare providers receive less than full state like reimbursements for services rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico even though the latter paid fully into the system 13 Additionally it has been estimated that because the population of the island is greater than that of 50 of the States if it were a state Puerto Rico would have six to eight seats in the House in addition to the two seats in the Senate 14 15 16 Another misconception is that the import export taxes collected by the U S on products manufactured in Puerto Rico are all returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury This is not the case Such import export taxes are returned only for rum products and even then the U S Treasury keeps a portion of those taxes 16 In November 2008 a U S federal district court judge ruled that a sequence of prior Congressional actions had had the cumulative effect of changing Puerto Rico s status to incorporated 19 However as of April 2011 the issue had not yet made its way through the courts 20 As of August 2021 the U S government still considered Puerto Rico as unincorporated 21 denoted as Independence Free Association denoted as Current territorial status Combined with IndependenceReferences Edit Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs Archived from the original on June 10 2012 a b Puerto Rico wellsphere com Archived from the original on April 1 2010 Retrieved February 22 2015 a b Tax Topics Topic 903 Federal Employment Tax in Puerto Rico irs gov Retrieved February 22 2015 Puerto Rico hopes to gain from U S healthcare reform Reuters September 24 2009 Retrieved February 22 2015 U S Is Not Innocent Of Colonization Puerto Ricans Pay Up Too No They Don t Puerto Rico Herald Retrieved February 22 2015 Doing Business in Puerto Rico Archived from the original on April 29 2011 a b D C Voting Rights No Representation No Taxation The Heritage Foundation Archived from the original on February 10 2010 Retrieved February 22 2015 Federal and Local Incentives Where We Are Where We Want To Be If We Just Had A Crystal Ball PDF Archived from the original PDF on October 26 2007 JCT 2006 p 9 JCT 2006 pp 14 15 U S GAO Puerto Rico Fiscal Relations with the Federal Government and Economic Trends during the Phaseout of the Possessions Tax Credit gao gov Retrieved February 22 2015 SSA Handbook 2114 socialsecurity gov Retrieved February 22 2015 Island Parity Puerto Rico needs full payments from federal programs Archived from the original on May 11 2011 Deceitful Tactics Used To Make Puerto Rico A State eagleforum org Retrieved February 22 2015 BRIA 17 4 C Puerto Rico Commonwealth Statehood Or Independence Archived from the original on June 10 2009 a b Committee Reports 110th Congress 2007 2008 House Report 110 597 Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007 thomas gov Retrieved February 22 2005 Note that for the official U S Congress database website you will need to resubmit a query The document in question is called House Report 110 597 Puerto Rico Democracy Act of These are the steps to follow http www thomas gov gt Committee Reports gt 110 gt drop down Word Phrase and pick Report Number gt type 597 next to Report Number This will provide the document House Report 110 597 Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007 then from the Table of Contents choose Background and Need for Legislation Cessation of the transmission of information under Article 73 e of the Charter in Respect of Puerto Rico Downes v Bidwell 182 U S 244 287 1901 Balzac v Porto Rico 258 U S 298 1922 Consejo de Salud Playa Ponce v Johnny Rullan p 28 The Congressional incorporation of Puerto Rico throughout the past century has extended the entire Constitution to the island Hon Gustavo A Gelpi 2011 The Insular Cases A Comparative Historical Study of Puerto Rico Hawai i and the Philippines PDF The Federal Lawyer March April 25 Archived from the original PDF on April 27 2011 Retrieved August 24 2011 In light of the Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene in the future the Supreme Court will be called upon to reexamine the Insular Cases doctrine as applied to Puerto Rico and other U S territories Definitions of Insular Area Political Organizations Office of Insular Affairs of the U S Department of the Interior June 12 2015 Retrieved August 6 2021 a n unincorporated United States insular area of which there are currently thirteen three in the Caribbean Navassa Island Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands and ten in the Pacific American Samoa Baker Island Guam Howland Island Jarvis Island Johnston Atoll Kingman Reef Midway Atoll the Northern Mariana Islands and Wake Atoll a b c XIV Ministerial Conference of the Movement of Non Aligned Nations Durban South Africa 2004 pp 14 15 PDF Archived from the original PDF on July 31 2009 a b c United Nations General Assembly Special Committee on the Situation With Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples 1971 Report of the Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples Vol 23 United Nations Publications pp 10 11 ISBN 978 9218102119 2011 06 20 Special Committee on Decolonization Calls on United States in Consensus Text to Speed up Process Allowing Puerto Rico to Exercise Self Determination Nearly 25 Petitioners Underscore Gravity of Situation on Island Buckling Under Economic Strain Vigorous Opposition to Death Penalty Also Expressed June 20 2011 Retrieved April 22 2012 2009 06 15 Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Self determination Process for Puerto Rico Members Hear Petitioners Speak up for Independence Statehood Free Association June 15 2009 Retrieved Sept 3 2010 2006 06 13 Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Puerto Rican Self determination Process Draft Resolution Urges Probe of Pro Independence Leader s Killing Human Rights Abuses Calls for Clean up Decontamination of Vieques June 13 2006 Retrieved December 3 2009 a b Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling upon United States Government to Expedite Self Determination Process for Puerto Rico United Nations UN June 20 2016 Retrieved February 21 2017 One Hundred Years of Solitude Puerto Rico s American Century by Juan R Torruella In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 248 Jones Shafroth Act 8 U S C 1402 RHC admite congreso puede hacer lo que quiera con el ELA El Sur a la Vista Ponce Puerto Rico December 14 2011 Retrieved December 15 2011 Bea Keith May 25 2005 Political Status of Puerto Rico Background Options and Issues in the 109th Congress PDF Congressional Research Service The Library of Congress pp 5 6 Retrieved January 24 2010 United States v Sanchez Archived May 4 2011 at the Wayback Machine 992 F 2D 1143 11th Cir 1993 Let Puerto Rico Decide An Introduction to Puerto Rico s Status Debate Archived from the original on February 16 2012 From a spource describing itself as A non profit nonpartisan organization dedicated to the decolonization of Puerto Rico Balzac v Porto Rico 258 U S 298 305 1922 7 FAM 1120 Acquisition of U S Nationality in U S Territories and Possessions U S Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 7 Consular Affairs U S Department of State January 3 2013 Archived from the original PDF on December 22 2015 Retrieved February 22 2015 a b One Hundred Years of Solitude Puerto Rico s American Century by Juan R Torruella In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 243 Let Puerto Rico Decide How to end its Colony Status True Nationhood Stands on the Pillar of Independence Rosalinda de Jesus The Allentown Morning Call Republished by The Puerto Rico Herald July 21 2002 San Juan Puerto Rico Retrieved 21 June 2012 Juan R Torruella One Hundred Years of Solitude Puerto Rico s American Century In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 242 Juan R Torruella One Hundred Years of Solitude Puerto Rico s American Century In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 248 Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall Between the Foreign and the Domestic The Doctrine of Territorial Incorporation Invented and Reinvented In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 13 a b Jose Trias Monge Injustice According to Law The Insular Cases and Other Oddities In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 239 Downes 182 U S at 341 342 White J concurring Brands et al 2005 p 12 Juan R Torruella One Hundred Years of Solitude Puerto Rico s American Century In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 243 In Balzac v Porto Rico 258 U S 298 305 1922 at 304 312 195 U S 138 149 258 U S 298 312 The right of trial by jury has been incorporated against the states through the Due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment See Duncan v Louisiana 391 U S 145 1968 However the size of the jury as well as the requirement that it unanimously reach its verdict vary between federal and state courts Even so the Supreme Court has ruled that a jury in a criminal case may have as few as six members If there are twelve only nine jurors need agree on a verdict See Incorporation of the Bill of Rights U S citizens or qualified aliens resident of one of the 50 states the District of Columbia or the Northern Mariana Islands are eligible for SSI Supplemental Security Income SSI Juan R Torruella One Hundred Years of Solitude Puerto Rico s American Century In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution ed Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 244 Torres v Puerto Rico FindLaw com Supreme Court Case Law Retrieved September 9 2009 All residents of PR pay federal taxes with the exception of federal income taxes which only some residents of Puerto Rico must still pay though everyone must pay all other federal taxes Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p xii Retrieved May 1 2010 Condicion Politica Territorial Actual English Actual Territorial Political Condition Archived November 30 2012 at the Wayback Machine Government of Puerto Rico State Electoral Commission Nov 16 2012 9 59PM Retrieved 18 November 2012 Opciones No Territoriales English Non Territorial Options Archived November 30 2012 at the Wayback Machine Government of Puerto Rico State Electoral Commission Nov 16 2012 9 59PM Retrieved 18 November 2012 Plebiscito Resultados Isal Comision Estatal de Elecciones December 31 2020 Retrieved January 23 2021 2005 President s Task Force p 4 Archived September 25 2007 at the Wayback Machine Puerto Rico State Electoral Commission Official Results for the 1967 Political Status Plebiscite Retrieved May 1 2010 Puerto Rico State Electoral Commission Official Results for the 1993 Political Status Plebiscite Retrieved May 1 2010 2005 President s Task Force p 4 Archived September 25 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved May 1 2010 Puerto Rico State Electoral Commission Official Results for the 1998 Political Status Plebiscite Retrieved May 1 2010 Resultados Elecciones Generales 2012 Noche del Evento Comision Estatal de Elecciones de Puerto Rico Archived from the original on November 11 2012 Retrieved November 11 2012 Papeleta Modelo Plebiscito 2012 PDF CEEPUR Archived from the original PDF on May 22 2014 CEE Event Condicion Politica Territorial Actual Resumen in Spanish Comision Estatal de Elecciones de Puerto Rico November 8 2012 Archived from the original on November 9 2012 Retrieved November 8 2012 CEE Event Opciones No Territoriales Resumen in Spanish Comision Estatal de Elecciones de Puerto Rico November 8 2012 Archived from the original on November 9 2012 Retrieved November 8 2012 Wyss Jim January 26 2017 Will Puerto Rico become the newest star on the American flag Miami Herald Retrieved February 24 2017 Santana Willie January 1 2016 Incorporating the Lonely Star How Puerto Rico Became Incorporated and Earned a Place in the Sisterhood of States Tennessee Journal of Law amp Policy 9 4 Crabbe Nathan June 15 2014 Part of our country but still not a State Gainesville Sun Gainesville FL Retrieved February 24 2017 Make room for 51st star Spending bill includes 2 5 million for vote on Puerto RIco statehood January 22 2014 Retrieved January 22 2014 What s a Free Associated State Puerto Rico Report February 3 2017 Retrieved February 23 2017 Puerto Rico Statehood Independence or Free Association Referendum 2017 Ballotpedia February 6 2017 Retrieved February 24 2017 With my vote I make the initial request to the Federal Government to begin the process of the decolonization through 1 Free Association Puerto Rico should adopt a status outside of the Territory Clause of the Constitution of the United States that recognizes the sovereignty of the People of Puerto Rico The Free Association would be based on a free and voluntary political association the specific terms of which shall be agreed upon between the United States and Puerto Rico as sovereign nations Such agreement would provide the scope of the jurisdictional powers that the People of Puerto Rico agree to confer to the United States and retain all other jurisdictional powers and authorities Under this option the American citizenship would be subject to negotiation with the United States Government 2 Proclamation of Independence I demand that the United States Government in the exercise of its power to dispose of territory recognize the national sovereignty of Puerto Rico as a completely independent nation and that the United States Congress enact the necessary legislation to initiate the negotiation and transition to the independent nation of Puerto Rico My vote for Independence also represents my claim to the rights duties powers and prerogatives of independent and democratic republics my support of Puerto Rican citizenship and a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Puerto Rico and the United States after the transition process Wyss Jim January 2017 Will Puerto Rico become the newest star on the American flag Miami Herald Miami Retrieved February 24 2017 a b Coto Danica February 3 2017 Puerto Rico gov approves referendum in quest for statehood Washington Post DC Archived from the original on February 4 2017 Retrieved February 17 2017 White Gillian B November 9 2017 Why Puerto Rican Statehood Matters So Much Right Now The Atlantic The Atlantic Monthly Group Retrieved February 21 2017 Six words the ability to file for bankruptcy Burnett Christina Duffy Marshall Burke Joseph Gilbert M Rosenberg Emily S July 20 2001 Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico American Expansion and the Constitution By Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall Duke University Press 2001 p 21 ISBN 0822326981 Retrieved October 1 2014 1997 Statement from Romero Barcelo Before Congress Retrieved October 1 2014 Political Status of Puerto Rico Options for Congress p 6 PDF Appendix E page 6 PDF Commonwealth of Puerto Rico vs Sanchez Valle No 15 108 Argued January 13 2016 Decided June 9 2016 Supreme Court of the United States PDF Supreme Court of the United States Blog June 9 2016 Retrieved June 19 2016 Wicker Reintroduces Puerto Rico Status Act www wicker senate gov September 28 2023 Injustice According to Law The Insular Cases and Other Oddities by Jose Trias Monge In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 233 a b Resolution 748 VIII Note To access the text of the UN document scroll down the list that appears until Resolution 748 VIII dated November 27 1953 is found Click on the link 748 VIII to view the text of the Resolution Important This is a UN document database query server documents are served on the fly Saving the link that appears when the document opens will not provide access in the future Retrieved July 18 2010 Puerto Rico Commonwealth Statehood or Independence Constitutional Rights Foundation Archived from the original on June 10 2009 a b c d U S House of Representatives 110th Congress Second Session Report 597 Washington D C Injustice According to Law The Insular Cases and Other Oddities by Jose Trias Monge In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 239 a b UN Resolution 1514 XV of December 15 1960 Listing of the full set of criteria that determines if a country or territory is a colony Archived May 14 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved December 8 2009 US Congress Thomas Online Query Database House Report 110 597 Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007 Background and Need for Legislation section Retrieved October 1 2014 Special Committee on Decolonization Calls on United States to Epedite Puerto Rico s Self Determination Process General Assembly GA COL 3160 Department of Public Information June 14 2007 June 14 2007 Retrieved October 1 2014 Terroristic Activity The Cuban Connection in Puerto Rico Hearings Before the U S Senate Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee of the Judiciary 94th Congress First Session part 6 July 30 1975 Washington D C Retrieved December 11 2009 General Assembly Resolution 748 VIII November 27 1953 Puerto Ricans Must Approve Future Status Decolonization Committee U N Chronicle 15 9 35 October 1978 Committee Calls for Fact Finding Mission to Visit Puerto Rico U N Chronicle 16 6 25 July October 1979 a b AITC Hangzhou China aitc org Special Committee on Decolonization Calls on United States to Expedite Puerto Rico s Self Determination Process General Assembly GA COL 3160 Department of Public Information June 14 2007 June 14 2007 Retrieved October 1 2014 Constitutional Rights Foundation Archived June 10 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 21 2009 a b United States v Sanchez Archived May 4 2011 at the Wayback Machine 992 F 2d 1143 11 Cir 1993 Paragraphs 44 46 Puerto Rico Status Field Hearing Committee on Resources U S House of Representatives 105th Congress April 19 1997 Archived from the original on June 14 2011 Retrieved October 1 2007 1541 XV Principles which should guide Members in determining whether or not an obligation exists to transmit the information called for under Article 73 e of the Charter United Nations General Assembly December 15 1960 Archived from the original on October 14 2010 Retrieved August 13 2011 Lopez Ana M 2014 Puerto Rico at the United Nations The North American Congress on Latin America Retrieved February 21 2017 U S Congressman Luis Gutierrez D Illinois House Session United States Puerto Rico Political Status Act March 4 1998 C SPAN Video Library Archived July 25 2011 at the Wayback Machine In the words of the Congressman The fact is that Puerto Rico is a nation Retrieved September 7 2010 U S Congressman Luis Gutierrez D Illinois House Session United States Puerto Rico Political Status Act March 4 1998 Congressional Record March 4 1998 105th Congress Second Session Volume 144 Issue No 20 p H821 1900 Hours Archived August 7 2010 at the Wayback Machine In the words of the Congressman The people of Puerto Rico consider themselves a nation Retrieved September 7 2010 Dr Lynn Darrell Bender Puertorriquenos and americanos in Puerto Rico Ethnic Conflict in The Perplexing Hemisphere Revista Review Interamericana Vol XXX No 1 4 2002 pp 1 4 Interamerican University of Puerto Rico San German Puerto Rico The Puerto Rican cultural elites and intellectuals view Puerto Rico as a nation in the sense of a distinct cultural linguistic unit Retrieved September 7 2010 Countries and Their Cultures Culture of Puerto Rico Orientation Identification p 1 Puerto Ricans are a Caribbean people who regard themselves as citizens of a distinctive island nation Retrieved September 7 2010 Brands et al 2005 p 167 Brands et al 2005 p 243 Davila Arlene M 1997 Sponsored Identities Cultural Politics in Puerto Rico inMaking and Marketing National Identities By Arlene M Davila Temple University Press 1997 pp 1 3 ISBN 978 1566395496 Retrieved October 1 2014 Political Status of Puerto Rico Options for Congress Summary page PDF United States Puerto Rico Relations in the Early Cold War Years 1945 1953 Abstract Carlos Ramon Zapata Oliveras January 1 1986 Retrieved December 16 2011 Constitutional Rights Foundation Archived from the original on June 10 2009 Retrieved October 1 2014 Puerto Rico The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World By Jose Trias Monge Yale University Press 1997 Liebmann Matthew 2008 Archaeology and the Postcolonial Critique By Matthew Liebmann and Uzma Z Rizvi p 54 ISBN 978 0759112353 Retrieved October 1 2014 Guillermo Moscoso Facts Regarding Puerto Rican Citizenship The San Juan Star Viewpoint Wednesday September 17 1997 page 58 www puertorico herald org Requirement to use US flagged ships only PDF La Prensa San Diego By Marjorie Cohn The Incarceration of Carlos Alberto Torres After 30 Years in Prison the Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Will Be Freed Vol XXXIII July 30 2010 Every year for 29 years the United Nations Decolonization Committee has passed a resolution calling for independence Gonzalez Juan 2001 Harvest of Empire A History of Latinos in America By Juan Gonzalez pp 262 272 ISBN 978 0140255393 Retrieved October 1 2014 Liebmann Matthew August 7 2008 Archaeology and the Postcolonial Critique By Matthew Liebmann Uzma Z Rizvi p 54 ISBN 978 0759112353 Retrieved October 1 2014 cited as Act of July 3 1950 U S Statutes at Large 64 1950 319 in One Hundred Years of Solitude Puerto Rico s American Century by Juan R Torruella In Foreign in a Domestic Sense Puerto Rico The American Expansion and the Constitution Ed by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall 2001 Duke University Press p 248 a b Leduc Lawrence Leduc Larry 2003 The Politics of Direct Democracy Referendums in Global Perspective By Lawrence By LeDuc p 117 ISBN 978 1551114330 Retrieved October 1 2014 Brands et al 2005 p 175 Wells Henry 1965 Puerto Rico s Association with the United States PDF Caribbean Studies 5 1 6 22 JSTOR 25611863 via Jstor Gonzalez Juan 2001 Harvest of Empire By Juan Gonzalez p 265 ISBN 978 0140255393 Retrieved October 1 2014 True Nationhood Stands On The Pillar Of Independence Myriam Marquez Orlando Sentinel 21 July 2002 Reprinted by Puerto Rico Herald Retrieved 22 June 2012 Ayala Cesar J Bernabe Rafael June 23 2009 Puerto Rico in the American Century A History Since 1898 By Cesar J Ayala and Rafael Bernabe p 82 ISBN 978 0807895535 Retrieved October 1 2014 Ayala Cesar J Bernabe Rafael June 23 2009 Ayala and Bernabe p 82 ISBN 978 0807895535 Retrieved October 1 2014 prfaa com www prfaa com Gonzalez Juan 2001 Harvest of Empire By Juan Gonzalez p 265 ISBN 978 0140255393 Retrieved October 1 2014 Juan R Torruella 1985 The Supreme Court and Puerto Rico the doctrine of separate and unequal La Editorial UPR p 87 ISBN 978 0847730193 The Insular Cases The Establishment of a Regime of Political Apartheid 2007 Juan R Torruella Pages 318 319 PDF Retrieved February 7 2010 Brands et al 2005 p 174 Francesco Cordasco and Eugene Bucchioni The Puerto Rican Experience a Sociological Sourcebook Littlefield Adams amp Co 1973 ISBN 0874711622 p 317 Have A Puerto Rican question Ask El Boricuazo Retrieved 12 May 2013 Francesco Cordasco and Eugene Bucchioni 1973 The Puerto Rican Experience a Sociological Sourcebook Littlefield Adams amp Co p 317 ISBN 0874711622 Dr Pedro Albizu Campos Archived May 2 2009 at the Wayback Machine Accessed January 16 2011 Defining Status A Comprehensive Analysis of United States Territorial Relations By Arnold H Leibowitz Dordrecht Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 1989 p 128 Angel Collado Schwarz Soberanias Exitosas Seis modelos para el desarrollo economico de Puerto Rico p 15 Puerto Rico EMS Editores Second Edition 2019 Copyright by La Voz del Centro ISBN missing Angel Collado Schwarz 2009 Singapur Soberanias Exitosas Seis modelos para el desarrollo economico de Puerto Rico in Spanish Guaynabo Puerto Rico Fundacion Voz del Centro p 36 ISBN missing Voices for Independence In the Spirit of Valor and Sacrifice Portraits of Notable Individuals in the Struggle for Puerto Rican Independence By Jean Zwickel White Star Press Pittsburg California U S 1998 Retrieved October 1 2014 ISBN 0962044806 The University of Puerto Rico Colonialism and the Language of Teaching and Learning 1903 1952 By Pablo Navarro Rivera School of Undergraduate Studies Lesley College Cambridge MA In Journal for Pedagogy Pluralism amp Practice Archived May 27 2010 at the Wayback Machine With the military invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898 the United States U S initiated a colonization effort that made English the official language of the island Retrieved March 12 2010 Zentella Ana Celia 1990 Reviewed work The Movement against Teaching English in Schools of Puerto Rico Edith Algren de Gutierrez Language in Society 19 3 418 421 doi 10 1017 S0047404500014615 JSTOR 4168157 S2CID 143944778 Ever since the United States occupied the Island in 1898 and declared English the only official language Caribbean Business Historical Highlights of Puerto Rico Archived January 16 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved March 12 1020 Hispania Research Corporation Memorando analitico sobre el estudio del idioma en Puerto Rico Sometido a Ateneo Puertorriqueno p 60 1993 Rivera Ramos Efren 2005 Puerto Rico s Political Status In Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H Sparrow ed The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion 1803 1898 Lanham Maryland Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers pp 179 180 Igartua v United States Archived December 12 2010 at the Wayback Machine 626 F 3d 592 1st Cir 2010 Retrieved January 10 2012 https web archive org web 20130529005323 http www vocero com noticias es nuevamente E2 80 98no E2 80 99 al foto federal Archived May 29 2013 at the Wayback Machine Hispanics of Puerto Rican Origin in the United States 2007 Retrieved November 3 2009 White House Task Force on Puerto Rico s Status at the Wayback Machine archived June 24 2008 archived from the original on June 24 2008 Gallup Poll 3 6 9 1998 CNN USA Today Gallup Poll ref GO 121850 The Gallup Poll Public Opinion 1998 by George Horace Gallup pp 40 41 http www foxnews com projects pdf 061407 envrn summer web pdf bare URL PDF Puerto Rico remains a colony panel says J A Cruz People s World July 6 2007 Retrieved 22 March 2014 Americans limited awareness of Puerto Rico or its crisis YouGov today yougov com Brands H W Burnett Christina Duffy Currie David P Freehling William W Go Julian Graber Mark A Kens Paul Lawson Gary Onuf Peter S Ramos Efren Rivera Seidman Guy 2005 The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion 1803 1898 Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 978 1461644682 An Overview of the Special Tax Rules Related to Puerto Rico and an Analysis of the Tax and Economic Policy Implications of Recent Legislative Options The Joint Committee on Taxation Congress of the United States 9 June 23 2006 Further reading Edit The Singularly Strange Story of the English Language in Puerto Rico by A Pousada Puerto Rico s Political Status and the 2012 Plebiscite Background and Key Questions The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory and does not have the status of free association with the U S as defined under United States law or international practice External links EditU N Resolutions Edit 2011 06 20 Special Committee on Decolonization Calls on United States in Consensus Text to Speed up Process Allowing Puerto Rico to Exercise Self Determination Nearly 25 Petitioners Underscore Gravity of Situation on Island Buckling Under Economic Strain Vigorous Opposition to Death Penalty Also Expressed June 20 2011 Retrieved April 22 2012 2010 06 21 Special Committee on Decolonization Passes Text Urging General Assembly to Consider Formally Situation Concerning Puerto Rico Draft Resolution Calls on United States to Expedite Island s Self Determination June 21 2010 Retrieved July 11 2010 2009 06 15 Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Self determination Process for Puerto Rico Members Hear Petitioners Speak up for Independence Statehood Free Association June 15 2009 Retrieved Sept 3 2010 2006 06 13 Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Puerto Rican Self determination Process Draft Resolution Urges Probe of Pro Independence Leader s Killing Human Rights Abuses Calls for Clean up Decontamination of Vieques June 13 2006 Retrieved Dec 3 2009 Bills before Congress Edit 2022 12 15 H R 8393 Puerto Rico Status Act of the 117th Congress on Congress gov 1996 03 23 HR 3024 U S Puerto Rico Political Status Act San Juan PR March 23 1996 Retrieved December 3 2009 1997 03 19 1997 Puerto Rico Status Hearing before the Committee on Resources House of Representatives 105th Congress First Session on H R 856 A Bill to Provide a Process Leading to Full Self government for Puerto Rico March 19 1997 Washington D C Serial No 105 16 2007 02 07 Text of H R 900 Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007 Union Calendar No 370 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H R 900 Report No 110 597 To provide for a federally sanctioned self determination process for the people of Puerto Rico In the House of Representatives February 7 2007 Others Edit Will Puerto Rico Finally Become Our 51st State Portal de la Comision Estatal de Elecciones de Puerto Rico In Spanish Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration An Introduction to Puerto Rico s Status Debate at the Wayback Machine archived August 7 2007 archived from the original on 2007 08 07 Again with the 51st State by Eric Lurio The Huffington Post August 1 2009 House Vote On Puerto Rico s Status Divides Hispanic Lawmakers video report by Democracy Now 1993 07 13 Puerto Rico Self Determination Part I Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs of the Committee on Natural Resources House of Representatives 103rd Congress First Session On H Con Res 94 Expressing the Sense of the Congress Regarding the Expression of Self determination by the People of Puerto Rico Washington D C July 13 1993 Retrieved Dec 3 2009 Text of Law 283 of 2011 ordering the 2012 Political Status plebiscite and which provides a fairly complete picture of the events related to Puerto Rico s political status that have taken place since the 1898 U S annexation of the island Retrieved January 10 2012 Portals nbsp Puerto Rico nbsp United States nbsp Caribbean Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Political status of Puerto Rico amp oldid 1178545239, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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