The Future of Puerto Rico

Whether or not Puerto Rico becomes the 51st state of the United States of America is an important issue that has been pondered for the last fifty years. Puerto Rico is currently a Commonwealth of the United States and has been under U.S. rule for a century. Spain ruled Puerto Rico for about 400 years prior to the U.S. take-over in 1898. The current and pertinent issue, though, is whether Puerto Rico will remain a Commonwealth of the U.S., become the 51st state, or gain independence. In "Doing Right by Puerto Rico," the former governor of Puerto Rico (1973-1976, 1985-1992) argues that Congress must take action. He describes the deterioration of the quality of life in Puerto Rico and explains that it is imperative for a decision to be made in regards to the status of Puerto Rico so political conflict and deterioration of the quality of life can be laid to rest. His solution is that "the bitter status conflict in Puerto Rico can be defused only by finding the common values that underlie all the positions of the conflicting parties. The time has come to work toward the common goal of addressing the democracy deficit (Colon 1998)." In this paper, I discuss Puerto Rico’s history beginning with Spanish rule to it’s current relationship with the U.S. and the question of Puerto Rico’s future status: statehood, continuation as a Commonwealth of the U.S., or complete independence from the U.S. I conclude that if a majority vote favors statehood, the United States should take immediate action to make Puerto Rico the 51st state.

Puerto Rico was under Spanish rule for about 400 years prior to the 1898 Treaty of Paris. It was then that Puerto Rico began to be governed as an unincorporated U.S. territory. Robert Pastor from "The New Republic" ...

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