Before 1898 Puerto Rico was a colonial possession of Spain; the main focus of this background is the 20th and 21st century in relation to the United States of America.
Prior to Jones Act Puerto Rico became an American territory in 1898 when, as per the terms of the
Treaty of Paris which concluded the
Spanish–American War,
Spain ceded the island (and several other possessions) to the United States. The U.S. Congress enacted the
Foraker Act (also known as the Organic Act of 1900) sponsored by Senator
Joseph B. Foraker, signed by
President McKinley on April 2, 1900. This act established a civil government and free commerce between Puerto Rico and the United States. The structure of the insular government included a governor appointed by the president, an executive council (the equivalent of a senate), and a legislature with 35 members, though the executive veto required a two-thirds vote to override. The first appointed civil governor,
Charles Herbert Allen, was inaugurated on May 1, 1900. On June 5, President McKinley appointed an Executive Council which included five Puerto Rican members and six U.S. members. The act also established the creation of a judicial system headed by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico and allowed Puerto Rico to send a Resident Commissioner as a representative to Congress. The Department of Education was subsequently formed, headed by Dr.
Martin Grove Brumbaugh (later governor of Pennsylvania). Teaching was conducted entirely in English with Spanish treated as a special subject. However, both Spanish and English were official languages in the island. On November 6, the first elections under the Foraker Act were held and on December 3, the first Legislative Assembly took office. Federico Degetau took office in Washington as the first Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico on March 14, 1901.
Jones Act and the 1940s The Jones Act was approved by the
U.S. Congress on December 5, 1916, and signed into law by
President Woodrow Wilson on March 2, 1917. The law made Puerto Rico a United States territory which is "organized but unincorporated." Puerto Ricans were also collectively given a restricted U.S. citizenship. This implied that Puerto Ricans in the island did not have full American citizenship rights, such as the right to vote for electors for the president of the United States. The act divided governmental powers into three branches:
executive (appointed by the President of the United States), legislative (consisting of a 19-member
senate and a 39-member
house of representatives, all elected by the Puerto Rican people), and
judicial. A bill of rights, which established elections to be held every four years, was also created. The act also made English the official language of the Puerto Rican courts. Section 27 of the Jones Acts deals with
cabotage and requires that all goods by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. The act also allowed
conscription to be extended to the island, and over 20,000 Puerto Rican soldiers were sent to the United States Army during the
First World War. In the years after
World War II, social, political and economic changes began to take place that have continued to shape the island's character today. The late 1940s brought the beginning of a major migration to the continental United States, mainly to
New York City, for work, and to
remit money back to their families. The main reasons for this were an undesirable economic situation brought by the Great Depression, as well as heavy recruitment made by the U.S. armed forces and U.S. companies. Political changes began in 1946 when
President Harry Truman designated the first Puerto Rican, Commissioner Resident
Jesús T. Piñero, to serve as the
island's governor. On June 10, 1948, Piñero signed into law what became known as the
Ley de la Mordaza (
Gag Law), officially Law 53 of 1948, which started as a bill passed by the
Puerto Rican legislature, presided by
Luis Muñoz Marín, in May 1948. The new law made it illegal to display the
Puerto Rican flag, sing a patriotic song, talk of independence or to fight for the liberation of the island. It resembled the
anti-communist Smith Act passed in the United States in 1940. In 1947, the U.S. Congress passed the Elective Governor Act, signed by President Truman, allowing Puerto Ricans to vote for their own governor, and the first elections under this act were held on November 2, 1948. Luis Muñoz Marín, president of the Puerto Rican Senate, successfully campaigned and became the first democratically elected Governor of the island on January 2, 1949.
1950s to present-day Puerto Rico continues to struggle to define its political status.
Operation Bootstrap In 1950, Washington introduced
Operation Bootstrap, an attempt to transform Puerto Rico's economy to an
industrialized and developed one, which greatly stimulated economic growth from 1950 until the 1970s. Due to billions of dollars of corporate investments, the growth rate was 6% for the 1950s, 5% for the 1960s, and 4% for the 1970s. Puerto Rico became one of the most affluent economies in Latin America. But it had to import 80% of its food.
Operation Bootstrap was sponsored by governor Muñoz Marín. It was coupled with
agrarian reform (land redistribution) that limited the area that could be held by large sugarcane interests. Operation Bootstrap enticed U.S. mainland investors to transfer or create manufacturing plants by granting them local and federal tax concessions, but maintaining the access to mainland markets free of import duties. Another incentive was the lower wage scales in the densely populated island. The program accelerated the shift from an agricultural to an industrial society. The 1950s saw the development of labor-intensive light industries, such as textiles; later, manufacturing gave way to heavy industry, such as petrochemicals and oil refining, in the 1960s and 1970s. Muñoz Marín's development programs brought some prosperity for an emergent middle class. The industrialization was in part fueled by generous local incentives and freedom from federal taxation, while providing access to continental US markets without import duties. As a result, a rural agricultural society was transformed into an industrial working class.
Commonwealth status On July 4, 1950,
President Harry S. Truman signed Public Act 600, which allowed Puerto Ricans to draft their own constitution establishing the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The U.S. Congress had granted commonwealth status on Puerto Rico that enhanced Puerto Rico's political status from protectorate to commonwealth. This, coupled with Muñoz Marín's reversal on not pursuing
Puerto Rican Independence angered some Puerto Ricans. On July 25, 1952, the
Constitution of Puerto Rico was approved by voters in a referendum, and the island organized as the Estado Libre Asociado (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico). That same year marked the first time that the
Flag of Puerto Rico could be publicly displayed. Puerto Ricans and other U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote in
presidential elections as that is a right reserved by the U.S. Constitution to admitted states and the District of Columbia through the
Electoral College system. Nevertheless, both the
Democratic Party and
Republican Party, while not fielding candidates for public office in Puerto Rico, provide the islands with state-sized voting delegations at their presidential nominating conventions. Delegate selection processes frequently have resulted in
presidential primaries being held in Puerto Rico. U.S. Citizens residing in Puerto Rico do not elect
U.S. Representatives or
Senators, however, Puerto Rico is represented in the House of Representatives by an elected representative commonly known as the
Resident Commissioner, who has the same duties and obligations as a representative, with the exception of being able to cast votes on the final disposition of legislation on the House floor. The Resident Commissioner is elected by Puerto Ricans to a four-year term and does serve on
congressional committee. Puerto Ricans residing in the U.S. states have all rights and privileges of other U.S. citizens living in the states.
President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status Several U.S. presidents have
signed executive orders to define, study, and initiate activities regarding the political status of Puerto Rico. the three reports of 2005, 2007, 2011, indicate in particular: According to the 2005 Report of the President's George HW Bush Task Force on Puerto Rico, it contained this clear statement about the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico: “The Federal Government may surrender U.S. sovereignty by granting independence or ceding territory to another nation; or it may, as provided for in the Constitution, admit a territory as a state, thereby rendering the Territory Clause inapplicable. The U.S. Constitution allows no other options.” [As an Enhanced Commonwealth] Ceding territory to another nation only means giving Puerto Rico away or selling it, as happened in 1898 from Spain to the United States. Congress can give Puerto Rico away, sell it, exchange it, or simply give it independence or statehood. In the 2007 Report of the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico, he expressed it again with the same clarity: “The plenary authority of Congress over a non-state area shall last as long as the area retains that status. It terminates when the area loses that status either by virtue of its admission as a state, or by the termination of United States sovereignty over the area by the grant of independence, or by its surrender to the sovereignty of another country.” In other words, Congress could give Puerto Rico away to whomever it wanted, approve the territory's independence without the consent of Puerto Ricans, or admit it as a state. Cuba - It was handed over to the United States and not to the native forces that aspired to independence, after the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898. Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico - Sold to the United States in 1898 at the end of the war, for $20,000,000. On the other hand, the Task Force of President Barack Obama, 2011, provides the same, but adds the parameters for Free Association: "Free Association would provide for an independent Puerto Rico with a close relationship to the United States, similar in status to the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. The United States provides defense and various forms of economic assistance to these countries and exercises control over their defense and security policies. Their citizens may work and attend schools in the United States, but are not U.S. citizens". There is nothing that the U.S. Congress cannot do with Puerto Rico, whether it be unilaterally granting independence, statehood, independence with a Free Association, selling, or giving away the island of Puerto Rico to another country. The only thing that is unconstitutional is the enhanced commonwealth; Obama states on page 24 that the Unincorporated Territory does not admit changes, it is what it is. When Washington, D.C., the Federal District was granted presidential voting rights in 1961, see
District of Columbia federal voting rights, it took the
Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution to make it legal. President Trump's statement on Puerto Rico in 2016 was, "There are 3.7 million American citizens living in Puerto Rico. As citizens, they should be entitled to determine for themselves their political status. I am firmly committed to the process where Puerto Ricans might resolve their status according to Constitutional and Congressional protocols. I believe the people of Puerto Rico deserve a process of status self-determination that gives them a fair and unambiguous choice on this matter. As president I will do my part to insure that Congress follows the Constitution. The will of the Puerto Rican people in any status referendum should be considered as Congress follows through on any desired change in status for Puerto Rico, including statehood."
Three 20th century referendums On July 23, 1967, the first
plebiscite on the political status of Puerto Rico was held. Voters overwhelmingly affirmed continuation of Commonwealth status (with 60.4% voting to remain a commonwealth, 39% voting to work towards
statehood, and 0.6% wishing for
independence). Other referendums have been held to determine the political status of Puerto Rico, in 1993 and
in 1998. Both times, although by smaller margins, the status quo was upheld.
2012 referendum Following the recommendations of the
President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status reports, in October 2011, Governor Luis Fortuño set August 12, 2012 as the date to hold the first part of a two-step status plebiscite. The first question was whether voters want to maintain the current commonwealth status under the territorial clause of the U.S. Constitution or whether they prefer a non-territorial option. The second question presented three status options: statehood, independence or
free association. Each option was to be an internationally recognized, constitutionally viable, non-territorial alternative to the current territory status. President
Barack Obama had also supported the referendum, writing, "I am firmly committed to the principle that the question of political status is a matter of
self-determination for the people of Puerto Rico." The fourth Puerto Rico statehood referendum occurred on November 6, 2012. The result a 54% majority of the ballots cast against the continuation of the island's territorial political status, and in favor of a new status. Of votes for new status, a 61.1% majority chose statehood. This was by far the most successful referendum for statehood advocates. In all earlier referendums, votes for statehood were matched almost equally by votes for remaining an American territory, with the remainder for independence. Support for U.S. statehood has risen in each successive popular referendum. Because there were almost 500,000 blank ballots in the 2012 referendum, creating confusion as to the voters' true desire, Congress decided to ignore the vote but provided funding for a future referendum.
2017 referendum The previous plebiscites provided voters with three options: statehood, free association/independence and maintaining the current status. The 2017 plebiscite was to offer only two: Statehood and Independence/Free Association. If the majority vote for the latter, 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. Governor
Ricardo Rosselló is 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. Benefits of statehood include an additional $10 billion per year in federal funds, the right to vote in presidential elections, higher Social Security and Medicare benefits, and a right for its government agencies and municipalities to file for bankruptcy. The latter is currently prohibited. If the majority favor free association with the U.S. a
Compact of Free Association would be negotiated, covering topics such as the role of the U.S. military in Puerto Rico, the use of the US currency, free trade between the two entities, and whether
Puerto Ricans would be U.S. citizens. Statehood might be useful as a means of dealing with Puerto Rico's 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. 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 referendum, action by the
United States Congress would be necessary to implement changes to the status of Puerto Rico under the
Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution. The bill was introduced to U.S. Congress by Jenniffer González Colón, and had 34 co-sponsors; it would have mandated the PR becoming a state of the Union by start of 2021.
2020 referendum A yes-no vote on statehood was held on November 3, 2020. It had not been approved by the US Justice Department, but it did not have to be. Congresswomen
Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) proposed on August 25, 2020 that the question of Puerto Rico's political status should be decided by a convention rather than a referendum. Velázquez and Ocasio-Cortez wrote: "Many in Puerto Rico would view Congress pushing statehood not as an end to colonization, but the culmination of it." Resident Commissioner
Jenniffer González-Colón (R) replied on Twitter, "The people's decision is through everyone's vote, not a meeting of the few. Puerto Rico has voted three consecutive times for statehood and it's our tough reality that it's up to Congress to act."
2024 referendum Another
status referendum was scheduled for November 5, 2024, alongside the
2024 Puerto Rican general election and the
2024 United States elections. The non-binding referendum had three choices: statehood, independence, and independence with free association. The top choice was 57% voted for Statehood from 528 thousand votes. To become a U.S. State, U.S. Congress must pass a bill and have it signed by the President and the bill cannot be repealed. There have now been four referendums in 12 years in favor of statehood, though the latest poll did not include the option to continue the Commonwealth, it was considered that those who wanted that, or another option did not have to vote on any of those choices. == Options for political status ==