Under international law, a free associated state is an independent country that has enhanced association with another country through a treaty. This is also a misnomer since Puerto Rico is not an independent country but rather a U. For hundreds of years, the people of Puerto Rico have fought to decolonize the archipelago.
However, there has long been division over the best way to resolve this issue: statehood, enhanced commonwealth status where Puerto Rico is still in relationship with the United States but given more autonomy or independence. Likewise, by simple legislation, Congress can provide for the independence of a territory. Despite its constitutional and legal simplicity, politics make the process complex. In November , Puerto Ricans voted in a non-binding referendum on statehood.
About 53 percent of Puerto Ricans favored statehood, while 47 percent rejected it. However, only 55 percent of Puerto Ricans voted in the referendum. Statehood proponents viewed the results as proof that most Puerto Ricans want the territory to be admitted, but opponents questioned the validity of the votes as referendums are unbinding, often promoted solely by the pro-statehood party and include the opinions of only half of Puerto Ricans.
Some people oppose statehood based on the argument that Puerto Rico will assimilate to the United States if it becomes a state. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. But a contingent of scholars and policymakers believe that Puerto Ricans are not full U.
Opponents say that while Puerto Rican-born citizens lack citizenship status on a constitutional basis, they received it on a statutory basis from the Nationality Act. Despite a modern statehood movement—which includes an attempt to gain recognition from Congress, and an upcoming statehood referendum in November—it seems unlikely that Puerto Rico will become a state any time soon.
In a Morning Consult poll , only 54 percent of mainland Americans knew Puerto Ricans are American citizens, and the United States has resisted calls from the United Nations to fully decolonize its territory. Past referenda on the subject of statehood have also been highly contested. The idea of statehood remains divisive in a territory that has long bristled at the decisions of the nation that claimed it in For Puerto Rico to become a state, it will need the support of U.
Until then, it will continue to be a little understood territory with a contentious history. All rights reserved. Share Tweet Email. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city Caracals have learned to hunt around the urban edges of Cape Town, though the predator faces many threats, such as getting hit by cars.
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Go Further. Animals Climate change is shrinking many Amazonian birds. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. The destruction wrought by Hurricane Maria on the 3. That may help explain why the nation rallied behind the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Irma in Florida, but have not responded in the same way to the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. We need an effort the scale of Dunkirk. We need the federal government to go all in. President Trump announced Tuesday morning that he will visit the island next week, but confusion remains. So what exactly is Puerto Rico? Puerto Rico first became a U. Maine in Havana Harbor in The war ended with the U.
In , Puerto Ricans adopted a new constitution, which established the current relationship of Puerto Rico as a commonwealth of the United States. Under that arrangement, Puerto Rico shares many similarities to U.
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