One year has passed since the beginning of processing of the bill “HR 2070 - Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act of 2021”, on March 18, 2022, which provides for a plebiscite for the population of the “Free and Associated State of Puerto Rico” to decide on the political status of the Island. The bill in progress provides, among other measures, to establish a process for the people of Puerto Rico to vote on the legal and political situation of the territory, for which Congress can ratify the decision through a joint resolution. It also grants the authority to the Puerto Rico legislature to convene a convention on the political condition of the territory and guarantees resources to carry out a public campaign to inform voters about options at the table. Among them are independence, the incorporation of Puerto Rico as a new North American state, or even the maintenance of the status quo as an “Associated State”. HR2070 was sponsored by Bob Menendez (D -N.J.), and Congresswomen Nydia M. Velázquez (D -N.Y.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D -N.Y.).

A year after the start of proceedings, the project is still at a standstill, causing concern among sponsors and the Puerto Rican population. Two events have influenced this new discussion. First, the renegotiation of Puerto Rico's debt in 2016, through the law known as PROMESA (Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act), which imposes draconian conditions for its payment. Secondly, the economic and social impacts of the passage of “Hurricane Maria” in 2017, which devastated the island’s infrastructure and left thousands of dead. On that occasion, the local population felt abandoned by the Donald Trump’s administration, which delayed the humanitarian response, as discussed here on the portal. Both events aroused the urgency of the population to define the political future of Puerto Rico, either through incorporation as the 51st State, or through independence, definitively breaking the semi-colonial status in which, it has been since 1898. 

A short description of Puerto Rico's history can be found at the Office of the Historian and the Clerk of the House's Office of Art and Archives. 

Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony that came under the control of the United States in 1898 after the defeat of the Madrid government in the Spanish-American War. At that time, Spain also ceded the Philippines and Guam to the US under the Treaty of Paris, which entered into force on April 11, 1899.

In the early 20th century, Puerto Rico was ruled by the US military, and government officials, including the governor appointed by the President of the United States. The Foraker Act of 1900 gave the country's population a certain amount of representation by creating a popularly elected House of Representatives. The upper house and governor continued to be appointed by the President of the United States. In 1917, the US Congress passed the Jones-Shafroth Act (popularly known as the “Jones Act”), which granted Puerto Ricans born on or after April 25, 1898, American citizenship. Further on, popular representation gained new momentum in 1947 when the US Congress passed the Elective Governor Act, allowing Puerto Ricans to vote for their own governor. The first elections under this act were held the following year, on November 2, 1948.

In 1950, the United States Congress granted Puerto Ricans the right to organize a constitutional convention through a referendum, when voters could accept or reject a proposed US law that would organize Puerto Rico as a “community” under continued US sovereignty. The Constitution of Puerto Rico was approved by the constitutional convention on February 6, 1952, and by 82% of voters in a March referendum.

In 1967, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico surveyed the political preferences of the Puerto Rican electorate, passing a plebiscite act that provided for a vote on Puerto Rico's status. This was the legislature's first plebiscite to choose between three status options (associated state, full state, or independence). In subsequent plebiscites, organized in 1993 and 1998 (without any formal commitment by the US government to honor the results), the current political status did not receive majority support. At that time, the positions by Associate State or by Full State of the United States divided the society in a half. 

On November 6, 2012, a new two-question referendum took place at the same time as the general elections. The first question, voted on in August, asked voters whether they wanted to maintain their status under the territorial clause of the US Constitution, and 54% voted against the status quo, effectively passing the second question to be voted on in November. The second question presented three alternative status options: State, independence, or free association, and 61.16% voted for statehood, 33.34% for a sovereign free-associated state, and 5.49% for independence.

Puerto Rico's political status suffered a setback on June 30, 2016, when President Obama signed HR 5278: PROMESA, establishing a Board of Control over the Puerto Rican government with a view to securing the debt renegotiation provisions of the Puerto Rico. Island. This council, composed of seven members appointed by Congress and the President of the United States, overlaps with local authorities elected by the population, particularly to impose the power to enforce all the rules defined by law. The council has sovereign powers to effectively override all decisions of the legislature, governor, and other public authorities of the associated state. In the opinion of Harry Franqui-Rivera, 2016: “It is now obvious that Puerto Rico did not become sovereign or cease to be a colony in 1952. Puerto Rico has fallen into a new category. The fiscal board is a colonial imposition but not in the form of U.S. customs receiverships imposed on Caribbean nations in the early 1900s. After all, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, and the island is a U.S. territory under international law. Then again, PROMESA is a colonial tool because unlike the American citizens living in Detroit, New York, or California, the inhabitants of the Puerto Rican archipelago do not have real representation in Congress which means they don’t have (and never had) a say in affecting the laws and policies that shape their lives. That includes PROMESA”.

It is in this context that the issue of Puerto Rico's legal status returns to the political debate in the United States.

Puerto Rico's status appears to be unsustainable in the medium term. Not only because of the condition of the island's inhabitants, but mainly because of the articulation of the great Puerto Rican diaspora in the United States. For a government that defends the freedom and self-determination of peoples in different parts of the world, it is an uncomfortable situation that the citizens of Puerto Rico cannot elect representatives with full rights to Congress, nor choose the president of the Republic.

Washington's government is from time to time constrained by the United Nations on account of colonial rule over Puerto Rico. On June 18, 2021, the UN Special Commission on Decolonization approved a text calling on the United States to promote self-determination and eventual independence for Puerto Rico. According to the text, “the Assembly would note with concern that the already weakened area in which the prevailing political and economic subordination of Puerto Rico operates is reduced further by virtue of the decision by the United States Congress, under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, known as PROMESA, which created the Financial Oversight and Management Board”.

Regarding the PROMESA law, it is worth knowing the opinion of the organization Power 4 Puerto Rico, which works with the Puerto Rican diaspora in the country: “Power 4 Puerto Rico has consistently called for the abolition of the unelected, undemocratic and conflicted Junta ruling over Puerto Rico. The US law that created the Junta –PROMESA – is nothing short of enhanced colonialism. The actions of the Junta have imposed catastrophic austerity on the backs of working Puerto Ricans, students and the most vulnerable. Now we are saddled with unsustainable debt payments for decades with little to no reforms to improve delivery of essential services, no tools for economic development, and no end in sight to the Junta's yoke on our people. Now is the time to audit the debt, cancel illegal claims and make Puerto Rico whole again”. Many of the difficulties faced by the Island for reconstruction after the passage of Hurricane Maria were difficulties due to the logic of austerity imposed by this law. Among other reasons, Power 4 Puerto Rico is on the front line for the passage of HR 2070 – Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act of 2021”.

When analyzing the situation of the island, we do not see the possibility of the territory obtaining independence due to its strategic importance in the first chain of Caribbean Islands, for the defense of the United States in the Western Hemisphere. On the other hand, the status of Associate State has proved to be insufficient to meet the needs of the population, even more so when the little autonomy that exists is managed by a Control Commission appointed by Washington that can make all initiatives of local politicians unfeasible. Finally, there remains the question of the transformation of Puerto Rico into the 51st US state. In theory, this is the most feasible hypothesis since it has the sympathy of Republican congressmen and most Democrats.

However, the political implications arising from the incorporation of two more senators and four more deputies must be considered. There is a fear on the part of Republicans that the bench of a possible state of Puerto Rico could unbalance political representation in Congress in favor of the Democrats since this party has the majority support of the Latino/Hispanic population. This fear is very similar to the situation in the United States prior to the Civil War, as “new” ones were only admitted if the balance between slave and abolitionist states was maintained. According to the Latino Rebels portal, congressional aides said that “the last thing Republicans want is a new state during this Congress”. It would totally and permanently shake up every vote count to add two more Senators, especially Senators are Democrats.

As pressing as this debate is, it is unlikely to come to a good end in the US Congress. The current level of political polarization between Democrats and Republicans is paralyzing the adoption of any measure deemed more controversial. The only point of convergence between Republicans and Democrats is the increase in the budget for defense affairs, even more so when the country seeks to react against the rise of competing powers.