Politics of Puerto Rico
Encyclopedia
The politics of Puerto Rico take place in the framework of a republican
democratic
form of government that is under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States of America as an organized unincorporated territory.
As a republican form of government, the government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial, as established by the Constitution of Puerto Rico
. The executive power is exercised by the executive branch, which is headed by the Governor, advised by a cabinet of secretaries
that are independent of the legislature. Legislative power is vested upon the Legislature
. Judicial power is exercised by the judiciary, consisting of the Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico
, the Tribunal de Apelaciones (English: Court of Appeals), and Tribunal de Primera Instancia (English: Courts of First Instance). There is also a Federal Court
to hear cases of a federal nature or with federal jurisdiction.
Puerto Rico's governor, who is the head of government
, and the members of the legislature are elected every four years by popular vote. Puerto Rico's legislature is a bi-cameral
body consisting of a Senate
and a Camara de Representantes
. The members of the judicial branch are appointed by the Governor with the approval of the Senate to serve until they reach age 70. Due to the status of Puerto Rico as a territory of the United States, its residents cannot vote in the U.S. presidential elections.
Politics in Puerto Rico revolve around a multi-party political system. The politics of Puerto Rico are dominated by three political parties: Partido Popular Democratico
(PPD), the Partido Nuevo Progresista
(PNP), and the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño
(PIP).
Since the 1898 invasion of Puerto Rico by the Americans during the Spanish–American War, politics in Puerto Rico have been significantly shaped by its status as territoty of the United States. The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States is the subject of ongoing debate in Puerto Rico, the United Nations
and the International Community
.
embraced the idea of annexation as a U.S. state as a solution to the colonial situation and founded the Republican Party
in 1899.
Dr. Barbosa had been the leader in the Autonomist Party
that favored a republican government for Spain. For much of the 19th Century, the principal parties favored Puerto Rico becoming one of the Spanish provinces in equal footing with the rest of the provinces; such a standing was given twice, under liberal governments, but it was revoked as many times when the monarchs regained their power. In this context, Dr. Barbosa returned to the original idea of equal footing, but this time with the constituent members of the American Republic.
During the last twenty years under the Spanish flag, the local parties, with the exception of the Partido Incondicional Español (Unconditional Spanish Party) embraced the idea of autonomy. The Incondicionales accepted whatever Spain had for Puerto Rico and the Crown duly recognized their support by giving aristocratic titles to the leaders. The leader of the Canadian model developed by the British and supported a similar development for Puerto Rico under Spain. Before Baldorioty de Castro, other leaders had mentioned the possibility of autonomy, generally as an answer to the Spanish insistence in instituting special laws to govern the colonies.
At about the same time that the Republican Party of Puerto Rico was organized under the U.S., Luis Muñoz-Rivera organized the Federal Party
. Like the Republican Party it supported statehood for Puerto Rico. Muñoz-Rivera had been the leader of the monarchist faction of the autonomists, not truly out of conviction but because Spain was a monarchy. Through this support he was able to get Sagasta, whose party was not in power in the early 1890s, to support an autonomous government for Puerto Rico. At about this time, the U.S. was pressuring Spain to grant autonomy to Cuba, but the Spaniards dilly-dallied until a year before the Spanish-American War
. Sagasta was then Prime Minister and he had made a compact with the Islanders to give them autonomy. Autonomy was granted, not through an Act of the Cortes (the Legislative branch of Spain), but through an edict of the monarch. Bickering between Muñoz-Rivera and Barbosa did not allow the autonomous government to be established immediately. Sagasta demanded that they put their differences aside and both, with their respective groups, became part of the first autonomous government of Puerto Rico immediately before the War.
The Republican Party won the elections in 1900 and again in 1902. The new government of Puerto Rico, organized under the Foraker Act
of 1900, was a mixture of the British and the American system, somewhat similar to that established for the territory of Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase. The House of Delegates was elected directly by the voters (male, propertied) and the equivalent to the Senate was the Cabinet appointed by the Governor and by the President of the United States. Muñoz-Rivera exiled himself to New York after the defeat, but returned once the Federal Party was no longer useful and joined Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón
in organizing the Union Party
, also with them was José de Diego
.
Matienzo Cintrón had been a Republican, supporting statehood. But two years into the new government, he realized that statehood would not be granted and the desired equality as citizens was not feasible under the United States. He brought with him other former Republicans and practically all of Muñoz-Rivera's Federalists into a party that was to bring about the union of all political groups. He was successful, they won the elections of 1904 and all subsequent elections until the 20's, when another defection of Republicans allowed for the creation of yet another party bringing into it persons supporting a status change.
The Union Party, initially supported statehood or an autonomous government, it then later added independence. In fact, Matienzo-Cintrón went from statehood advocate to autonomist to independence advocate as a result of eight years of American civil government in Puerto Rico. The Union Party, from the very beginning, was against the colonial government established under the Foraker Act
. Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, Manuel Zeno Gandía
, Luis Llorens Torres
, Eugenio Benítez Castaño, and Pedro Franceschi started to organize the Independence Party
in 1912 which paved the path for similar movements. The Union Party quickly gained the attention of the colonial governors, all Republicans, who were willing to work closely with them because of their control of the House of Delegates. The local Republicans protested bitterly and, once took statehood out of their platform, not bringing it back until the early 1920s. Many in the Union Party leadership were lawyers who had contracts with the sugar operations recently bought out and enlarged by the new American owners, thus establishing a close relationship between the nascent middle classes and the American corporate interests.
A coalition between the pro-independence Union Party presided by Antonio R. Barceló
and the pro-statehood Republican Party of Puerto Rico presided by Jose Tous Soto called the "Alianza" was formed. Differences between Barceló and Tous Soto and Félix Córdova Dávila
, the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington, as to the goals of the alliance became apparent. The Unionist sector of the alliance, decided to disaffiliate themselves from the "Alliance." Because of legal reasons Barceló was unable to use the name "Union Party" and in 1932, founded the "Liberal Party of Puerto Rico". The Liberal Party's political agenda was the same as the original Union Party's agenda and urged independence as a final political solution for Puerto Rico. After the Liberal Party was defeated in 1936 elections, an assembly was held in Naranjales on May 31, 1937, in which Luis Muñoz Marín presented his ideas as to how the party should be run, however the majority of the party members objected and blamed him for their defeat. Muñoz Marín considered this action the same as having been expelled from the party. Muñoz Marín and his followers, among which were included Felisa Rincon de Gautier and Ernesto Ramos Antonini, held an assembly in the town of Arecibo founded the Partido Liberal, Neto, Auténtico y Completo ("Clear, Authentic and Complete Liberal Party"), claiming to be the true Liberal Party. The Partido Liberal, Neto, Auténtico y Completo, an independence political party, later became the Popular Democratic Party
(PPD) which would ironically end up promoting the "Estado Libre Associado" (Free Associated State) status that Barceló, as president of Union Party, had asked for in 1923 under Campbell Bill and which Muñoz Marín had always opposed, instead of independence.
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party (PNP) was founded in the year 1922. It strongly criticized the American colonial regime for its menace to the Spanish and Latin American roots of the Puerto Rican culture. It also advocated for complete independence. The PNP began to grow with the leadership of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos
, who was later jailed by the colonial regime under charges as a subversive leader. On March 21, 1937, a peaceful march was organized in the southern city of Ponce
by the nationalists after receiving authorization from the pertinent authorities. The march was organized to commemorate the abolition of slavery and to demand the release of Albizu Campos from federal prison. The permit, however, was revoked by the U.S.-appointed governor of the Island Blanton Winship minutes before the march was to start. The march turned into a bloody event when the Insular Police ("a force somewhat resembling the National Guard of the typical U.S. state" and which answered to governor Winship) opened fire upon, what a U.S. Congressman and others reported were unarmed and defenseless cadets and bystanders alike killing 19 and badly wounding over 200 more, many in their backs while running away. It came to be known as the Ponce massacre
.
founded the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) in 1940. Their slogan was Pan, Tierra y Libertad (Bread, Land and Liberty). The party favored independence for the United States in its initial stages but social and economic reform were priorities in their political agenda.
The Puerto Rican Independence Party
was formed six years later by dissidents who saw the PPD moving away from the ideal of independence. During that period, the colonial regime appointed the first Puerto Rican governor, Jesús T. Piñero
, until 1948 when the people elected Luis Muñoz Marín, the first elected governor
.
The years or 1944-1948 were crucial ones in the direction of the country. Luis Muñoz Marín shifted his goals from independence to state-like autonomy to accommodate better economic circumstances. This led to the U.S. Congress to enact the Public Law 81-600 which led to the Congressional approval of a local constitution drafted by a constitutional assembly elected by Puerto Rico and the renaming of the United States unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, using the same official name as the commonwealths of the U.S. states of Kentucky
, Massachusetts
, Pennsylvania
and Virginia
, as well as that of other sovereign nation countries such as Australia. The alternative pro-independence Tydings bill had languished in Congress.
In the 1950s, the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
denounced the Constitution
and Muñoz Marín
support as a sham, and staged a series of uprisings in 1950, known as the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s
, of which the most notable were the ones in Jayuya
, Utuado
and San Juan
, plus the attack on Blair House
, and the United States House of Representatives
in 1954. Twenty-three people were killed and more than 50 were injured.
Governor
Muñoz Marín inaugurated the new status called Estado Libre Asociado —or Free Associated State in English— and raised the Puerto Rican flag along with the national anthem of Puerto Rico for the first time on July 25, 1952 — date in which Puerto Ricans celebrate the Constitution of Puerto Rico (see also: Holidays in Puerto Rico).
(NPP) was founded in August, 1967 by Luis A. Ferré
, a month after the July 23, 1967 local plebiscite and the year before the NPP won the 1968 elections. The party saw the ideology of annexation as a U.S. state as a civil rights
issue. The creation of the New Progressive Party polarized the political arena to a great degree as radical independence groups were formed in the 1970s and the Puerto Rican Socialist Party
(PSP), a Marxist and Cuba
-friendly party, was created. Two of the radical groups were labeled as terrorist groups by the U.S. Government, Los Macheteros and the Armed Forces of National Liberation
(FALN). These groups were viewed by many pro-independence followers as freedom fighters.
In 1972 the NPP lost to a reunified Popular Democratic Party (PDP). Rafael Hernández Colón
became the undisputed leader of the PPD at age 36. He was, as the fourth elected governor
, in favor of adding more powers to the commonwealth status. One of his projects was the Puerto Rican owned marine transportation. In order to control the costs of the marine transport in Puerto Rico, the marine company Sea Land was bought to form Navieras of Puerto Rico in 1974.
The fifth governor was Carlos Romero Barceló
, a fierce supporter of the annexation as a U.S. state of Puerto Rico. Under his administration, Section 936 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Tax Code was implemented as an economic incentive. This allowed American companies to profit in the island without paying taxes. His administration was shadowed by the Cerro Maravilla (Maravilla Hill) affair, where two independence activists were killed by police agents. This created a Watergate
-like scandal that was later investigated by the Senate.
In 1980, Romero Barcelo was reelected Governor by a controversial 0.2% margin, but lost control of the Senate and, a year later, the House of Representatives to the PDP. Independence radical groups placed bombs on 11 jet fighters in 1981 in the Muñiz Base (a U.S. military base
), and the U.S. removed all of its fighter aircrafts from Puerto Rico. Rafael Hernández Colón
became the head of government for the second time in 1984, was reelected in 1988 and remained in power until 1992.
Pedro Rosselló
became the sixth elected Governor in 1992. He pushed the political status dilemma in Washington, D.C.
and sponsored two local non-binding referendums, one in 1993 and another in 1998. While he was elected to a second term, his last four years were met with mounting allegations of corruption. After Rosselló's second term ended, former Speaker of the House, Edison Misla Aldarondo (NPP) was jailed as well as many members of Rossello's party. Most of the corruption allegations were based on extortion and appropriation of public funds. This led his party to losing the 2000 election and the Governorship when he ran again in 2004.
In 2000 Sila María Calderón
(PDP) was elected becoming the first female governor of Puerto Rico, also gaining control of the Senate, presided by Antonio Fas Alzamora
and the House of Representatives, headed by Speaker Carlos Vizcarrondo. The PDP also elected Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
as the islands' non-voting delegate in Congress.
In 2004 Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
(PDP) was declared the winner by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
as governor
, by about 3,000 votes, but his party lost control of the Senate, which elected NPP Senator Kenneth McClintock
as its president, and the House of Representatives, which chose the NPP's José Aponte
as Speaker, and Puerto Rico's seat in Congress, due to the election of Luis Fortuño
.
During the 2005-2008 term, former Gov. Rosselló's unsuccessful attempt to unseat Senate President McClintock, split the New Progressive Party, a split that continued as Rosselló initiated a fourth bid for the governorship against Resident Commissioner Fortuño in an internal primary that was held March 9, 2008, and which he lost. On the PDP side, Acevedo's rocky relationship with the NPP-controlled Legislature was compounded with Federal investigations and unsuccessful indictments of his past political fundraising by grand juries in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
and San Juan, Puerto Rico
.
In 2008 Luis Fortuño
(NPP) was elected governor
, giving the New Progressive Party
its largest victory in history beating incumbent Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the Popular Democratic Party
(PDP) by more than 223,000 votes. Also the NPP won supermajorities in the Commonwealth's House of Representatives and Senate
. Additionally, the NPP won the seat for Puerto Rico's sole delegate
to Congress, because of the election of Pedro Pierluisi
. On June 26, 2011, Fortuño announced that he aspires to become the first Governor to win reelection in the past 16 years.
In 1950, the U.S. Congress gave Puerto Ricans the right to organize a constitutional convention, contingent on the results of a referendum, where the electorate would determine if they wished to organize their own government pursuant to a constitution of their own choosing. Puerto Ricans expressed their support for this measure in a 1951 referendum, which gave voters a yes-or-no choice for the commonwealth status, defined as a 'permanent association with a federal union' but not choice for independence or statehood. A second referendum was held to ratify the constitution, which was adopted in 1952.
Before approving the new constitution, the Constitutional Convention specified the name by which the body politic
would be known. On February 4, 1952, the convention approved Resolution 22 which chose in English the word "Commonwealth
", meaning a "politically organized community" or "state", which is simultaneously connected by a compact or treaty to another political system. The convention adopted a translation into Spanish of the term, inspired by the Irish saorstát (Free State)
of "Estado Libre Asociado" (ELA) to represent the agreement adopted "in the nature of a compact" between the people of Puerto Rico and the U.S. literally translated into English, the phrase means "Associated Free State."
In 1967, the Legislative Assembly tested political interests of the Puerto Rican people by passing a plebiscite Act that allowed a vote on the status of Puerto Rico. This constituted the first plebiscite by the Legislature for a choice on three political status options. Puerto Rican leaders had lobbied for such an opportunity repeatedly, in 1898, 1912, 1914, 1919, 1923, 1929, 1932, 1939, 1943, 1944, 1948, 1956, and 1960. The Commonwealth option, represented by the PDP, won with an overwhelming majority of 60.4% of the votes. The Statehood Republican Party and the Puerto Rican Independence Party boycotted the plebiscite.
After the plebiscite, efforts in the 1970s to enact legislation to address the status issue died in Congressional committees. In the 1993 plebiscite, in which Congress played a more substantial role, Commonwealth status was again upheld. In the 1998 plebiscite, all the options were rejected when 50.3% of voters chose the "none of the above" option, favoring the commonwealth status quo by default.
approved Resolution 748, removing Puerto Rico's classification as a non-self-governing territory
under article 73(e) of the Charter from UN. But the General Assembly did not apply its full list of criteria to Puerto Rico to determine if it has achieved self-governing status.
In August 1977, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico, Franklin Delano López, testified before the UN Decolonization Committee
denouncing the colonial nature of the Commonwealth Status. As a result of his statement, many other statehooders and commonwealth supporters went to the United Nations requesting the end of the colonial status. President Jimmy Carter
subsequently signed the "Alternative Futures and Self Determination Executive Order" on July 25, 1978 guaranteeing the right of self determination to the People of Puerto Rico.
, Puerto Rico is described as a Commonwealth and Puerto Ricans have a degree of administrative autonomy similar to that of a U.S. state
.
Puerto Ricans "were collectively made U.S. citizens" in 1917 as a result of the Jones-Shafroth Act
. The act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson
on March 2, 1917. U.S. Federal law approved by the President Harry S. Truman
on June 27, 1952 declared all persons born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941 to be citizens of the U.S. at birth and all persons born in Puerto Rico between April 11, 1899, and January 12, 1941, and meeting certain other technical requirements, and not citizens of the United States under any other Act, were declared to be citizens of the U.S. as of January 13, 1941. In addition, an April 2000 CRS report by the Congressional Research Service
, asserts that citizens born in Puerto Rico, are legally defined as natural born citizens and are, therefore, also eligible to be elected President.
Only the "fundamental rights" under the federal constitution apply to Puerto Rico like the Privileges and Immunities Clause
(U.S. Constitution
, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1, also known as the 'Comity Clause') that prevents a state
from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner, with regard to basic civil rights. The clause also embraces a right to travel, so that a citizen of one state can go and enjoy privileges and immunities in any other state; this constitutional clause was expressly extended to Puerto Rico by the U.S. Congress through the federal law and signed by the President Harry S. Truman
in 1947. Other fundamental rights like the Due Process
Clause and the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment
was expressly extended to Puerto Rico by the U.S. Supreme court. In a brief concurrence in the judgment of Torres v. Puerto Rico
, U.S. 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.
President George H. W. Bush
issued a memorandum on November 30, 1992 to heads of executive departments and agencies establishing the current administrative relationship between the federal government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a state, insofar as doing so would not disrupt federal programs or operations.
Puerto Rico does participate in the internal political process of both the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S., accorded equal-proportional representation in both parties, and delegates from the islands vote in each party's national presidential convention.
Puerto Ricans may enlist in the U.S. military. Since 1917, Puerto Ricans have been included in the compulsory draft whenever it has been in effect and more than 400,000 Puerto Ricans have served in the United States Armed Forces. Puerto Ricans have participated in all U.S. wars since 1898, most notably World War I
, World War II
, the Korean
and Vietnam
wars, as well as the current Middle Eastern conflicts. Several Puerto Ricans became notable commanders, five have been awarded the Medal of Honor
, the highest military decoration in the United States, also several Puerto Ricans have attained the rank of General
or Admiral
, which requires a Presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. In World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War Puerto Ricans were the most decorated Hispanic soldiers and in some cases they were the first to die in combat.
, it is not possible "to bind future (U.S.) Congresses to any particular arrangement for Puerto Rico as a Commonwealth". This determination was based on articles in the U.S. Constitution regarding territories. Prominent leaders in the pro-statehood and pro-independence political movements agree with this assessment.
In 2005 and 2007, two reports were issued by the U.S. President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status. Both reports conclude that Puerto Rico continues to be a territory of U.S. under the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress. Reactions from Puerto Rico's two major political parties were mixed. The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) challenged the task force's report and committed to validating the current status in all international forums, including the United Nations. It also rejects any "colonial or territorial status" as a status option, and vows to keep working for the enhanced Commonwealth status that was approved by the PPD in 1998 which included sovereignty, an association based on "respect and dignity between both nations", and common citizenship. The New Progressive Party (PNP) supported the White House Report's conclusions and supported bills to provide for a democratic referendum process among Puerto Rico voters. It stated that the U.S. Justice Department in 1959 reiterated that Congress held power over Puerto Rico pursuant to the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In a 1996 report on a Puerto Rico status political bill, the "U.S. House Committee on Resources stated that PR's current status does not meet the criteria for any of the options for full self-government". It concluded that Puerto Rico is still an unincorporated territory of the U.S. under the territorial clause, that the establishment of local self-government with the consent of the people can be unilaterally revoked by the U.S. Congress, and that U.S. Congress can also withdraw the U.S. citizenship of Puerto Rican residents of Puerto Rico at any time, for a legitimate Federal purpose. The application of the Constitution to Puerto Rico is limited by the Insular Cases
.
On December 21, 2007, the Bush Administration's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status reiterated and confirmed that Puerto Rico continues to be a territory of the U.S. under the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress, a position shared by the remaining two-major parties: New Progressive Party
and the Puerto Rican Independence Party
.
Following the reports recommendations the 2009 bill , was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on May 19, 2009 by Pedro Pierluisi
(D-Puerto Rico
).
The bill would provide for a referendum giving Puerto Ricans the choice between the options of retaining their present political status, or choosing a new status. If the former option were to win, the referendum would have been held again every 8 years. If the latter option were to win, a separate referendum would be held where Puerto Ricans would have been given the option of being admitted as a US State "on equal footing with the other states", or becoming a "sovereign nation, either fully independent from or in free association with the United States." The bill enjoys bi-partisan support in the House of Representatives, with 182 co-sponsors and was reported out of the House Resources Committee on a 30-8 vote. The measure was passed by the House on April 29, 2010.
On March 16, 2011, the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status issued a third report that reaffirned the legal position adopted by the three previous presidents over nearly a quarter century that Puerto Rico remains today "subject to the Territory Clause of the U.S. Constitution (see Report at page 26), that the territory's long-term economic well-being would be enhanced by an early resolution of the political status problem (p. 33) and devotes most of the report to extensive economic analysis and recommendations.
" status. (The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
, located in the western Pacific Ocean, has a similar delegation of self-government powers by the United States.) Puerto Rico has more latitude over its internal affairs than the U.S. territories of Guam
, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or American Samoa
.
Puerto Rico has approximately the same degree of authority over its internal affairs as an American state
. However, it does not have the sovereignty that a state of the Union has, given that Puerto Rico is a possession of the United States and it is, thus, not protected by the US Constitution as states are. The United States federal government controls interstate trade, foreign commerce, customs
, aviation
and navigation
, immigration
, currency
, all military
and naval
matters, radio and television communications, mining
and mineral
s, highways, the postal system
, social security
, and other areas generally controlled by the federal government in the United States. As in the case of a state, the United States Supreme Court also has the final say over the constitutionality of Puerto Rican laws. Puerto Rico's elected governor and legislature control all other delegated internal affairs.
The major differences between Puerto Rico and a state of the American Union are:
and Democratic Party
chapters in Puerto Rico have selected voting delegates to the national nominating conventions since the early 1900s, public interest in these processes heightened as a result of the efforts of a group of Democratic statehooders led by Franklin Delano López in 1976 to elect delegates supporting former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter
to that year's Democratic National Convention.On October 23, 1979, the first primary of a party affiliated to the Democratic National Committee was held in Puerto Rico. Franklin Delano López was elected Chairman of the New Democratic Party of Puerto Rico by the direct votes of 374,000 American citizens residing on the Island. Lopez then moved the Puerto Rican Legislature to adopt a Presidential Primary Law. During the discussion of the Presidential primary Law, Lopez managed to persuade Presidential Chief of Staff, Hamilton Jordan and Tim Kraft to grant Puerto Rico the right for a more robust delegation, the inclusion of Puerto Rico after Pennsylvania in the roll call of the state in exchange of eliminating from the bill that Puerto Rico was going to be the first Presidential Primary in the Nation. As a result of that effort, the Puerto Rico Legislature approved a law regulating presidential primaries in 1979, the first of which was held in 1980, with George H. W. Bush
winning the Republican primary and President Carter beating Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy
in a hard-fought Democratic primary. More than 1.2 million American citizens residing in Puerto Rico participated in the primaries.
In the first internal primary of a National political party, the new slate of statehooders, headed by Franklin Delano López took control of the local Democratic party chapter. In January 1980 after clashing with Governor Carlos Romero Barceló, Lopez was forced to resign the chairmanship of the New Democratic Party in exchange of the Governor becoming the President of Carter's campaign in Puerto Rico and throwing the New Progressive Party behind the president's re-election efforts. Lopez' fight with Governor Romero, on behalf of President Carter, paid off and was appointed Deputy Campaign Manager of President Carter national campaign. Lopez efforts moved to Puerto Rico and the status issue at the forefront of the National political discussion. Subsequently both the statehood faction and the commonwealth shared control on a 50-50 basis from 1984 to 1988 and lost control that year as a result of their defeat in an internal primary that year between PDP forces led by then Senate president Miguel Hernández Agosto
and NPP forces led by former Gov. Carlos Romero Barceló
. While the PDP Democratic faction controls the Democratic party chapter under the state chairmanship of former senator Roberto Prats
, two of the five DNC members residing in Puerto Rico, Senate president Kenneth McClintock
and Francisco Domenech
are statehooders.
On the Republican side NPP-affiliated statehood Republicans control the GOP local chapter (Republican Party of Puerto Rico), headed by state chair and Aguadilla mayor Carlos Méndez, Republican National Committeeman and Governor Luis Fortuño
and Republican National Committeewoman Zoraida Fonalledas.
The 2008 Republican presidential primary was slated to be held in February, while Democrats held their primary in June. Then Senate President and Democratic National Committeeman Kenneth McClintock
, former Sen. Roberto Prats
, Puerto Rico's Democratic State Chair and former PDP gubernatorial candidate José Alfredo Hernández Mayoral were appointed co-chairs of Sen. Hillary Clinton's National Hispanic Leadership Council while Young Democrats of America Democratic National Committeeman Francisco Domenech
co-chaired Clinton's young professionals organization. Prats and McClintock subsequently co-chaired Clinton's Puerto Rico campaign, which she won by a 68% to 32% margin.
Being the last big primary before the last two states voted on June 3, Puerto Rico's Democratic presidential primary attracted historic levels of national media coverage.
Several local politicians have expressed concern that Puerto Rico has become a "piggy bank" for presidential campaigns. Recent examples include Vice President Dick Cheney
's whirlwind two-hour visit to collect $300,000 in 2006 and Senator Barack Obama
's somewhat longer three-hour trip in November, 2007 to collect $200,000 Both refused to meet with the news media, press the flesh or meet with local politicians, inconceivable in Iowa or New Hampshire.
Speculation, which began in late 2009 by a national media blog and by Grover Norquist, a well-known Republican commentator, mentioned Gov. Fortuño as a long-shot inclusion in a national political ticket.
President Obama is scheduled to briefly visit Puerto Rico on June 14, 2011.
via the Jones-Shafroth Act
. All persons born in Puerto Rico after 1941 are considered natural-born citizen
s of the United States, one of the constitutional requirements to be President of the United States. In addition, this is reiterated by an April 2000 CRS report by the Congressional Research Service
, this report asserts that citizens born in Puerto Rico, are legally defined as natural born citizens and are, therefore, also eligible to be elected President of the United States. However, according to the US Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual
, "the fact that someone is a natural born citizen pursuant to a statute does not necessarily imply that he or she is such a citizen for Constitutional purposes."
. According to two consecutive Bush Administration President's Task Force Reports, the latest of which was issued on December 21, 2007 Puerto Rico is an unincorporated organized territory of the United States, subject to the plenary power
s of the United States government. The Popular Democratic Party
has challenged the Bush Administration's Task Force Reports stating that in 1953 Puerto Rico achieved a compact of association between both nations that was recognized by the United Nations. Nonetheless, the aforementioned U.S. Presidential and Congressional Reports state that the current prerogatives assumed by the Puerto Rico government are delegated by the U.S. Congress and may be amended or eliminated at its sole behest.
In a letter sent by the former governor of Puerto Rico to the former U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice
and the Co-Chairs of the White House's Presidential Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status on the Bush administration, former governor Acevedo Vilá stated:
On December 21, 2007, the Bush Administration's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status reiterated and confirmed that Puerto Rico continues to be a territory of the United States under the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress.
On June 15, 2009, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization
approved a draft resolution calling on the Government of the United States to expedite a process that would allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
and the New Progressive Party
outright reject the status quo that permits disfranchisement. The remaining political organization, the Popular Democratic Party
, is less active in its opposition of this case of disfranchisement but has officially stated that it favors fixing the remaining "deficits of democracy" that the Bill Clinton
and George W. Bush
Administrations have publicly recognized in writing through Presidential Task Force Reports.
to Juan Mari Brás
. The Puerto Rican citizenship was first legislated by the U.S. Congress in Article 7 of the Foraker Act
of 1900 and recognized by the Puerto Rico constitution. The certificate of citizenship is not automatically conferred, and it must be requested. The certificates of Puerto Rican citizenship are issued to any persons born on the island as well as to those born outside of the island that have at least one parent who was born on the island. Any U.S. citizen with at least one year of residence on the island is also eligible for the official citizenship certificate. The certificate is not a valid travel document.
from several countries, mainly from the Western Hemisphere
and Europe. While the Papal Nuncio in Washington, D.C. serves as the Vatican State's ambassador to the U.S. and the ecclesiastical liaison to the American Roman Catholic Church, the Holy See
has designated the Papal Nuncio in the Dominican Republic as the ecclesiastical liaison to the Roman Catholic Church in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico hosts consular staff from 42 countries. Most consulates are located in the San Juan area.
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
form of government that is under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States of America as an organized unincorporated territory.
As a republican form of government, the government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial, as established by the Constitution of Puerto Rico
Constitution of Puerto Rico
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the controlling government document of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government as well as the function of several of its institutions. The document also contains an extensive...
. The executive power is exercised by the executive branch, which is headed by the Governor, advised by a cabinet of secretaries
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
that are independent of the legislature. Legislative power is vested upon the Legislature
Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The structure and responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly are defined in Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico....
. Judicial power is exercised by the judiciary, consisting of the Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of Commonwealth law. As the highest body of the judicial branch of the Puerto Rican government, it is analogous to one of the...
, the Tribunal de Apelaciones (English: Court of Appeals), and Tribunal de Primera Instancia (English: Courts of First Instance). There is also a Federal Court
United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is based in San Juan. The main building is the Clemente Ruiz Nazario U.S. Courthouse located in the Hato Rey district of San Juan...
to hear cases of a federal nature or with federal jurisdiction.
Puerto Rico's governor, who is the head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
, and the members of the legislature are elected every four years by popular vote. Puerto Rico's legislature is a bi-cameral
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....
body consisting of a Senate
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
and a Camara de Representantes
House of Representatives of Puerto Rico
The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico...
. The members of the judicial branch are appointed by the Governor with the approval of the Senate to serve until they reach age 70. Due to the status of Puerto Rico as a territory of the United States, its residents cannot vote in the U.S. presidential elections.
Politics in Puerto Rico revolve around a multi-party political system. The politics of Puerto Rico are dominated by three political parties: Partido Popular Democratico
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
(PPD), the Partido Nuevo Progresista
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
(PNP), and the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño
Puerto Rican Independence Party
The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
(PIP).
Since the 1898 invasion of Puerto Rico by the Americans during the Spanish–American War, politics in Puerto Rico have been significantly shaped by its status as territoty of the United States. The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States is the subject of ongoing debate in Puerto Rico, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and the International Community
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
.
1898-1940
One year after the United States invasion of the island, Dr. José Celso BarbosaJosé Celso Barbosa
Dr. José Celso Barbosa was a medical Physician, sociologist, and political leader of Puerto Rico.Known within Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party as "The father of the Statehood for Puerto Rico movement", Barbosa was also the first Puerto Rican to be awarded an American medical degree.-Early...
embraced the idea of annexation as a U.S. state as a solution to the colonial situation and founded the Republican Party
Republican Party (Puerto Rico)
The Republican Party is a political party in Puerto Rico, and the affiliate of the national Republican Party of United States. The party supports statehood for the island. Carlos Méndez, the Mayor of Aguadilla, is the local chairman and the party is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Luis G...
in 1899.
Dr. Barbosa had been the leader in the Autonomist Party
Autonomist Party
The Autonomist Party was a political party in the Dalmatian political scene, that existed for around 70 years of the nineteenth century and until World War I. Its goal was to maintain the autonomy of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as opposed to the unification with the...
that favored a republican government for Spain. For much of the 19th Century, the principal parties favored Puerto Rico becoming one of the Spanish provinces in equal footing with the rest of the provinces; such a standing was given twice, under liberal governments, but it was revoked as many times when the monarchs regained their power. In this context, Dr. Barbosa returned to the original idea of equal footing, but this time with the constituent members of the American Republic.
During the last twenty years under the Spanish flag, the local parties, with the exception of the Partido Incondicional Español (Unconditional Spanish Party) embraced the idea of autonomy. The Incondicionales accepted whatever Spain had for Puerto Rico and the Crown duly recognized their support by giving aristocratic titles to the leaders. The leader of the Canadian model developed by the British and supported a similar development for Puerto Rico under Spain. Before Baldorioty de Castro, other leaders had mentioned the possibility of autonomy, generally as an answer to the Spanish insistence in instituting special laws to govern the colonies.
At about the same time that the Republican Party of Puerto Rico was organized under the U.S., Luis Muñoz-Rivera organized the Federal Party
Federal Party (Puerto Rico)
The Federal Party was a short-lived political party in Puerto Rico.The Federal Party was founded on October 1, 1899. It was formed by Luis Muñoz Rivera and other former members of the Autonomist Party during US military rule of the island following the Spanish-American War...
. Like the Republican Party it supported statehood for Puerto Rico. Muñoz-Rivera had been the leader of the monarchist faction of the autonomists, not truly out of conviction but because Spain was a monarchy. Through this support he was able to get Sagasta, whose party was not in power in the early 1890s, to support an autonomous government for Puerto Rico. At about this time, the U.S. was pressuring Spain to grant autonomy to Cuba, but the Spaniards dilly-dallied until a year before the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. Sagasta was then Prime Minister and he had made a compact with the Islanders to give them autonomy. Autonomy was granted, not through an Act of the Cortes (the Legislative branch of Spain), but through an edict of the monarch. Bickering between Muñoz-Rivera and Barbosa did not allow the autonomous government to be established immediately. Sagasta demanded that they put their differences aside and both, with their respective groups, became part of the first autonomous government of Puerto Rico immediately before the War.
The Republican Party won the elections in 1900 and again in 1902. The new government of Puerto Rico, organized under the Foraker Act
Foraker Act
The Foraker Act,officially the Organic Act of 1900, is a United States federal law that established civilian government on the island of Puerto Rico, which had been newly acquired by the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. Section VII of the Foraker Act also established Puerto...
of 1900, was a mixture of the British and the American system, somewhat similar to that established for the territory of Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase. The House of Delegates was elected directly by the voters (male, propertied) and the equivalent to the Senate was the Cabinet appointed by the Governor and by the President of the United States. Muñoz-Rivera exiled himself to New York after the defeat, but returned once the Federal Party was no longer useful and joined Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón
Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón
Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón was a lawyer, a member of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives, and a lifelong political contrarian. He favored Puerto Rican autonomy when Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony. After the Spanish-American War, when the island was ceded to the United States, he advocated...
in organizing the Union Party
Union of Puerto Rico
The Union of Puerto Rico , also known as the Union Party, was a major political party in Puerto Rico.The UPR was founded in February 1904 by Luis Muñoz Rivera, Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, Antonio R. Barceló, José de Diego and others after the disbanding of the Federal Party...
, also with them was José de Diego
José de Diego
José de Diego y Martínez , known as "The Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement", was a statesman, journalist, poet, lawyer, and advocate for Puerto Rico's independence from Spain and from the United States....
.
Matienzo Cintrón had been a Republican, supporting statehood. But two years into the new government, he realized that statehood would not be granted and the desired equality as citizens was not feasible under the United States. He brought with him other former Republicans and practically all of Muñoz-Rivera's Federalists into a party that was to bring about the union of all political groups. He was successful, they won the elections of 1904 and all subsequent elections until the 20's, when another defection of Republicans allowed for the creation of yet another party bringing into it persons supporting a status change.
The Union Party, initially supported statehood or an autonomous government, it then later added independence. In fact, Matienzo-Cintrón went from statehood advocate to autonomist to independence advocate as a result of eight years of American civil government in Puerto Rico. The Union Party, from the very beginning, was against the colonial government established under the Foraker Act
Foraker Act
The Foraker Act,officially the Organic Act of 1900, is a United States federal law that established civilian government on the island of Puerto Rico, which had been newly acquired by the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. Section VII of the Foraker Act also established Puerto...
. Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, Manuel Zeno Gandía
Manuel Zeno Gandía
Dr. Manuel Zeno Gandía wrote the novel La Charca , which is considered by many to be the first Puerto Rican novel.-Early years:...
, Luis Llorens Torres
Luis Lloréns Torres
Luis Llorens Torres , was a Puerto Rican poet, playwright, and politician. He was an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico.-Early years:...
, Eugenio Benítez Castaño, and Pedro Franceschi started to organize the Independence Party
Puerto Rican Independence Party
The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
in 1912 which paved the path for similar movements. The Union Party quickly gained the attention of the colonial governors, all Republicans, who were willing to work closely with them because of their control of the House of Delegates. The local Republicans protested bitterly and, once took statehood out of their platform, not bringing it back until the early 1920s. Many in the Union Party leadership were lawyers who had contracts with the sugar operations recently bought out and enlarged by the new American owners, thus establishing a close relationship between the nascent middle classes and the American corporate interests.
A coalition between the pro-independence Union Party presided by Antonio R. Barceló
Antonio R. Barceló
Antonio Rafael Barceló y Martinez was a lawyer, businessman and the patriarch of what was to become one of Puerto Rico's most prominent political families...
and the pro-statehood Republican Party of Puerto Rico presided by Jose Tous Soto called the "Alianza" was formed. Differences between Barceló and Tous Soto and Félix Córdova Dávila
Félix Córdova Dávila
Félix Lope María Córdova Dávila was a political leader and judge from Puerto Rico who served as Puerto Rico's fourth Resident Commissioner in Congress.-Early years:...
, the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington, as to the goals of the alliance became apparent. The Unionist sector of the alliance, decided to disaffiliate themselves from the "Alliance." Because of legal reasons Barceló was unable to use the name "Union Party" and in 1932, founded the "Liberal Party of Puerto Rico". The Liberal Party's political agenda was the same as the original Union Party's agenda and urged independence as a final political solution for Puerto Rico. After the Liberal Party was defeated in 1936 elections, an assembly was held in Naranjales on May 31, 1937, in which Luis Muñoz Marín presented his ideas as to how the party should be run, however the majority of the party members objected and blamed him for their defeat. Muñoz Marín considered this action the same as having been expelled from the party. Muñoz Marín and his followers, among which were included Felisa Rincon de Gautier and Ernesto Ramos Antonini, held an assembly in the town of Arecibo founded the Partido Liberal, Neto, Auténtico y Completo ("Clear, Authentic and Complete Liberal Party"), claiming to be the true Liberal Party. The Partido Liberal, Neto, Auténtico y Completo, an independence political party, later became the Popular Democratic Party
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
(PPD) which would ironically end up promoting the "Estado Libre Associado" (Free Associated State) status that Barceló, as president of Union Party, had asked for in 1923 under Campbell Bill and which Muñoz Marín had always opposed, instead of independence.
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party (PNP) was founded in the year 1922. It strongly criticized the American colonial regime for its menace to the Spanish and Latin American roots of the Puerto Rican culture. It also advocated for complete independence. The PNP began to grow with the leadership of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos
Pedro Albizu Campos
Don Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican politician and one of the leading figures in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the leader and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death...
, who was later jailed by the colonial regime under charges as a subversive leader. On March 21, 1937, a peaceful march was organized in the southern city of Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
by the nationalists after receiving authorization from the pertinent authorities. The march was organized to commemorate the abolition of slavery and to demand the release of Albizu Campos from federal prison. The permit, however, was revoked by the U.S.-appointed governor of the Island Blanton Winship minutes before the march was to start. The march turned into a bloody event when the Insular Police ("a force somewhat resembling the National Guard of the typical U.S. state" and which answered to governor Winship) opened fire upon, what a U.S. Congressman and others reported were unarmed and defenseless cadets and bystanders alike killing 19 and badly wounding over 200 more, many in their backs while running away. It came to be known as the Ponce massacre
Ponce massacre
The Ponce massacre occurred on 21 March 1937 when a peaceful march in Ponce, Puerto Rico, by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party commemorating the ending of slavery in Puerto Rico by the governing Spanish National Assembly in 1873, and coinciding with a protest against the incarceration by the...
.
1940-1968
Luis Muñoz MarínLuis Muñoz Marín
Don José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...
founded the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) in 1940. Their slogan was Pan, Tierra y Libertad (Bread, Land and Liberty). The party favored independence for the United States in its initial stages but social and economic reform were priorities in their political agenda.
The Puerto Rican Independence Party
Puerto Rican Independence Party
The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
was formed six years later by dissidents who saw the PPD moving away from the ideal of independence. During that period, the colonial regime appointed the first Puerto Rican governor, Jesús T. Piñero
Jesus T. Piñero
Jesús Toribio Piñero Jiménez was the first native Puerto Rican to be appointed governor of Puerto Rico by the Government of the United States.-Early years:...
, until 1948 when the people elected Luis Muñoz Marín, the first elected governor
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
.
The years or 1944-1948 were crucial ones in the direction of the country. Luis Muñoz Marín shifted his goals from independence to state-like autonomy to accommodate better economic circumstances. This led to the U.S. Congress to enact the Public Law 81-600 which led to the Congressional approval of a local constitution drafted by a constitutional assembly elected by Puerto Rico and the renaming of the United States unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, using the same official name as the commonwealths of the U.S. states of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, as well as that of other sovereign nation countries such as Australia. The alternative pro-independence Tydings bill had languished in Congress.
In the 1950s, the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded on September 17, 1922. Its main objective is to work for Puerto Rican Independence.In 1919, José Coll y Cuchí, a member of the Union Party of Puerto Rico, felt that the Union Party was not doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rican independence and he...
denounced the Constitution
Constitution of Puerto Rico
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the controlling government document of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government as well as the function of several of its institutions. The document also contains an extensive...
and Muñoz Marín
Luis Muñoz Marín
Don José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...
support as a sham, and staged a series of uprisings in 1950, known as the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s was a call for independence and uprising by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party against United States Government rule of Puerto Rico and against the approval of the creation of the political status "Free Associated State" for Puerto Rico which...
, of which the most notable were the ones in Jayuya
Jayuya Uprising
The Jayuya Uprising, also known as the Jayuya Revolt or El Grito de Jayuya, refers to a nationalist revolt in the town of Jayuya, Puerto Rico which occurred on October 30, 1950...
, Utuado
Utuado Uprising
The Utuado Uprising, also known as the Utuado Revolt or El Grito de Utuado, refers to the revolt against the United States government in Puerto Rico which occurred on October 30, 1950 in various localities in Puerto Rico and which in Utuado culminated in the "Utuado massacre".-Events leading to the...
and San Juan
Nationalist attack of San Juan
The Nationalist attack of San Juan was one of many uprisings against United States Government rule which occurred in Puerto Rico on October 30, 1950 during the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolts...
, plus the attack on Blair House
Blair House
Blair House is the official state guest house for the President of the United States. It is located at 1651-1653 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., opposite the Old Executive Office Building of the White House, off the corner of Lafayette Park....
, and the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in 1954. Twenty-three people were killed and more than 50 were injured.
Governor
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
Muñoz Marín inaugurated the new status called Estado Libre Asociado —or Free Associated State in English— and raised the Puerto Rican flag along with the national anthem of Puerto Rico for the first time on July 25, 1952 — date in which Puerto Ricans celebrate the Constitution of Puerto Rico (see also: Holidays in Puerto Rico).
1968-present
The New Progressive PartyNew Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
(NPP) was founded in August, 1967 by Luis A. Ferré
Luis A. Ferré
Don Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party which advocates for Puerto Rico...
, a month after the July 23, 1967 local plebiscite and the year before the NPP won the 1968 elections. The party saw the ideology of annexation as a U.S. state as a civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
issue. The creation of the New Progressive Party polarized the political arena to a great degree as radical independence groups were formed in the 1970s and the Puerto Rican Socialist Party
Puerto Rican Socialist Party
The Puerto Rican Socialist Party was a Marxist and pro-independence political party in Puerto Rico seeking the end of United States of America control on the Hispanic and Caribbean island...
(PSP), a Marxist and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
-friendly party, was created. Two of the radical groups were labeled as terrorist groups by the U.S. Government, Los Macheteros and the Armed Forces of National Liberation
Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (Puerto Rico)
The Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional was a Puerto Rican clandestine paramilitary organization that, through direct action, advocated complete independence for Puerto Rico. At the time of its dissolution, the FALN was responsible for more than 120 bomb attacks on United States targets between...
(FALN). These groups were viewed by many pro-independence followers as freedom fighters.
In 1972 the NPP lost to a reunified Popular Democratic Party (PDP). Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fourth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for three non-consecutive terms, from 1973 to 1977 and from 1985 to 1993. An experienced politician, Hernández holds the record for being the youngest Governor of Puerto Rico,...
became the undisputed leader of the PPD at age 36. He was, as the fourth elected governor
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
, in favor of adding more powers to the commonwealth status. One of his projects was the Puerto Rican owned marine transportation. In order to control the costs of the marine transport in Puerto Rico, the marine company Sea Land was bought to form Navieras of Puerto Rico in 1974.
The fifth governor was Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fifth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party and also Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001, making him one of the more successful...
, a fierce supporter of the annexation as a U.S. state of Puerto Rico. Under his administration, Section 936 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Tax Code was implemented as an economic incentive. This allowed American companies to profit in the island without paying taxes. His administration was shadowed by the Cerro Maravilla (Maravilla Hill) affair, where two independence activists were killed by police agents. This created a Watergate
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
-like scandal that was later investigated by the Senate.
In 1980, Romero Barcelo was reelected Governor by a controversial 0.2% margin, but lost control of the Senate and, a year later, the House of Representatives to the PDP. Independence radical groups placed bombs on 11 jet fighters in 1981 in the Muñiz Base (a U.S. military base
Military base
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...
), and the U.S. removed all of its fighter aircrafts from Puerto Rico. Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fourth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for three non-consecutive terms, from 1973 to 1977 and from 1985 to 1993. An experienced politician, Hernández holds the record for being the youngest Governor of Puerto Rico,...
became the head of government for the second time in 1984, was reelected in 1988 and remained in power until 1992.
Pedro Rosselló
Pedro Rosselló
Pedro Juan Rosselló González, M.D., , is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the sixth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001...
became the sixth elected Governor in 1992. He pushed the political status dilemma in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and sponsored two local non-binding referendums, one in 1993 and another in 1998. While he was elected to a second term, his last four years were met with mounting allegations of corruption. After Rosselló's second term ended, former Speaker of the House, Edison Misla Aldarondo (NPP) was jailed as well as many members of Rossello's party. Most of the corruption allegations were based on extortion and appropriation of public funds. This led his party to losing the 2000 election and the Governorship when he ran again in 2004.
In 2000 Sila María Calderón
Sila María Calderón
Sila María Calderón Serra is a Puerto Rican politician and businesswoman who served as the seventh Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2005. She is the first and, to date, only woman elected to that office...
(PDP) was elected becoming the first female governor of Puerto Rico, also gaining control of the Senate, presided by Antonio Fas Alzamora
Antonio Fas Alzamora
Antonio "Tony" Fas Alzamora is a Puerto Rican politician and Senator. He is currently the longest-serving member of the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly, having served as Senator since 1976...
and the House of Representatives, headed by Speaker Carlos Vizcarrondo. The PDP also elected Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,...
as the islands' non-voting delegate in Congress.
In 2004 Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,...
(PDP) was declared the winner by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of Commonwealth law. As the highest body of the judicial branch of the Puerto Rican government, it is analogous to one of the...
as governor
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
, by about 3,000 votes, but his party lost control of the Senate, which elected NPP Senator Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...
as its president, and the House of Representatives, which chose the NPP's José Aponte
José Aponte
Jose Fernando Aponte Hernández , is an accountant and former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. He was born in San Juan and obtained a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras in 1980.Aponte is married to Aida I. Rodríguez Roig, and has...
as Speaker, and Puerto Rico's seat in Congress, due to the election of Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
.
During the 2005-2008 term, former Gov. Rosselló's unsuccessful attempt to unseat Senate President McClintock, split the New Progressive Party, a split that continued as Rosselló initiated a fourth bid for the governorship against Resident Commissioner Fortuño in an internal primary that was held March 9, 2008, and which he lost. On the PDP side, Acevedo's rocky relationship with the NPP-controlled Legislature was compounded with Federal investigations and unsuccessful indictments of his past political fundraising by grand juries in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
.
In 2008 Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
(NPP) was elected governor
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
, giving the New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
its largest victory in history beating incumbent Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the Popular Democratic Party
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
(PDP) by more than 223,000 votes. Also the NPP won supermajorities in the Commonwealth's House of Representatives and Senate
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
. Additionally, the NPP won the seat for Puerto Rico's sole delegate
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years...
to Congress, because of the election of Pedro Pierluisi
Pedro Pierluisi
Pedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Democratic Party...
. On June 26, 2011, Fortuño announced that he aspires to become the first Governor to win reelection in the past 16 years.
Political history
In 1950, the U.S. Congress gave Puerto Ricans the right to organize a constitutional convention, contingent on the results of a referendum, where the electorate would determine if they wished to organize their own government pursuant to a constitution of their own choosing. Puerto Ricans expressed their support for this measure in a 1951 referendum, which gave voters a yes-or-no choice for the commonwealth status, defined as a 'permanent association with a federal union' but not choice for independence or statehood. A second referendum was held to ratify the constitution, which was adopted in 1952.
Before approving the new constitution, the Constitutional Convention specified the name by which the body politic
Body politic
A polity is a state or one of its subordinate civil authorities, such as a province, prefecture, county, municipality, city, or district. It is generally understood to mean a geographic area with a corresponding government. Thomas Hobbes considered bodies politic in this sense in Leviathan...
would be known. On February 4, 1952, the convention approved Resolution 22 which chose in English the word "Commonwealth
Commonwealth (United States insular area)
In the terminology of the United States insular areas, a Commonwealth is a type of organized but unincorporated dependent territory.The definition of "Commonwealth" according to current U.S. State Department policy reads: "The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific...
", meaning a "politically organized community" or "state", which is simultaneously connected by a compact or treaty to another political system. The convention adopted a translation into Spanish of the term, inspired by the Irish saorstát (Free State)
Free state (government)
Free state is a term occasionally used in the official titles of some states.In principle the title asserts and emphasises the freedom of the state in question, but what this actually means varies greatly in different contexts:...
of "Estado Libre Asociado" (ELA) to represent the agreement adopted "in the nature of a compact" between the people of Puerto Rico and the U.S. literally translated into English, the phrase means "Associated Free State."
In 1967, the Legislative Assembly tested political interests of the Puerto Rican people by passing a plebiscite Act that allowed a vote on the status of Puerto Rico. This constituted the first plebiscite by the Legislature for a choice on three political status options. Puerto Rican leaders had lobbied for such an opportunity repeatedly, in 1898, 1912, 1914, 1919, 1923, 1929, 1932, 1939, 1943, 1944, 1948, 1956, and 1960. The Commonwealth option, represented by the PDP, won with an overwhelming majority of 60.4% of the votes. The Statehood Republican Party and the Puerto Rican Independence Party boycotted the plebiscite.
After the plebiscite, efforts in the 1970s to enact legislation to address the status issue died in Congressional committees. In the 1993 plebiscite, in which Congress played a more substantial role, Commonwealth status was again upheld. In the 1998 plebiscite, all the options were rejected when 50.3% of voters chose the "none of the above" option, favoring the commonwealth status quo by default.
International status
On November 27, 1953, shortly after the establishment of the Commonwealth, the General Assembly of the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
approved Resolution 748, removing Puerto Rico's classification as a non-self-governing territory
United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories
The United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories is a list of countries that, according to the United Nations, are non-decolonized. The list was initially prepared in 1946 pursuant to Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter, and has been updated by the General Assembly on recommendation...
under article 73(e) of the Charter from UN. But the General Assembly did not apply its full list of criteria to Puerto Rico to determine if it has achieved self-governing status.
In August 1977, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico, Franklin Delano López, testified before the UN Decolonization Committee
Special Committee on Decolonization
The Special Committee on Decolonization was created in 1961 by the General Assembly of the United Nations with the purpose of monitoring implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples...
denouncing the colonial nature of the Commonwealth Status. As a result of his statement, many other statehooders and commonwealth supporters went to the United Nations requesting the end of the colonial status. President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
subsequently signed the "Alternative Futures and Self Determination Executive Order" on July 25, 1978 guaranteeing the right of self determination to the People of Puerto Rico.
Political status within the United States
Under the Constitution of Puerto RicoConstitution of Puerto Rico
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the controlling government document of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government as well as the function of several of its institutions. The document also contains an extensive...
, Puerto Rico is described as a Commonwealth and Puerto Ricans have a degree of administrative autonomy similar to that of a U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
.
Puerto Ricans "were collectively made U.S. citizens" in 1917 as a result of the Jones-Shafroth Act
Jones-Shafroth Act
The Jones–Shafroth Act was a 1917 Act of the United States Congress by which Puerto Ricans were collectively made U.S. citizens, the people of Puerto Rico were empowered to have a popularly-elected Senate, established a bill of rights, and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner to a...
. The act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
on March 2, 1917. U.S. Federal law approved by the President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
on June 27, 1952 declared all persons born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941 to be citizens of the U.S. at birth and all persons born in Puerto Rico between April 11, 1899, and January 12, 1941, and meeting certain other technical requirements, and not citizens of the United States under any other Act, were declared to be citizens of the U.S. as of January 13, 1941. In addition, an April 2000 CRS report by the Congressional Research Service
Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service , known as "Congress's think tank", is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a...
, asserts that citizens born in Puerto Rico, are legally defined as natural born citizens and are, therefore, also eligible to be elected President.
Only the "fundamental rights" under the federal constitution apply to Puerto Rico like the Privileges and Immunities Clause
Privileges and Immunities Clause
The Privileges and Immunities Clause prevents a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner...
(U.S. Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1, also known as the 'Comity Clause') that prevents a state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner, with regard to basic civil rights. The clause also embraces a right to travel, so that a citizen of one state can go and enjoy privileges and immunities in any other state; this constitutional clause was expressly extended to Puerto Rico by the U.S. Congress through the federal law and signed by the President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
in 1947. Other fundamental rights like the Due Process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
Clause and the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
was expressly extended to Puerto Rico by the U.S. Supreme court. In a brief concurrence in the judgment of Torres v. Puerto Rico
Torres v. Puerto Rico
Torres v. Puerto Rico, , was a United States Supreme Court case holding that the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure applies to Puerto Rico.-Facts:...
, U.S. 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
United States Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
) were anachronistic in the 1970s.
President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
issued a memorandum on November 30, 1992 to heads of executive departments and agencies establishing the current administrative relationship between the federal government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a state, insofar as doing so would not disrupt federal programs or operations.
Puerto Rico does participate in the internal political process of both the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S., accorded equal-proportional representation in both parties, and delegates from the islands vote in each party's national presidential convention.
Puerto Ricans may enlist in the U.S. military. Since 1917, Puerto Ricans have been included in the compulsory draft whenever it has been in effect and more than 400,000 Puerto Ricans have served in the United States Armed Forces. Puerto Ricans have participated in all U.S. wars since 1898, most notably World War I
Puerto Ricans in World War I
Puerto Ricans and people of Puerto Rican descent have participated as members of the United States Armed Forces in every conflict in which the United States has been involved since World War I. One of the consequences of the Spanish-American War was that Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States...
, World War II
Puerto Ricans in World War II
Puerto Ricans and people of Puerto Rican descent have participated as members of the United States Armed Forces in every conflict in which the United States has been involved since World War I. In World War II, Puerto Rican members of the U.S. armed forces guarded U.S...
, the Korean
65th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 65th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed "The Borinqueneers," was an all-volunteer Puerto Rican regiment of the United States Army. Its motto was Honor et Fidelitas, Latin for Honor and Fidelity. It participated in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War...
and Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
wars, as well as the current Middle Eastern conflicts. Several Puerto Ricans became notable commanders, five have been awarded the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
, the highest military decoration in the United States, also several Puerto Ricans have attained the rank of General
General (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
or Admiral
Admiral (United States)
In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, admiral is a four-star flag officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health...
, which requires a Presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. In World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War Puerto Ricans were the most decorated Hispanic soldiers and in some cases they were the first to die in combat.
Recent developments on status
According to a December 2005, report by the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's StatusPresident's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status
The mission of the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status is to provide options for Puerto Rico’s future status and relationship with the Government of the United States....
, it is not possible "to bind future (U.S.) Congresses to any particular arrangement for Puerto Rico as a Commonwealth". This determination was based on articles in the U.S. Constitution regarding territories. Prominent leaders in the pro-statehood and pro-independence political movements agree with this assessment.
In 2005 and 2007, two reports were issued by the U.S. President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status. Both reports conclude that Puerto Rico continues to be a territory of U.S. under the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress. Reactions from Puerto Rico's two major political parties were mixed. The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) challenged the task force's report and committed to validating the current status in all international forums, including the United Nations. It also rejects any "colonial or territorial status" as a status option, and vows to keep working for the enhanced Commonwealth status that was approved by the PPD in 1998 which included sovereignty, an association based on "respect and dignity between both nations", and common citizenship. The New Progressive Party (PNP) supported the White House Report's conclusions and supported bills to provide for a democratic referendum process among Puerto Rico voters. It stated that the U.S. Justice Department in 1959 reiterated that Congress held power over Puerto Rico pursuant to the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In a 1996 report on a Puerto Rico status political bill, the "U.S. House Committee on Resources stated that PR's current status does not meet the criteria for any of the options for full self-government". It concluded that Puerto Rico is still an unincorporated territory of the U.S. under the territorial clause, that the establishment of local self-government with the consent of the people can be unilaterally revoked by the U.S. Congress, and that U.S. Congress can also withdraw the U.S. citizenship of Puerto Rican residents of Puerto Rico at any time, for a legitimate Federal purpose. The application of the Constitution to Puerto Rico is limited by the Insular Cases
Insular Cases
The Insular Cases are several U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning the status of territories acquired by the U.S. in the Spanish-American War . The name "insular" derives from the fact that these territories are islands and were administered by the War Department's Bureau of Insular Affairs...
.
On December 21, 2007, the Bush Administration's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status reiterated and confirmed that Puerto Rico continues to be a territory of the U.S. under the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress, a position shared by the remaining two-major parties: New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
and the Puerto Rican Independence Party
Puerto Rican Independence Party
The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
.
Following the reports recommendations the 2009 bill , was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on May 19, 2009 by Pedro Pierluisi
Pedro Pierluisi
Pedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Democratic Party...
(D-Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
).
The bill would provide for a referendum giving Puerto Ricans the choice between the options of retaining their present political status, or choosing a new status. If the former option were to win, the referendum would have been held again every 8 years. If the latter option were to win, a separate referendum would be held where Puerto Ricans would have been given the option of being admitted as a US State "on equal footing with the other states", or becoming a "sovereign nation, either fully independent from or in free association with the United States." The bill enjoys bi-partisan support in the House of Representatives, with 182 co-sponsors and was reported out of the House Resources Committee on a 30-8 vote. The measure was passed by the House on April 29, 2010.
On March 16, 2011, the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status issued a third report that reaffirned the legal position adopted by the three previous presidents over nearly a quarter century that Puerto Rico remains today "subject to the Territory Clause of the U.S. Constitution (see Report at page 26), that the territory's long-term economic well-being would be enhanced by an early resolution of the political status problem (p. 33) and devotes most of the report to extensive economic analysis and recommendations.
Political territorial occupation by the United States
Puerto Rico is an organized unincorporated U.S. territory which has been given internal self-governing powers which are referred to as "CommonwealthCommonwealth (United States insular area)
In the terminology of the United States insular areas, a Commonwealth is a type of organized but unincorporated dependent territory.The definition of "Commonwealth" according to current U.S. State Department policy reads: "The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific...
" status. (The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
, located in the western Pacific Ocean, has a similar delegation of self-government powers by the United States.) Puerto Rico has more latitude over its internal affairs than the U.S. territories of Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
.
Puerto Rico has approximately the same degree of authority over its internal affairs as an American state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
. However, it does not have the sovereignty that a state of the Union has, given that Puerto Rico is a possession of the United States and it is, thus, not protected by the US Constitution as states are. The United States federal government controls interstate trade, foreign commerce, customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
, aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
and navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
, immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, currency
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
, all military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
and naval
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
matters, radio and television communications, mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
s, highways, the postal system
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
, social security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
, and other areas generally controlled by the federal government in the United States. As in the case of a state, the United States Supreme Court also has the final say over the constitutionality of Puerto Rican laws. Puerto Rico's elected governor and legislature control all other delegated internal affairs.
The major differences between Puerto Rico and a state of the American Union are:
- "Unlike states, Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
does not have a zone of reserved sovereignty that is beyond the reach of Congress in the latter's exercise of its territorial powers." That is, Puerto Rico has no recourse to challenge unilateral actions by the United States government that effect citizens of Puerto Rico. - Puerto Rico does not have the rights of a state as granted by the US constitution, because it is not a state. These include:
- Lack of voting representation in either House of the U.S. Congress, as the US Constitution provides these rights only to full states. The only delegate to the Congress is an elected Resident CommissionerResident Commissioner of Puerto RicoThe Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years...
who represents the people of Puerto Rico in the United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. The delegate may speak but cannot vote for final passage of congressional legislation, and may serve and vote in committees, as well as the Committee of the Whole. - The ineligibility of Puerto Rico residents to vote in presidential electionsPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
as the U.S. Constitution provides these rights only to states and the District of Columbia. P.R. does not have any electors in the U.S. Electoral College, although the Puerto Rico chapters of the Republican and Democratic parties can (and do) have state-like voting delegations to their respective nominating conventions, as well as voting representation in the Democratic and Republican National Committee. See also: Voting rights in Puerto RicoVoting rights in Puerto RicoVoting rights of United States citizens in Puerto Rico, like the voting rights of other United States territories, differ from those of United States citizens in each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories do not have voting...
- Lack of voting representation in either House of the U.S. Congress, as the US Constitution provides these rights only to full states. The only delegate to the Congress is an elected Resident Commissioner
- Exemption from some aspects of the Internal Revenue CodeInternal Revenue CodeThe Internal Revenue Code is the domestic portion of Federal statutory tax law in the United States, published in various volumes of the United States Statutes at Large, and separately as Title 26 of the United States Code...
See also: Puerto Rico Tax and Customs Laws - Puerto Rico has international representation in sports and other international events as a distinct nation. Also, many believe that Puerto Ricans are considered to be a nationality.
Presidential politics in Puerto Rico
Although the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
chapters in Puerto Rico have selected voting delegates to the national nominating conventions since the early 1900s, public interest in these processes heightened as a result of the efforts of a group of Democratic statehooders led by Franklin Delano López in 1976 to elect delegates supporting former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
to that year's Democratic National Convention.On October 23, 1979, the first primary of a party affiliated to the Democratic National Committee was held in Puerto Rico. Franklin Delano López was elected Chairman of the New Democratic Party of Puerto Rico by the direct votes of 374,000 American citizens residing on the Island. Lopez then moved the Puerto Rican Legislature to adopt a Presidential Primary Law. During the discussion of the Presidential primary Law, Lopez managed to persuade Presidential Chief of Staff, Hamilton Jordan and Tim Kraft to grant Puerto Rico the right for a more robust delegation, the inclusion of Puerto Rico after Pennsylvania in the roll call of the state in exchange of eliminating from the bill that Puerto Rico was going to be the first Presidential Primary in the Nation. As a result of that effort, the Puerto Rico Legislature approved a law regulating presidential primaries in 1979, the first of which was held in 1980, with George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
winning the Republican primary and President Carter beating Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
in a hard-fought Democratic primary. More than 1.2 million American citizens residing in Puerto Rico participated in the primaries.
In the first internal primary of a National political party, the new slate of statehooders, headed by Franklin Delano López took control of the local Democratic party chapter. In January 1980 after clashing with Governor Carlos Romero Barceló, Lopez was forced to resign the chairmanship of the New Democratic Party in exchange of the Governor becoming the President of Carter's campaign in Puerto Rico and throwing the New Progressive Party behind the president's re-election efforts. Lopez' fight with Governor Romero, on behalf of President Carter, paid off and was appointed Deputy Campaign Manager of President Carter national campaign. Lopez efforts moved to Puerto Rico and the status issue at the forefront of the National political discussion. Subsequently both the statehood faction and the commonwealth shared control on a 50-50 basis from 1984 to 1988 and lost control that year as a result of their defeat in an internal primary that year between PDP forces led by then Senate president Miguel Hernández Agosto
Miguel Hernández Agosto
Miguel Hernández Agosto is a Puerto Rican politician whose service in government has spanned several generations.Finished his bachelor studies at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Then, went to Michigan where he graduated from Michigan State University with a Masters degree and from...
and NPP forces led by former Gov. Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fifth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party and also Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001, making him one of the more successful...
. While the PDP Democratic faction controls the Democratic party chapter under the state chairmanship of former senator Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004...
, two of the five DNC members residing in Puerto Rico, Senate president Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...
and Francisco Domenech
Francisco Domenech
Francisco J. Domenech is the former Director of the Office of Legislative Services of Puerto Rico .- Superdelegate controversy :...
are statehooders.
On the Republican side NPP-affiliated statehood Republicans control the GOP local chapter (Republican Party of Puerto Rico), headed by state chair and Aguadilla mayor Carlos Méndez, Republican National Committeeman and Governor Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
and Republican National Committeewoman Zoraida Fonalledas.
The 2008 Republican presidential primary was slated to be held in February, while Democrats held their primary in June. Then Senate President and Democratic National Committeeman Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...
, former Sen. Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004...
, Puerto Rico's Democratic State Chair and former PDP gubernatorial candidate José Alfredo Hernández Mayoral were appointed co-chairs of Sen. Hillary Clinton's National Hispanic Leadership Council while Young Democrats of America Democratic National Committeeman Francisco Domenech
Francisco Domenech
Francisco J. Domenech is the former Director of the Office of Legislative Services of Puerto Rico .- Superdelegate controversy :...
co-chaired Clinton's young professionals organization. Prats and McClintock subsequently co-chaired Clinton's Puerto Rico campaign, which she won by a 68% to 32% margin.
Being the last big primary before the last two states voted on June 3, Puerto Rico's Democratic presidential primary attracted historic levels of national media coverage.
Several local politicians have expressed concern that Puerto Rico has become a "piggy bank" for presidential campaigns. Recent examples include Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
's whirlwind two-hour visit to collect $300,000 in 2006 and Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's somewhat longer three-hour trip in November, 2007 to collect $200,000 Both refused to meet with the news media, press the flesh or meet with local politicians, inconceivable in Iowa or New Hampshire.
Speculation, which began in late 2009 by a national media blog and by Grover Norquist, a well-known Republican commentator, mentioned Gov. Fortuño as a long-shot inclusion in a national political ticket.
President Obama is scheduled to briefly visit Puerto Rico on June 14, 2011.
United States citizenship
In 1917 "Puerto Ricans were collectively made U.S. citizens" via the Jones ActJones-Shafroth Act
The Jones–Shafroth Act was a 1917 Act of the United States Congress by which Puerto Ricans were collectively made U.S. citizens, the people of Puerto Rico were empowered to have a popularly-elected Senate, established a bill of rights, and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner to a...
via the Jones-Shafroth Act
Jones-Shafroth Act
The Jones–Shafroth Act was a 1917 Act of the United States Congress by which Puerto Ricans were collectively made U.S. citizens, the people of Puerto Rico were empowered to have a popularly-elected Senate, established a bill of rights, and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner to a...
. All persons born in Puerto Rico after 1941 are considered natural-born citizen
Natural-born citizen
Status as a natural-born citizen of the United States is one of the eligibility requirements established in the United States Constitution for election to the office of President or Vice President...
s of the United States, one of the constitutional requirements to be President of the United States. In addition, this is reiterated by an April 2000 CRS report by the Congressional Research Service
Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service , known as "Congress's think tank", is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a...
, this report asserts that citizens born in Puerto Rico, are legally defined as natural born citizens and are, therefore, also eligible to be elected President of the United States. However, according to the US Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual
US Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual
The Foreign Affairs Manual is published by the United States Department of State and can be accessed on the State Department's web site. It contains the functional statements, organizational responsibilities, and authorities of each of the major components of the U.S. Department of State.Together,...
, "the fact that someone is a natural born citizen pursuant to a statute does not necessarily imply that he or she is such a citizen for Constitutional purposes."
Territorial dispute
The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States is the subject of ongoing debate in the United Nations and the International CommunityInternational community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
. According to two consecutive Bush Administration President's Task Force Reports, the latest of which was issued on December 21, 2007 Puerto Rico is an unincorporated organized territory of the United States, subject to the plenary power
Plenary power
A plenary power or plenary authority is the separate identification, definition, and complete vesting of a power or powers or authority in a governing body or individual, to choose to act on a particular subject matter or area...
s of the United States government. The Popular Democratic Party
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
has challenged the Bush Administration's Task Force Reports stating that in 1953 Puerto Rico achieved a compact of association between both nations that was recognized by the United Nations. Nonetheless, the aforementioned U.S. Presidential and Congressional Reports state that the current prerogatives assumed by the Puerto Rico government are delegated by the U.S. Congress and may be amended or eliminated at its sole behest.
In a letter sent by the former governor of Puerto Rico to the former U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
and the Co-Chairs of the White House's Presidential Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status on the Bush administration, former governor Acevedo Vilá stated:
- "My Administration's position is very clear: if the Task Force and the Bush Administration stand by their 2005 conclusions, then for over 50 years the U.S Government has perpetuated a 'monumental hoax' on the people of Puerto Rico, on the people of the United States and on the international community. If the 2005 report articulates the new official position of the United States, the time has come now for the State Department to formally notify the United Nations of this new position and assume the international legal consequences. You cannot have a legal and constitutional interpretation for local, political purposes and a different one for the international community. If it is a serious, relevant document, the report must have international consequences. Alternatively, the Task Force may review and amend the 2005 conclusions to make them consistent with legal and historical precedent, and therefore allow future status developments based on a binding compact.".
On December 21, 2007, the Bush Administration's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status reiterated and confirmed that Puerto Rico continues to be a territory of the United States under the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress.
On June 15, 2009, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization
Special Committee on Decolonization
The Special Committee on Decolonization was created in 1961 by the General Assembly of the United Nations with the purpose of monitoring implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples...
approved a draft resolution calling on the Government of the United States to expedite a process that would allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
In the USA
U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico are counted in the decennial population census and in some other demographic studies carried out by the U.S. Census Bureau, but are not included in the national totals since Puerto Rico is only a territory of the US. They lose their right to vote in any U.S. legislative and executive election at the national level that, despite the fact that the U.S. Government Executive and Legislative Branches hold ultimate sovereignty over all U.S. citizens and the territory of Puerto Rico. Both the Puerto Rican Independence PartyPuerto Rican Independence Party
The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
and the New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
outright reject the status quo that permits disfranchisement. The remaining political organization, the Popular Democratic Party
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
, is less active in its opposition of this case of disfranchisement but has officially stated that it favors fixing the remaining "deficits of democracy" that the Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
Administrations have publicly recognized in writing through Presidential Task Force Reports.
Puerto Rican citizenship
On October 25, 2006, the Puerto Rico State Department conferred a certificate of Puerto Rican citizenshipPuerto Rican citizenship
Puerto Rican citizenship was first legislated by the U.S. Congress in Article 7 of the Foraker Act of 1900 and later recognized by the Puerto Rican constitution...
to Juan Mari Brás
Juan Mari Brás
Juan Mari Brás was an advocate for Puerto Rican independence from the United States who founded the Puerto Rican Socialist Party...
. The Puerto Rican citizenship was first legislated by the U.S. Congress in Article 7 of the Foraker Act
Foraker Act
The Foraker Act,officially the Organic Act of 1900, is a United States federal law that established civilian government on the island of Puerto Rico, which had been newly acquired by the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. Section VII of the Foraker Act also established Puerto...
of 1900 and recognized by the Puerto Rico constitution. The certificate of citizenship is not automatically conferred, and it must be requested. The certificates of Puerto Rican citizenship are issued to any persons born on the island as well as to those born outside of the island that have at least one parent who was born on the island. Any U.S. citizen with at least one year of residence on the island is also eligible for the official citizenship certificate. The certificate is not a valid travel document.
Political pressure groups, permanent congressional bodies and leaders
- Popular Democratic PartyPopular Democratic Party of Puerto RicoThe Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
(PDP) - Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico PartyPuerto Ricans for Puerto Rico PartyThe Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party is a Puerto Rican political party which tenets are citizen participation, sustainable development, effective administration, and quality of life...
(PPR) - Movimiento Unión SoberanistaMovimiento Unión SoberanistaMovimiento Unión Soberanista is a Puerto Rican political movement. The movement was founded in November 2010 in the city of Caguas, PR. They are presently attempting to get 60,000 endorsements required by the new electoral law of the Commonwealth to enroll in the State Elections Commission .The...
(MUS) - Puerto Rican Independence PartyPuerto Rican Independence PartyThe Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
(PIP) - Rubén Berríos Martínez (PIP)
- Aníbal Acevedo ViláAníbal Acevedo ViláAníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,...
(former Governor of Puerto Rico [PDP]) - New Progressive PartyNew Progressive Party of Puerto RicoThe New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
(NPP) - Luis FortuñoLuis FortuñoLuis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
(NPP) - Workers' Socialist Movement (Puerto Rico)Workers' Socialist Movement (Puerto Rico)The Workers' Socialist Movement is a Puerto Rican democratic socialist revolutionary organization, dedicated to the self-organization and self-emancipation of the working-class in Puerto Rico and international solidarity with the workers struggles world-wide...
- Socialist FrontSocialist FrontThe Socialist Front is a coalition of far-left and pro-independence political organizations in Puerto Rico. The Socialist Front also includes non-partisan activists....
- Armed Forces for National LiberationFuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (Puerto Rico)The Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional was a Puerto Rican clandestine paramilitary organization that, through direct action, advocated complete independence for Puerto Rico. At the time of its dissolution, the FALN was responsible for more than 120 bomb attacks on United States targets between...
(FALN for its abbreviation in Spanish) - Boricua Popular ArmyBoricua Popular ArmyThe Boricua Popular/People's Army — or Ejército Popular Boricua in Spanish — is a clandestine organization based on the island of Puerto Rico, with cells in the United States. They campaign for and support the independence of Puerto Rico from what they characterize as United States colonial rule...
(also known as Los Macheteros, Filiberto Ojeda RíosFiliberto Ojeda RíosFiliberto Ojeda Ríos was the commander-in-chief of the Boricua Popular Army , a clandestine paramilitary organization that considers United States rule over Puerto Rico to be oppressive colonization and advocates the latter's independence.Ojeda Ríos was a...
) - The National Hostosian Congress
- Hostosian National Independence Movement
- Latin American and Caribbean Congress in Solidarity with Puerto Rico's Independence
- Rep. José E. Serrano
- Secretary of State Kenneth McClintockKenneth McClintockKenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...
- Governor Luis FortuñoLuis FortuñoLuis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
- University Pro Independence Federation (FUPI for its abbreviation in Spanish)
- Resident Commissioner Pedro PierluisiPedro PierluisiPedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Democratic Party...
International organization participation
Puerto Rico may not conclude treaties with other sovereign states, although it does belong to some international bodies such as:- Caricom (observer)
- ECLAC (associate)
- FAOFãoFão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
(associate) - ITUCInternational Trade Union ConfederationThe International Trade Union Confederation is the world's largest trade union federation. It was formed on November 1, 2006 out of the merger of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World Confederation of Labour...
- InterpolInterpolInterpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
(subbureau) - IOC
- WFTUWorld Federation of Trade UnionsThe World Federation of Trade Unions was established in 1945 to replace the International Federation of Trade Unions. Its mission was to bring together trade unions across the world in a single international organization, much like the United Nations...
- WHOWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(associate)
Diplomacy
As a non-sovereign country, Puerto Rico hosts no embassies. However, like many other states of the United States, it does host ConsulatesConsul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
from several countries, mainly from the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
and Europe. While the Papal Nuncio in Washington, D.C. serves as the Vatican State's ambassador to the U.S. and the ecclesiastical liaison to the American Roman Catholic Church, the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
has designated the Papal Nuncio in the Dominican Republic as the ecclesiastical liaison to the Roman Catholic Church in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico hosts consular staff from 42 countries. Most consulates are located in the San Juan area.
| Countries | Region | Form of government | References |
|---|---|---|---|
 Austria |
Europe | Republic | |
 Belize |
Central America | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Belgium |
Europe | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Bolivia |
South America | Republic | |
 Canada |
North America | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Chile |
South America | Republic | |
 Colombia |
South America | Republic | |
 Costa Rica |
Central America | Republic | |
 Czech Republic |
Europe | Republic | |
 Denmark |
Europe | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Dominican Republic |
Caribbean | Republic | |
 Ecuador |
South America | Republic | |
 El Salvador |
Central America | Republic | |
 Finland |
Europe | Republic | |
 Early Modern France |
Europe | Republic | |
 Georgia (country) |
Europe | Republic | |
 Guatemala |
Central America | Republic | |
 Germany |
Europe | Republic | |
 Haiti |
Caribbean | Republic | |
 Honduras |
Central America | Republic | |
 Hungary |
Europe | Republic | |
 Iceland |
Europe | Republic | |
 Italy |
Europe | Republic | |
 Israel |
Middle East | Republic | |
 Japan |
Asia | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Mexico |
North America | Republic | |
 Netherlands |
Europe | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Nicaragua |
Central America | Republic | |
 Norway |
Europe | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Panama |
Central America | Republic | |
 Paraguay |
South America | Republic | |
 Peru |
South America | Republic | |
 Poland |
Europe | Republic | |
 Portugal |
Europe | Republic | |
 Russia |
Europe | Republic | |
 South Korea |
Asia | Republic | |
 Spain |
Europe | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Sweden |
Europe | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Switzerland |
Europe | Republic | |
 Trinidad and Tobago |
Caribbean | Republic | |
 Thailand |
Asia | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 United Kingdom |
Europe | Constitutional Monarchy | |
 Uruguay |
South America | Republic | |
 Venezuela |
South America | Republic |
See also
- List of political parties in Puerto Rico
- Elections in Puerto RicoElections in Puerto RicoElections in Puerto Rico gives information on election and election results in Puerto Rico.Puerto Rico elects on state level a governor and a legislature. The island's governor is elected for a four year term by the people....
- Municipalities of Puerto RicoMunicipalities of Puerto RicoThe Municipalities of Puerto Rico number 78 and they make up the smallest electoral division of the Commonwealth. Each municipality is divided into barrios, though the latter are not vested with political authority.-Administrative divisions:...
- Voting rights in Puerto RicoVoting rights in Puerto RicoVoting rights of United States citizens in Puerto Rico, like the voting rights of other United States territories, differ from those of United States citizens in each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories do not have voting...
- Politics of the United StatesPolitics of the United StatesThe United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
- Political status of Puerto RicoPolitical status of Puerto RicoThe current political status of Puerto Rico is the result of various political activities both within the United States and Puerto Rican governments. The basic question regarding this issue is whether Puerto Rico should remain a U.S. territory, become a U.S...
- Political party strength in Puerto RicoPolitical party strength in Puerto RicoThe following table indicates the party of elected officials in the United States insular area of Puerto Rico after 1898:*GovernorThe table also indicates the historical party composition in the territorial or Commonwealth:*Senate*House of Representatives...
External links
- Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
- Governor
- Resident Commissioner (U.S. House)
- Puerto Rico House of Representatives
- Puerto Rico Senate
- Commonwealth Elections Commission (CEEPUR)
- Bandera Roja Newspaper
- Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)'s press release providing an up-to date country profile on Puerto Rico