After the presidential election on November 6th, a bunch of new information became known to the public: the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, 4 more states allowing same sex marriage, and the possibility of adding a new 51st state. Yes, you heard correctly.
Puerto Rico, a commonwealth territory and long time friend of the United States declared (and roughly 65% of people voted) that they would like full statehood in the United States. In comparison, roughly 31% of people voted for sovereign free association, which just means that they remain independent, but still relationally very close to the US, and roughly 4% voted for complete independence from the US.
So, we can safely say that a substantial amount of Puerto Ricans voted for complete statehood, but what does that mean?
Well first off, it’s just not enough that the majority of Puerto Ricans voted in favor of the possible addition, the US Congress must also approve of this, (although it has been noted that President Obama said he would support the addition of Puerto Rico, provided that the majority vote in favor as well).
If this were to become reality, that means all Puerto Ricans would become full-fledged US citizens with the same constitutional rights, would be a part of the US economy, and would be able to send one member to the House of Representatives. It would also mean that they would also gain the US federal/income tax (even though Puerto Ricans already have the majority of the same rights as US citizens do).
However, Puerto Ricans who live on Puerto Rico would not be able to vote for the President of the United States. In retrospect though, the large amount of Puerto Ricans living in the continental US would be allowed to vote in national elections.
The relationship between the US and Puerto Rico is an extremely amicable one, thus the addition of this long time friend is a welcome thought to many people. Will it actually happen though? I sure hope so! And so does my friend Angela, who is from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
I asked her about her opinion on the winning of the statehood in the referendum, and she gave me the most brilliant response I could’ve asked for:
“Personally, I’m ecstatic that statehood finally won in a referendum!
I think that it’s not only a great political milestone, but it’s also an amazing ‘showcase’ opportunity—so many people had no idea that PR was part of the US and not just any territory, but a “commonwealth” or in Spanish “A free-associated state” which to me seems ironic, because PR has had relations with the US prior to many states becoming states. Also, San Juan is the oldest city within all US domain, so many of the people who think that PR is just an uncivilized island and all those horrible statements couldn’t be more mistaken! This small island houses centuries and centuries of history and culture.
Some people worry that the language and culture will cease to exist, but that will never happen (we are already Americans and plus, there was a big “Americanization” campaign in the 1950s when the commonwealth was established and we still maintain proudly our Spanish roots.”
I legitimately couldn’t have said it better myself. I can truly say, I hope to say hello to a new state in the future.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/07/politics/election-puerto-rico/index.html