During the early 1950s, Puerto Rico formulated a constitution, an essential move towards statehood for U.S. territories. The U.S. Congress made alterations to the Puerto Rican Constitution and subsequently, in 1952, enacted a law to endorse it.
As the bill reached President Truman, the State Department sent a letter to him advocating for the bill’s enactment into law. President Truman complied.
This State Department letter eventually became the foundation of the U.S. appeal to the United Nations to dissolve Puerto Rico’s status as a dependent U.S. colony. In 1953, the U.N. concurred.
However, today Puerto Rico is broadly acknowledged as a U.S. colony. How did we arrive at this point?
U.S. Reaction to Global Criticism
Following World War II, as decolonization momentum surged worldwide, the U.S. faced growing international demands to extend greater rights to the residents of Puerto Rico. “The establishment of self-governance in Puerto Rico will garner significant attention from Member States of the United Nations in discussions regarding the political advancement of non-self-governing regions,” wrote Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, Jack McFall, to President Truman, recommending him to sign the 1952 legislation recognizing Puerto Rico’s new constitution.
“This would serve as a compelling response to accusations leveled against the United States Government of imperialism and colonial exploitation, and it should be positively received by those Members genuinely interested in the political progression of dependent peoples,” McFall further elaborated.
McFall concluded that “the new relationship established by the approval of House Joint Resolution 430 would provide Puerto Rico with the comprehensive level of self-governance envisioned in Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter. The residents of Puerto Rico have declared, in a resolution passed by their constitutional convention on February 4, 1952, that this agreement, created by mutual consent, would signify Puerto Rico’s achievement of ‘complete self-governance.’”
In 1953, the United Nations agreed and adopted Resolution 748 (VIII), declaring that the U.N. Declaration concerning Non-Self-Governing Territories no longer pertained to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Was the U.N. Decision Accurate?
Looking back, it is evident that although Puerto Rico attained a higher level of local autonomy upon the approval of its Constitution by the U.S. Congress, full autonomy was still out of reach. This was evident right from the start when Congress modified the Constitution prior to its approval.
Is Puerto Rico a Colony? It’s a Test.
Reports from both the United States Senate and House of Representatives clearly indicated that the new law “would not modify Puerto Rico’s fundamental political, social, and economic ties to the United States.”
Puerto Rico did gain authority over its local administration, a right that the District of Columbia continues to lack, but it did not achieve independence or equal standing with states within the United States.
To this day, Puerto Rico has no senators and no voting representatives in the House of Representatives. The PROMESA board can overturn decisions made by Puerto Rico’s elected officials, and Puerto Ricans are unable to vote in U.S. presidential elections.
With hindsight, it is evident that the U.S. misrepresented Puerto Rico’s self-governance to the U.N., or at the very least exaggerated it as a counter to other nations’ critiques. For a self-declared symbol of democracy, maintaining a colony is an unfavorable situation.
This remains an unfavorable situation. After the ratification of its 1952 constitution, Puerto Rico stayed – and continues to be – a U.S. territory, or as it is being referred to again today, a colony.
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