Independence for Puerto Rico is an idea that had received increased attention in recent years…in the states.
Yet as results from the 2024 Puerto Rico status referendum make clear, this sentiment has not taken hold in Puerto Rico.
A September 2022 NBC News report urged independence for the U.S. territory. “That Puerto Rico has to wait on Congress, in which it can’t vote, to have the possibility of determining the form of government it wants is just the strongest statement of why separation is needed,” explained the author, Luisita Lopez Torregrosa.
Similarly, in a cover article for The Atlantic in November 2022, author Jaquira Diaz describes an expansive vision of independence. “Those, like me, who argue for sovereignty are not simply asking the United States to ‘free Puerto Rico’,” she writes. “A return of sovereignty to the Puerto Rican people would require a U.S. commitment to a policy of reparations designed to provide independence and security—a policy that acknowledges and begins to address generations of environmental destruction, economic dislocation, and human-rights violations.”
Both writers, neither of whom lives in Puerto Rico, share a common narrative. Their position is easy to articulate from the comfort of a home office in a place where democratic freedoms are a given, and where access to prized U.S. citizenship is not at risk. But it’s a theoretical position for the authors, who have the luxury of taking it from afar.
Easy to say when you live in a state
Independence has never gotten more than 12% of any vote on political status in Puerto Rico, and even this small percentage is possibly inflated by the misperception in Puerto Rico that U.S. citizenship may be preserved in a new nation of Puerto Rico. There is no such guarantee.
What Will Happen to U.S. Citizenship in a New Nation of Puerto Rico? The Word from Washington
No Independence Party candidate has ever won a race for governor or resident commissioner. In fact, the Independence Party on the Island is too small to be considered among Puerto Rico’s major political parties. Their results are equivalent, numerically, to the popularity in mainland politics of the Green Party or the Libertarians.
How Popular Is Independence in Puerto Rico?
“If the people of Puerto Rico want to be independent, that means there is no special treatment and no special benefits,” said Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) in a congressional hearing in 2022.
Rep, Bruce Westerman (R-AR) agreed, saying, “The people of Puerto Rico should understand what choosing independence or sovereignty entails: that is, separation from the U.S. federal system and the related benefits.”
People living in the states can support a romanticized independence, confident that they will not directly experience any of the losses it would entail.
Injustice
It is true that Puerto Rico lives with inequality and injustice daily. It is also true that Puerto Ricans have a history of injustice to look back on.
When considering recent disaster support, however, it is worth noting that the United States federal government is not providing support for the Dominican Republic or Cuba as it has for Puerto Rico, imperfect as that implementation has been. Imagining that the U.S. government will treat a sovereign Puerto Rico better than the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is simply not a gamble that 88% of the people on the ground in Puerto Rico appear willing to take.
As a state, Puerto Rico would be on an equal footing with all other states, fully protected by the U.S. Constitution. Medicaid funding and nutrition assistance would increase automatically during periods of increased need, such as in the aftermath of hurricanes. The many Puerto Ricans serving in the U.S. military would be able to vote for their Commander in Chief. The dignity of equal treatment and equal rights would be a constant presence. These improvements would be impactful and tangible, and especially noticeable to people who don’t already have them.
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