AUTOPOSTED! Am still on vacation

While I bask in the warm Caribbean sun, trek through the rainforests and indulge in other tropical delights, I thought it would behoove me to provide our readers with a short history of US involvement in the Caribbean and how Puerto Rico came to be part of the United States and how it was, in that sense, the luckiest of all its neighbors.

Adios España, hola Estados Unidos

As the Spanish empire was crumbling, only a few colonies remained scattered all over the globe, most descending into anarchy. A combination of yellow journalism regarding Spanish atrocities putting down various uprisings and the unexplained (and likely accidental) sinking of the USS Maine on February 15, 1898 ultimately led to an American declaration of war against Spain. With the homeland in turmoil and in real danger of civil war, the Spanish were in no position to back down and instead chose to fight a war they knew they couldn’t win.

American, still relatively aloof in the world, acted quickly defeating the Spanish fleet off Manila in the Philippines and swiftly invading Cuba, site of the give cause for war. Not long after, the U.S. landed in Guánica, Puerto Rico and easily took the island with little resistance put up. When the war ended with a humiliating Spanish defeat, America had gained the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico and Cuba, although Cuba was granted independence as the ubiquity of American economic involvement there made actual ownership of the island unnecessary on top of being unwanted.

Under American Rule

Puerto Rico began under military rule and by 1917, all Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship, which they still enjoy today. Puerto Rico went on to be granted the right to democratically elect its own government yet still remain a territorial part of the United States. As time went on, large scale migration from Puerto Rico began specifically to New York City and Boston. By the 1950s, efforts were underway to help Puerto Rico, or “the island” as it’s called there, move from an agricultural to industrial economy.

Puerto Rico has benefited considerably from its status as part of the United States. Its inhabitants hold American citizenship, trade and travel between the 50 states and Puerto Rico is as easy as crossing any other state line, and most importantly for tourists, there’s no limit to how much Bacardi you can take back to the mainland after visiting the factory in San Juan. But joking aside, despite the island’s problems such as high unemployment (12%), crime and poverty, they are still far above the rest of their neighbors who weren’t lucky enough to remain under US rule.

As the CIA factbook notes:

Puerto Rico has one of the most dynamic economies in the Caribbean region. A diverse industrial sector has far surpassed agriculture as the primary locus of economic activity and income. Encouraged by duty-free access to the US and by tax incentives, US firms have invested heavily in Puerto Rico since the 1950s. US minimum wage laws apply.

In addition, Puerto Rico gets about 5 million tourists a year.

What the heck is Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico is officially defined as an unincorporated territory of the United States classified as a Commonwealth. It enjoys a significant amount of autonomy but also many of the benefits of normal American states. Puerto Ricans are American citizens yet can’t vote for the president, only their own. At the same time, they can live and work in the US as freely as any other American and serve in the military. They do not pay federal income tax but do pay U.S. federal payroll taxes as well as receive Social Security and some Medicaid.

Far from being the victim of evil American imperialism as some would have, Puerto Rico not only enjoys broad autonomy, but also has the right to choose its status and has repeatedly opted to remain part of America. Votes in 1967, 1993 and 1998 all reached the same conclusion. While some favor independence, a large portion (around 45%) of the island wishes to become a state yet has always narrowly lost referendums to do so.

My next post will briefly look at Puerto Rico’s neighbors and why they turned out to be the luckiest in the neighborhood insofar as becoming part of the United States and why American reluctance to follow through elsewhere led to the chain of failed state islands we have today, not so unlike in Oceania.

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