POLITICAL Status

“I am a firm believer in statehood for Puerto Rico, but I respect the right of my constituents to choose freely the status of choice of their preference. The important element has to be that all viable alternatives be permanent and non-territorial in nature. Until this process of free self-determination is completed, Congress will not have fully discharged its responsibility.”
~ Governor Luis Fortuño

The right of a people to self-determination—that is, to choose their own political status from among constitutionally-valid options—is inalienable.  And this value is something   that the United States has committed itself to achieving for peoples around the globe.  Yet today, the four million U.S. citizens who live under the American flag in Puerto Rico are not afforded this basic right, meaning they can neither vote for president nor have voting representation in Congress that enacts the federal laws under which they live.  

The fact that uncertainty still surrounds Puerto Rico’s political status means the Island will not be able to achieve its full economic, social, and political potential until the ambiguity is resolved.  These are the reasons why Governor Fortuño is making the resolution of Puerto Rico’s political status one of his top priorities.

In December 2005, a Presidentially-appointed Task Force released a report affirming that “the authority under the U.S. Constitution to establish a permanent non-territorial status for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico rests with Congress.”  The Task Force report provided the following legal analysis of status options:

• “The U.S. Constitution allows for three options for the future status of Puerto Rico:  continuing territorial status (including the current Commonwealth system), statehood, and independence.”  Report, at 5.

• Statehood and independence are the “only two non-territorial options recognized by the U.S. Constitution that establish a permanent status between the people of Puerto Rico and the Government of the United States.”  Report, at 10.

• “Free association” is a treaty-based bilateral relationship between two nations consistent with independence.  This option is closest to proposals in Puerto Rico to give the present “commonwealth” system for territorial government a more autonomous and non-territorial status, but Congress would have to agree to all features of the treaty, and under free association or independence there are legal and policy reasons why Congress would not continue the current statutory policy of granting U.S. citizenship in Puerto Rico.  See Report, at 8-9; see also Thornburgh, at 74.

Based on this legal analysis, the Task Force made the following recommendations:

• Congress should provide for federal sponsorship of a self-determination process in Puerto Rico, including a plebiscite where voters can express a preference to either (1) remain a territory or (2) seek a “Constitutionally viable path toward a permanent non-territorial status.”  Report, at 10.

• If a majority of voters in Puerto Rico choose to seek a permanent non-territorial status, Congress should sponsor a second plebiscite on the statehood and independence options, including free association terminable by either party.  Thereafter, Congress should prescribe terms for transition to the option chosen in the second plebiscite.  Report, at 10.

• If a majority of voters in Puerto Rico do not choose to seek a permanent non-territorial status, periodic plebiscites should be conducted on the Island.  Report, at 10.

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