Proposed political status for Puerto Rico

rdf:langString Proposed political status for Puerto Rico

rdf:langString The proposed political status for Puerto Rico encompasses the different schools of thought on whether Puerto Rico, currently an unincorporated territory of the United States in the form of a commonwealth, should change its current political status. Although there are many differing points of view, there are four that emerge in principle: that Puerto Rico maintains its current status, becomes a state of the United States, becomes fully independent, or becomes a freely associated state. Even though Puerto Rico was granted local autonomy in 1952, it remains a territory of the United States. Its ambiguous status continues to spark political debates which dominate Puerto Rican society. The debate over Puerto Rico has been discussed at various UN hearings where it has been declared a colony of the United States by the UN Special Committee on Decolonization. Various Presidents of the United States have expressed themselves in favor of statehood but ultimately left the decision to Puerto Rico. President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status were published in 2005, 2007, and 2011. Nonbinding referendums regarding Puerto Rico's status have been held in 1967, 1993, 1997, 2012, 2017 and 2020. The results of the referendums have favored the commonwealth status until the Puerto Rican status referendum, 2012, when for the first time, the majority (54%) of Puerto Ricans voted against it. Full statehood was the preferred option of those who wanted a change. The results were highly controversial: many ballots were left blank and the results were criticized by several parties. The federal government took no action except to provide funding for a subsequent referendum. The 2020 political status referendum was the sixth on the matter, the first one having been celebrated in 1967.