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Puerto Rico And Us Relationship Essay

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The relationship between the United States of America and Puerto Rico has long been complicated and confusing, ultimately leading to Puerto Rico being deemed a territory of the United States. However, as society has progressed the real question comes to mind: how does the relationship between Puerto Rico and the US affect Puerto Ricans and how will this relationship continue to change? After reviewing the past of both Puerto Rico and the United States individually and holistically, as well as understanding the present conditions of their relations it is clear that the future relationship between the two has exceeded its standstill period due to the unjust and hypocritical treatment of Puerto Rican citizens and will rapidly evolve into a relationship …show more content…

In all honesty, the direction for Puerto Rico's status could go in a multitude of different directions. It’s clear that after everything that Puerto Rico has been through and continues to go through due to their actions that the relationship will always be strained. In whole Puerto Ricans are left with a difficult decision when deciding whether the benefits are worth it or not. For example, residents pay most federal taxes; their contributions amounted to more than 4 billion dollars in 2021. However, Puerto Ricans generally do not pay federal income tax, and they continue to enjoy the tax exemptions that have historically incentivized outside investment. So while Puerto Ricans are aware they are being exploited it’s more so an issue of “what’s next”. Separating from the United States would be a lengthy process as would becoming a state leaving Puerto Rico at a standstill. This is what creates such polarizing views between Puerto Ricans and is the cause for this question dominating Puerto Rican politics. Puerto Ricans’ positions on status can be grouped into 5 major categories: Status quo, Enhanced commonwealth, Statehood, Independence, and Free association. To begin the first main position is titled Status Quo which directly mirrors what it is titled. Some Puerto Ricans believe that the relationship with the United States doesn’t need to change and prefers to stay as a commonwealth. This ideology is mainly dominated by the island's “democratic” party. As trivial as it may seem this is most likely the reality for Puerto Ricans for a while as the US and PR continue to dispute over what to do. The next group is titled the Enhanced Commonwealth. Similar to our previous group the Enhanced Commonwealth doesn’t completely disagree with the idea of staying in a similar cycle to the one they are in as of now. However, this group hopes to enact slight changes in the system in place including

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