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Introduction Why I Am Here Puerto Rico is a group of islands bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The main island is known as Puerto Rico and is joined by adjacent smaller islands that include Vieques, Culebra, Mona, and Monito.1 The main island—which is roughly 160 kilometers long and 53 kilometers wide and contains most of Puerto Rico’s 8.959 square kilometers of land area—is the home of all but a few thousand of the nearly four million Puerto Ricans. Therefore, the archipelago is generally referred to as the Isla del Encanto (enchanted island or isle of enchantment ) or, simply, the “island.” Unless otherwise expressly indicated, references to the isla, or island, refer to all the Puerto Rican islands. For about five centuries before Christopher Columbus claimed the territory for Spain in 1493, Taino and Carib natives lived on the Puerto Rican islands. The Spanish colonial period lasted for a little more than four centuries, during which the Spaniards created the racial, legal, political , and cultural composition of the Puerto Ricans. In 1898, after prevailing in the Spanish-American War, the United States took Puerto Rico from Spain and has ruled the island and its people ever since. The culturally Latina/Latino Puerto Ricans became citizens of the United States in 1917. Like any other U.S. citizens, the Puerto Ricans are free to travel from the island to the fifty states without travel documents or immigration checks. They also qualify for government employment and serve in the U.S. armed forces. Besides Puerto Rico’s nearly four million residents, more than 2.7 million Puerto Ricans live on the United States mainland.2 Other U.S. citizens have not moved to Puerto Rico in substantial numbers, however. According to the 2000 U.S. Census— which provides the most current information—more than 3.8 million persons live in Puerto Rico, of whom 98.8 percent describe themselves as “Hispanic” or “Latino” and 95.1 percent as “Puerto Rican.”3 1 The Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico—the group that is the primary focus of this book—are the poorest of all U.S. citizens, with a per capita income that is less than one-third the average for the fifty states. Although the islanders do not pay federal income taxes, they contribute billions of dollars annually to the federal treasury, mostly through Social Security, Medicare, and a few other taxes and fees. Moreover, the local income tax in Puerto Rico is higher than that of most U.S. states. Besides being the principal supplier of goods and services to Puerto Rico, the United States is the main consumer of Puerto Rico’s products. For example, nine of ten pharmaceuticals consumed in the United States are produced in Puerto Rico. The island also receives federal funds as allocated by Congress. Although the islanders have a locally elected government, they are not allowed to vote for president or vice-president and do not have voting representation in the U.S. House or Senate. A single, nonvoting, resident commissioner represents the Puerto Ricans in the U.S. House of Representatives. This book offers a critique of Puerto Rico’s current status and its treatment by the United States’ legal and political systems. Because Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States, Puerto Ricans living on the island are subject to the United States’ legal and political authority. They are the largest group of U.S. citizens currently living under territorial status. In this book I argue that the Puerto Rican cultural nation is under the sway of U.S. imperialism, which compromises both the island’s sovereignty and Puerto Ricans’ citizenship rights. I analyze the three alternatives to Puerto Rico’s continued territorial status, examining the challenges of each and suggesting what I believe to be the best course of action . This book is meant to inform U.S. citizens about the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico and to serve as a resource for academics in law, political science, international relations, and Puerto Rican, Chicana/o, and other ethnic studies. I hope it also can serve as a guide for U.S. policymakers determining the future of Puerto Rico and perhaps as a catalyst for legal action by Puerto Ricans to end their colonial status under U.S. imperialism. Why Are You Here? Puerto Ricans’ cultural nationhood conflicts with their external reality: the U.S. control of their territory. After...

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