The Islands political status has been an issue since the U.S. victory in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Puerto Rico has been a Commonwealth of United States for over fifty years. It gives them a right to receive Federal Aid but the citizens could not vote for President. Puerto Rico has been retained under direct authority of the Congress. Puerto Ricans were made U.S. citizens in 1917, but did not get a right to send representatives to Congress.

The article "Avoiding an American Quebec" is strongly supports Commonwealth as a way of government for Puerto Rico. All three choices have their good and bad effects on the citizens of the island. Continuance of Commonwealth allows for a large degree of local autonomy. Puerto Ricans are very cultural and have a great pride in their heritage. Statehood has potential to erode their language and sense of national identity.

Major disadvantages are not highlighted in the second article, but appear obvious. As discussed earlier, cultural and national pride is at stake. Statehood, like Independence, is a permanent decision. To be in the same position as other States, Puerto Rico would have to learn English as a First and Primary language. It would be extremely difficult, since only half of the islands population speaks English. And I'm not confident that native people would agree to such change.

By totally separating and becoming Independent, Puerto Rico will submit into tremendous poverty. Natural resources are virtually absent on the island and manufacturing is owned by foreign corporations. Population, by western standards, is not educated enough to compete with developed countries. Raising a national military force from scratch and opening embassies around the world are very difficult and expensive tasks, which are unlikely to be achieved. Tourism from U.S. and other western countries is a big contribution to local income. Independents will create a difficulty to travel to the island. Furthermore, if Independence was such a strong issue, than a some kind of rebellion would have taken place. Most of the South American and Caribbean countries gain their Independence through revolutions. Puerto Rico remained colonized and still is until this day. I don think they want to have it any other way. Educated Puerto Ricans realize that they need U.S. support and would sacrifice Independence to get it.

Another Web Site is "English First" at www.englishfirst.org. It mainly supports preservation of current status for the island. The Sites contributors show that changing the primary language from Spanish to English would not be welcomed or easily achieved. Furthermore, the arguments of mainland States are discussed here as well.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican, Federal Aid, Web Site, Medicaid Tax, puerto rico, Statehood Independence, Site English, Joining Family, Statehood Congress, puerto ricans, puerto rican, federal aid, avoiding american quebec, avoiding american, american quebec, joining family, commonwealth statehood, statehood independence, ricans live, puerto ricans live, citizens vote president,
Approximate Word count = 1235
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)