There's only two paths forward for Puerto Rico

But they're stuck

Photo by Alex George on Unsplash

Puerto Rico is in an interesting position at the moment. It’s technically part of the United States, though it isn’t a state, but culturally it looks and feels like its own country, much like its neighbor the Dominican Republic does and is. In fact, I would be willing to wager that if you asked 10 Americans from the mainland if Puerto Rico was part of the United States, at least 9 of them would say no. This is because, despite being a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico is often left out of national conversations.

And so, Puerto Rico is both American and not American at the same time (American being the commonly used English demonym for people from the United States, don’t come at me Spanish speakers). Every single person born in Puerto Rico is born an American citizen. Those people can move to California, New York, Georgia, Oregon, or any of the other states and territories at will. But because they’re not a state, they’re not quite an “equal” citizen'. At least so long as they live in Puerto Rico. They get no representation in Congress, either the House or Senate and they don’t get to vote for the President. Well, they do hold a vote, but it’s not counted towards the electoral college.

This is despite the fact that Puerto Rico, home to 3.2 million American citizens, is larger in population than 18 full U.S. states. Any argument based on population size regarding statehood is ridiculous in my opinion (Nevada was admitted with like 10,000 people), but surely this is a GLARING omission. And this has devastating effects. Because they don’t have any political representation, they don’t get proper help when a disaster strikes. They’re not able to declare bankruptcy when the bills get too high. They’re not able, as a political entity, to do many of the things 50 full other states can do. In fact, the U.S. might as well be strangling Puerto Rico. Which they are, as I highlight in my most recent video:

And so, there’s really only two paths forward for Puerto Rico at this point as this current territorial arrangement is clearly not working.

Path 1: Statehood

COME ON! Who wouldn’t want this as a state?! Photo by Nils Huenerfuerst on Unsplash

This is the obvious path forward. Countries, in 2026, do not want to give up any shred of land because land is power, its potential, its the ability to claim vast areas of ocean, its a lot of things in the modern age. So the clearest path forward for Puerto Rico is simple:

Make them a full state.

There’s literally nothing stopping anyone from doing this right now. I mean, there’s the political machine that refuses to do it. But it’s not like its impossible. With a couple votes and signatures, Puerto Rico, in theory, could be a state by the end of 2026. Over the history of the United States, this exact process occurred time and time again. As most recently as 1959 this happened for both Hawaii and Alaska, two other “far flung” territories with “marginal” populations. (Puerto Rico has more people than both by the way).

By making them a full state, Puerto Rico would suddenly get everything that they need to become a functional political entity. Political representation being the most important here. Right now, Puerto Ricans have to recourse to secure more money from the federal government in the same way that, say, Louisiana has when it needs more money for flood control along the Mississippi River. That requires political capital. A person in Washington D.C. who can make deals with other politicians. Who can bring forward votes towards a single issue. Who can lead or be on important committees.

But, the U.S. doesn’t seem to want to do this for Puerto Rico. They’d rather the island of Spanish-speakers be left on the side lines, forever sitting in a weird limbo of not quite part of America, but certainly not America.

Which leads to the second path:

Path 2: Independence

They’d fit right in with the rest of the Caribbean countries. Photo by Ana Toledo on Unsplash

If Puerto Ricans aren’t going to be allowed into the United States proper, there’s only one other path for them: full independence. Let’s face it, most Americans don’t recognize Puerto Ricans as Americans anyways (again this is the common English demonym for people from the U.S., they’re obviously of “The Americas”). The average person in Idaho, or Michigan, or even Florida, probably wouldn’t notice if Puerto Rico was suddenly made into an independent country.

And again, this would fix many of Puerto Rico’s current ailments. Mostly because, out from under the United States’ laws it would suddenly be able to get its own shipment of goods from places like Brazil, or China, or South Africa which is currently can’t do under the Jones Act (it’s a whole thing, watch the video above). It would also be able to manage its own finances, which it also can’t do under the current system Congress has placed on its wayward territory.

Independence wouldn’t be easy, sure. Becoming a state would certainly be the easiest pathway. But it would also allow Puerto Ricans to finally chart their own path forward. Something it has never really been able to do despite, once again, most people not knowing Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.

Limbo persists

While this has been a fun article to write all about Puerto Rico and its potential options. The reality is that nothing will change anytime soon. While there are only two paths forward for the island territory, the current system of territoriality under the United States works well enough for the current political machine. And, because of that, the country will more than likely remain in this bizarre limbo, where it’s both not part of the United States but is definitely controlled by it. For Puerto Ricans, I can’t imagine a more challenging situation to be in when it comes to wanting to control your destiny. Though it is nice that Bad Bunny, perhaps the most famous Puerto Rican today, will be headlining at the Superbowl Halftime show.