Puerto Rico to become U.S. State?

[Mars_ax]

Yo, @TitoFan, what's up with this dude.

Puerto Rico votes to change relationship with US - World news - Americas | NBC News

[GOAT]

At least Cuba's already in.

[TitoFan]

Yo, @TitoFan , what's up with this dude.

Puerto Rico votes to change relationship with US - World news - Americas | NBC News

Hey @Mars_ax

Yeah, status has always been a major issue here. And I think the movement has been slowly shifting toward becoming a state. Honestly I don't know if and when it will ever happen, but the possibilities have increased. Of course, it's a two-part process. First, the P.R. people must want statehood in a clear majority. Then, the U.S. Congress must decide whether to grant statehood to P.R. Personally, I'm anxious to resolve the status issue once and for all, if only to force our local political candidates to focus solely on other issues, such as unemployment, health care, education, and crime.

[Mars_ax]

Yo, @TitoFan , what's up with this dude.

Puerto Rico votes to change relationship with US - World news - Americas | NBC News

Hey @Mars_ax

Yeah, status has always been a major issue here. And I think the movement has been slowly shifting toward becoming a state. Honestly I don't know if and when it will ever happen, but the possibilities have increased. Of course, it's a two-part process. First, the P.R. people must want statehood in a clear majority. Then, the U.S. Congress must decide whether to grant statehood to P.R. Personally, I'm anxious to resolve the status issue once and for all, if only to force our local political candidates to focus solely on other issues, such as unemployment, health care, education, and crime.

Tito,
According to the article/link I posted, the majority of Puerto Ricans (if I read it right) wanted Statehood, but a strong minority did not. I wouldn't think getting the U.S. Congress to grant PR Statehood would be much of a problem, more of a formality since PR is already a "commonwealth".

The question is, would it really benefit PR to become a U.S. state, or are you better off keeping things like they already are, or going totally independent? The bottom line is what's best for your country.

[TitoFan]

Yo, @TitoFan , what's up with this dude.

Puerto Rico votes to change relationship with US - World news - Americas | NBC News

Hey @Mars_ax

Yeah, status has always been a major issue here. And I think the movement has been slowly shifting toward becoming a state. Honestly I don't know if and when it will ever happen, but the possibilities have increased. Of course, it's a two-part process. First, the P.R. people must want statehood in a clear majority. Then, the U.S. Congress must decide whether to grant statehood to P.R. Personally, I'm anxious to resolve the status issue once and for all, if only to force our local political candidates to focus solely on other issues, such as unemployment, health care, education, and crime.

Tito,
According to the article/link I posted, the majority of Puerto Ricans (if I read it right) wanted Statehood, but a strong minority did not. I wouldn't think getting the U.S. Congress to grant PR Statehood would be much of a problem, more of a formality since PR is already a "commonwealth".

The question is, would it really benefit PR to become a U.S. state, or are you better off keeping things like they already are, or going totally independent? The bottom line is what's best for your country.

Independence is an ideal a lot of people have, but IMO not very realistic (or good for the country). We're neighbors with the Dominican Republic, which of course is independent and lately doing better than before. But there's still a lot of poverty there, resulting in a steady influx of illegal immigration to Puerto Rico (yes, we have those problems over here too).

The current status (commonwealth) was instrumental in getting Puerto Rico out of poverty back in the 1940's, and industrializing the island. But most of us feel the status has worn out its usefulness, and a more permanent status solution is needed. My main beef with the current status is that it still provides the possibility of movement in one direction or the other. And while status remains an issue, politicians use it as a carrot to sway voters one way or another. I'd rather the politicians here get elected on their own merits on other issues.

The reason why the Internet article cites that people here voted for statehood "with an asterisk", is that the candidate that won the governorship now is from the pro-Commonwealth party. The pro-statehood incumbent lost. But I see this more as a discontent with the incumbent himself, rather than a vote against statehood. This was borne out by the fact that the statehood option won handily in the referendum.

[Mars_ax]

@TitoFan,
Sounds like a catch 22, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

From the little bit that I know about PR politics, the real issue seems to be, whether or not most Puerto Ricans want to become part of the U.S. and fall under it's laws, et al. Just guessing it might not be all bad and might benefit the country as a whole, especially some of the poor.

Texas for example is a U.S. State, but we like to think we're a bit Independent, I don't see why PR couldn't do the same thing if it becomes a State. It's not like PR would be under the thumb of the U.S. government, you'd still have a lot of flex.

I for one would love to see PR become America's newest State.

cheers

[Andre]

Yo, @TitoFan , what's up with this dude.

Puerto Rico votes to change relationship with US - World news - Americas | NBC News

Hey @Mars_ax

Yeah, status has always been a major issue here. And I think the movement has been slowly shifting toward becoming a state. Honestly I don't know if and when it will ever happen, but the possibilities have increased. Of course, it's a two-part process. First, the P.R. people must want statehood in a clear majority. Then, the U.S. Congress must decide whether to grant statehood to P.R. Personally, I'm anxious to resolve the status issue once and for all, if only to force our local political candidates to focus solely on other issues, such as unemployment, health care, education, and crime.

You'll be brothers with VD .

[Mars_ax]

Yo, @TitoFan , what's up with this dude.

Puerto Rico votes to change relationship with US - World news - Americas | NBC News

Hey @Mars_ax

Yeah, status has always been a major issue here. And I think the movement has been slowly shifting toward becoming a state. Honestly I don't know if and when it will ever happen, but the possibilities have increased. Of course, it's a two-part process. First, the P.R. people must want statehood in a clear majority. Then, the U.S. Congress must decide whether to grant statehood to P.R. Personally, I'm anxious to resolve the status issue once and for all, if only to force our local political candidates to focus solely on other issues, such as unemployment, health care, education, and crime.

You'll be brothers with VD .

VD will be pissed if PR gets Statehood, then all the PR fighters will be "Americans".

[Andre]

Yeah he'd have to sub let his hatred out.

[TitoFan]

@TitoFan ,
Sounds like a catch 22, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

From the little bit that I know about PR politics, the real issue seems to be, whether or not most Puerto Ricans want to become part of the U.S. and fall under it's laws, et al. Just guessing it might not be all bad and might benefit the country as a whole, especially some of the poor.

Texas for example is a U.S. State, but we like to think we're a bit Independent, I don't see why PR couldn't do the same thing if it becomes a State. It's not like PR would be under the thumb of the U.S. government, you'd still have a lot of flex.

I for one would love to see PR become America's newest State.

cheers

Thanks, @Mars_ax. Personally, I favor statehood also and have for many years. What you said about Texas strikes a chord here, because many Puerto Ricans are afraid of losing a little of the identity that comes from having a unique and separate culture. Puerto Ricans are proud of their individual and collective accomplishments, such as well for instance having boxing world champions, world-class baseball teams (competing in the World Baseball Classic), our Olympic team, etc, etc. Some Puerto Ricans are afraid of losing their culture and/or their language.

Me... I'll always be a Puerto Rican first. Me and my family will always speak Spanish. Spanish is my first language. But at the same time, our U.S. citizenship is vastly important to us. It sucks to have the citizenship, but not be able to vote for the U.S. president. And bottom line is: I don't think you lose your identity or your culture by becoming a state. Our culture is within us. And isn't part of the beauty of the U.S. that it blends lots of different cultures anyway? Look at Alaska and Hawaii. They have their own, individual cultures and have retained them even after statehood.

Again, there's a lot of misinformation regarding statehood. I just hope to see statehood become a reality within my lifetime. Even if that means being from the same country as VD (shudder).