Statehood movement in Puerto Rico
| Purpose | advocates for Puerto Rico to become a state of the United States |
|---|---|
|
Key people
|
Ricardo Rosselló Carlos Romero Barceló José Celso Barbosa Luis A. Ferré Luis Fortuño Pedro Pierluisi Pedro Rosselló |
| Affiliations |
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association |
The statehood movement in Puerto Rico comprises initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at changing the political status of Puerto Rico from its current territorial status to becoming a federated state. Other groups demand full independence. The movement is not limited to one group of individuals or one single organization, but represents the events and activities of groups, organizations, and individuals that share the common goal of advocating, supporting, or seeking Puerto Rico's admission to the status of a U.S. state. The population of Puerto Rico was 3,474,182 on 1 July 2015, a 6.75% decrease since the 2010 United States Census. In spite of the decline, the Commonwealth has a larger population than 21 of the states.
In November 2012, a referendum, the fourth as of that date, was held. A full 54.00% voted "No" to maintaining the current political status. Of those who voted against remaining a Commonwealth, 61.11% chose statehood, 33.34% chose free association, and 5.55% chose independence. On December 11, 2012, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico enacted a concurrent resolution requesting the President and the Congress of the United States to respond diligently and effectively on the demand of the people of Puerto Rico to end its current political status and to begin the transition of Puerto Rico to become a state of the union.
In 2014, resolutions were introduced in both houses of the United States Congress (H.R. 2000; S. 2020) to hold a yes-or-no referendum among the residents of Puerto Rico on statehood. Should a "yes" majority prevail, the President of the US should submit legislation to Congress enacting Puerto Rican statehood. Both resolutions died in committee.
The fifth referendum is due to be held on June 11, 2017. The two options at that time will be "Statehood" and "Independence/Free Association". It will be the first referendum not to offer the choice of remaining a Commonwealth.
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