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[chica11]

I was reading a few comments on this site and Puerto Rico seems to be a very popular subject here sometimes. PR is not a colony it's an Estado Libre Asociado, which is kind of ironic in itself. How can you be free and associated right? Anyway Puerto Rico gained commonwealth Estado Libre Asociado status years ago and they seem to like living in this limbo. HOWEVER, Years ago, I spent 3 months in San Juan, PR actually right around the time of the mass protests against La Marina started. When the U.S marine base "accidentally" killed a civilian on la isla de Vieques. And if only 5% or a very small percentage of the population are actually independentistas well then I must of met them all. The majority of my friends over there at the time were and probably still are pro independence. I went to a couple independista marches and concerts. I must say that me being a total Gringa with blonde, hair and blue eyes I felt akward but los puertorriquenos were always very welcoming and nice. At least it seems that over there they understand the difference between the people of a country and their government. l can't say the same thing for Costa Rica, at least that was my experience.

[moonraven]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

You need to understand that there are some folks on this forum that believe that democracy (government by will of the people) means rigging a bunch of voting machines in Florida or Ohio every 4 years. So the "vote" in Puerto Rico appears sacrosanct to them.

[Justin Trullinger]

The vote isn't sacrosanct anywhere, as our recent (US) elections make clear. I haven't been to PR, but worked with a lot of Puerto Ricans in the states. I felt a great deal of ambivalence on the subject when I dealt with them. Most feel that they are culturally and historically separate, which is obviously true, and as such, deserve recognition as a separate country.

And yet, having a passport from the USA has a certain value, economically. Remember, it's a big help, not only if they want to go to the US, which they are legally entitled to do, but also for other external travel.

To me, simply put, I'm not sure that we (the US) have any right to be there- but I understand that the idea of a change to independence could be frightening for the people involved.

Regards,
Justin

[chica11]

Yes I think it can be a touchy subject for Puerto Ricans and something that they obviously all do not agree on. That's why we have people who are pro-commonwealth, pro independence and pro statehood. Although I think the majority at least it seems, prefer to keep it as a commonwealth. Now I don't know if that's just because sometimes people like the status quo or because change can be scary. Lets look at the alternatives. Los Boricuas who are pro independence are so for political reasons, for pride and for nationality (Mi bandera solamente necesita una estrella!!). It's definitely not for economic reasons. Puerto Rico does economically well because of the states. For Me even though PR is a commonwealth I feel like it's a different country even if it isn't. As for the pro statehood people, well hmm could you imagine English being the national language of Puerto Rico. Actually come to think of it they tried ot pass some kind of referendum over there based on English being the language of Puerto Rico. Failed miserably. Se habla Espa�ol! I mean come on. I'm from L.A, California and that's like Spanish becoming the official language of California. Although I have to say it almost is.