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Until a few years ago I had no idea, I thought it was a sovereign nation. Being a 'Commonwealth' is it more like what Australia is to Britain, or is it more like a territory, like the Falkland Islands are to Britain?
Are/were most of you non-Americans/non-Latin Americans also aware of this, or not?
Until a few years ago I had no idea, I thought it was a sovereign nation. Being a 'Commonwealth' is it more like what Australia is to Britain, or is it more like a territory, like the Falkland Islands are to Britain?
Are/were most of you non-Americans/non-Latin Americans also aware of this, or not?
Legally speaking, it's an organized, unincorporated territory of the US. What this means is it's a territory of the US but it has more governing autonomy than Washington, DC has. I would say it's more like the Isle of Man. If you are born in Puerto Rico, you are a U.S. citizen the same as anyone born in the 50 states, with the exception that we are not 14th Amendment citizens, we are Jones Act citizens. Congress can vote to rescind the Jones Act and I would most likely revert back to a U.S. National like American Samoans. We also use the US dollar as our currency. Our passports also say we are U.S. citizens, just like the Manx's say they are British citizens. However, our passport cover has no such distinction. We are issued the same passport that stateside Americans get.
Puerto Rico does not run its own immigration controls, uses the US dollar as legal tender, and our customs is done by US Customs and Border Protection. Puerto Rico does not pay federal income tax, however, Puerto Rico taxes all residents' income as if they paid federal tax, too. SO, instead of paying, let's say, 25% federal tax plus 3% state income tax in Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico residents pay 0% federal income tax, but 28% "state" income tax.
Legally speaking, it's an organized, unincorporated territory of the US. What this means is it's a territory of the US but it has more governing autonomy than Washington, DC has. I would say it's more like the Isle of Man. If you are born in Puerto Rico, you are a U.S. citizen the same as anyone born in the 50 states, with the exception that we are not 14th Amendment citizens, we are Jones Act citizens. Congress can vote to rescind the Jones Act and I would most likely revert back to a U.S. National like American Samoans. We also use the US dollar as our currency. Our passports also say we are U.S. citizens, just like the Manx's say they are British citizens. However, our passport cover has no such distinction. We are issued the same passport that stateside Americans get.
Puerto Rico does not run its own immigration controls, uses the US dollar as legal tender, and our customs is done by US Customs and Border Protection. Puerto Rico does not pay federal income tax, however, Puerto Rico taxes all residents' income as if they paid federal tax, too. SO, instead of paying, let's say, 25% federal tax plus 3% state income tax in Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico residents pay 0% federal income tax, but 28% "state" income tax.
Very interesting thank you, it actually sounds a bit like Northfolk islands agreement with Australia. I always thought that Puerto Rico was an independent nation.
Last edited by danielsa1775; 10-12-2012 at 01:23 AM..
I've been aware of Puerto Rico being in close political association with the USA for awhile now, at least since the late 90's when I remember hearing on the news about a referendum on whether they should join as a state.
They compete as a separate country at the Olympics and other sports events so it's easy for people outside the region to assume that they're a sovereign nation.
I've been to Puerto Rico and even though it's a part of the U.S., I can tell you it definitely doesn't feel like it. Totally different culture there. (Fascinating, btw)
Puerto Rico is not part of the United States ... it BELONGS to the United States as a colony.
This is why I support the Puerto Rico statehood movement as much as I do ... so Puerto Rico can be PART of the United States equal to the other states of the Union, and the Puerto Rican people can be afforded their full rights, benefits, as well as hold the same obligations as their fellow citizens in the states. I find it absurd that one cannot vote for the President just because of where they happen to live. If I moved to Puerto Rico *boom* I lose the presidential vote, I get stuck with one pretend congressman who can't vote, lose access to SS Disability Insurance, and receive a lower Medicare payment. But if someone from Puerto Rico moves to the States they automatically get the right to vote for the President and receive full citizenship rights. Ridiculous isent it? These are AMERICAN CITIZENS.
The same situation also applies to Guam, American Samoa (they are nationals however), the US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The "Commonwealth" or "ELA - Estado Libre Associado" was a clever ploy by the colony supporting Popular Democratic Party to pull the wool over the eyes of the Puerto Rican people. Nowadays they sell the colony by promising to "enhance" or improve the status quo - of course they never follow through. It's not free, it's not associated, and it's not a state ... it's a C O L O N Y though you will have a hard time getting any Populares to admit it.
I'd actually been totally ignorant of the fact that there ever was an American Empire until I was about eighteen years old. It's certainly not something that's ever talked about by the American entertainment/media industry, which is where most non-Americans passively learn things about the country. I was totally shocked when I found out that the US still has all these colonies left over (I know they've tweaked the legal stuff, but there's no denying how these far off places came to be part of the US but are not States). Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa etc. I was very surprised! Even more surprised to hear about the History of the American colonial administration of the Phillipines, the long, bloody war of independence the US had to fight against for almost ten years in the early twentieth century, the colonial periods in Cuba and Haiti, the establishment of Liberia. I think this colonial history is an aspect of the history of the United States many non-Americans don't know very much about, although it explains quite a lot! I'd always wondered stuff like "how is it that Guantanamo Bay exists in the middle of Red Cuba?" It's a part of US history that still has a big impact on the world!
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