WASHINGTON -- It may be time to think about adding one more star to the American flag.

During the more than 100 years that the island of Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States its residents have gradually been granted more civil liberties including citizenship and the right to vote for their own territorial government.

Yet Puerto Rico has no voting members in Congress, nor can Puerto Ricans participate in presidential elections.
In light of the recent push to give voting rights to Washington, some are wondering whether the movement will expand to other areas of the nation, such as Puerto Rico, that have no direct say in the federal government.

Pedro Pierluisi, the island’s non-voting delegate in the U.S. House, wants Congress to pay more attention to the wishes of the Puerto Rican population. But he said the situation is very different from that of Washington due to the island’s history with the U.S. and size of the population.

Pierluisi predicted the island will eventually become a full-fledged state. As the island’s representative in Congress, Pierluisi can vote in House committees, but not on the floor.

Puerto Rico is an integral and contributing member of the United States, Pierluisi said, citing the economic, cultural, and migratory ties with the mainland. Puerto Rico produces a majority of the prescription drugs consumed in the U.S., as well as being a leader in bio-technology, Pierluisi said.

“It is a close relationship and it’s becoming closer everyday,” he said.

Puerto Rico, Pierluisi said, must decide its own future, and has a right to self determination based on both U.S. and international law. He said the growing Hispanic population on the American mainland “helps the case of Puerto Rico’s potential statehood.”

“The U.S. has become a multicultural nation, to the liking of some and to the dislike of others. But it is a reality,” Pierluisi said.

Puerto Ricans are proud of their Spanish heritage and language, Pierluisi said, but they learn English and participate in American culture.

When Christopher Columbus landed on the island during his second voyage to the New World, it was home to around 100,000 native people. The Spanish named it San Juan, in honor of St. John the Baptist. The capital city was dubbed Puerto Rico, or “rich port.” Later, however, the two names were switched.

The Spanish first mined for gold in Puerto Rico, but switched to producing sugar cane when the mines became depleted.

In 1809, Spain recognized Puerto Rico as a province, but in 1898 U.S. troops landed in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. The Treaty of Paris which ended the war ceded the island to the United States.

A military government was set up, but less than two years later it was replaced by a civilian body and Puerto Rico was given the right to select a “resident commissioner” to send as a delegate to the House of Representatives in Washington, albeit without voting power. In 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted full U.S. citizenship and in 1950 they drafted a constitution.

Puerto Rico is the largest island in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, but the territory is also comprised of five other smaller islands.

The ethnic background is mostly Spanish. But there are also descendants of other groups: a native population; black slaves brought in to work in the mines and farm fields; and European settlers from the days of Spanish rule. Other ethnic groups have also migrated to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico residents do not have to pay an income tax, but do pay other federal taxes.

Pierluisi said a plebiscite is needed to gauge public opinion on Puerto Rico’s status. But he said that “next battle” might have to wait until the debate over voting rights for Washington is settled.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to do with statehood, it has to do with democracy,” Pierluisi said. “I believe that the most important thing is to make sure that the Congress stops ignoring the will of the people of Puerto Rico.”

The last plebiscite, held in 1998, failed to reach any conclusive results, with only 46.4 percent of the population voting for statehood, 2.5 percent for independence, and 51.1 percent voting for “other” or “none of the above.”

“We are a territory with its pros and cons, and the least you should do in a democracy is every now and then check with the people, touch base with the people, make sure that they freely want to remain in the status,” he said.

While a voting member in the House may serve Washington well, Pierluisi said Puerto Rico is in a different predicament. With a land mass almost three times the size of Rhode Island and a population of about four million, statehood for the island would mean two senators and seven or eight representatives.

The U.S. government has faced criticism from many young Puerto Ricans.

The Web site of the Puerto Rico Statehood Society, a George Washington University student group, argues that Puerto Ricans are treated like second-class citizens, and that no representation in government is “un-American” and “discriminatory.”

“It is time to add an additional star to our American constellation,” the Web site states.

But Pierluisi is more measured.

“I support statehood myself,” he said. “But that’s not something that you can impose …The people of Puerto Rico should decide.”

Manuel Rodriguez Orellana, a former Puerto Rican senator, however, said Puerto Rico should achieve independence. Orellana is now the Secretary for North American Relations for the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

“It is a different nation from the United States,” he said. “We have existed as a nation, as a nationality, as a distinct identity, since way before the United States invaded Puerto Rico.”

The Puerto Rican economy has been hurt by the island’s inability to trade as a separate nation with the international community, Orellana said. The Spanish language and Puerto Rican culture set it apart from the rest of America. Statehood would also hurt the mainland, he said. Puerto Rico would gain a larger Congressional delegation than many states, while supplying less to the treasury than most.

“If [the U.S.] wanted to make Puerto Rico a state it would have done so already like it did with Alaska and Hawaii,” he said.

Like Pierluisi, Orellana said he would support a government referendum to survey the opinions of the Puerto Rican people.

“It will bring the issue of Puerto Rico to the forefront of American policy makers and American government,” he said.

“The United States was the first nation in the hemisphere that rose against colonialism and ironically it is now the last nation…to hold onto an important colony such as Puerto Rico,” Orellana said.

The current status of Puerto Rico is temporary, and a permanent solution needs to be found, Pierluisi said, be it statehood, independence, or an associated republic.

If a referendum is passed, Pierluisi predicted the majority will vote for statehood.

”My expectation is that the people of Puerto Rico will support by a significant majority, statehood for the island when the time comes and when we ask them directly," he said. “I have no doubt that Puerto Rico will become the 51st state of the Union.”