FAQs about Puerto Rico Sovereignty & Free Association

What is Sovereignty?

Sovereignty is the ability of people to decide their own internal and external affairs freely. Colloquially, sovereignty is often called freedom and liberty for a country to rule itself without being ruled by another country. In a personal context, “sovereignty” is the right and ability to be in charge of your own personal affairs in your own home, without any interference from neighbors or anyone else. For example, the United States, Mexico, Ireland, and Peru are sovereign nations because they have their own sovereign governments and rule themselves.

Currently, Puerto Rico is not sovereign because it is occupied by the United States, and a large number of the laws that apply to it are federal laws, and its citizens cannot elect the American politicians that approve of such laws. The current government of Puerto Rico is actually a U.S. colonial regime from 1900 that is called the “Commonwealth of Puerto Rico” since 1952, but a mere colony it remains. Currently, as a U.S. colony, Puerto Rico lacks the sovereignty and authority to manage its own political, economic, and cultural affairs.

Under international law and United Nations resolutions, the only decolonization options based on sovereignty are Independence and Free Association. United States refusal to decolonize Puerto Rico is a direct violation of the United Nations Charter and other UN resolutions that have asked the United States to immediately return Puerto Rico’s sovereignty back to the Puerto Rican people. Sadly, since the 1970s, the United States has just ignored over thirty-seven UN resolutions demanding Puerto Rican decolonization and sovereignty.

In addition, Puerto Rico is not free to legislate in accordance with its own interests because most of the fundamental issues and policies that affect Puerto Rico fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government and American politicians who do not care about Puerto Ricans and often do not even know where Puerto Rico is located on a world map. As a sovereign nation, Puerto Rico would finally be freed of colonial rule and can establish a truly democratic government and implement economic development policies.

What is “Free Association”?

The status option of Free Association is a decolonization option based on the sovereignty of both associated nations and recognized by the United Nations. With Free Association, Puerto Rico and the United States would negotiate a compact or treaty that would effectively decolonize Puerto Rico, on the basis that sovereignty will always rest with the people of Puerto Rico. The United States already has such Free Association relationships with the three Pacific insular nations of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau.

With Free Association, the new Republic of Puerto Rico will be recognized by the international community as a sovereign nation associated with the U.S. but not subject to the plenary and absolute powers of the U.S. Congress. With Free Association, a partnership and association are sought based on the sovereignty of two countries. This is predicated on the recognition that although both countries have significant differences in size, population, economic strength, and political power, they share significant interests, values, and social and cultural characteristics.

With Free Association, Puerto Rico would not obtain full independence, because Free Association means that, according to the will of the Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rico could delegate some functions and services to the U.S. government. However, those powers that are not expressly delegated, will remain under the sole jurisdiction and sovereignty of the people of Puerto Rico. Sovereignty and Free Association is advocated and supported in Puerto Rico by various organizations.

As in independence, the United States may provide the Republic of Puerto Rico assistance in the formation of a diplomatic corps and its successful integration into the international community. With Free Association, Puerto Rico will be able to establish and maintain diplomatic relations with other countries and enter into various political and economic agreements.

The Republic of Puerto Rico, in free association, will be a real and dignified political relationship with the United States in which the sovereign powers of Puerto Rico will be recognized, not only by the United States, but also by the entire international community. Under a Treaty of Free Association, Puerto Rico will acquire control of its own national government, economy, and foreign affairs, limited only in those areas and functions delegated to the United States. With a Treaty of Free Association, Puerto Rico would become a major ally and strategic partner of the United States.

What are the characteristics of Free Association?

A Treaty of Free Association would grant Puerto Rico its own sovereignty, inserting it into the international community as a sovereign nation with full political dignity. Under a Treaty of Free Association, Puerto Rico will have its own representation at international organizations, including the United Nations Organization (UN), the World Trade Organization, and any regional organizations that Puerto Rico may show interest in joining. Of course, as a sovereign nation, Puerto Rico would continue to have its own Olympic Committee and participate in other international events under its own name.

Is Puerto Rican Sovereignty and Free Association in the U.S. national interest?

Yes, as you will see, transitioning Puerto Rico from a poor and corrupt colony to a sovereign Republic associated with the United States would greatly enhance U.S. national interests, not to mention Puerto Rican national interests.

As a sovereign nation associated with the United States:

1. The United States would be promoting decolonization and ending the constant ridicule and humiliation at the United Nations of being called a “colonial power”;

2. The United States would be gaining a new ally and strategic partner in Latin America;

3. The United States would forever end the constant threat of Puerto Rican statehood that would aim at destabilizing the U.S. political system and attacking American unity;

4. The United States would still maintain access to the Puerto Rican market;

5. A sovereign and prosperous Puerto Rico would be in a better economic position to import American products and export products to the United States;

6. The United States would be able to divert federal funds into actual economic development projects instead of promoting welfare and food stamp dependency in Puerto Rico;

7. The United States, together with a sovereign Puerto Rico, could establish various joint economic and energy projects that would greatly benefit both American and Puerto Rican companies, entrepreneurs, and investors;

8. The United States, together with a sovereign Puerto Rico, could promote regional, economic, and security initiatives in the Caribbean;

The Treaty of Free Association, as proposed by pro-sovereignty groups in Puerto Rico, would include which important elements of negotiation?

• The inexorable recognition of Puerto Rican citizenship and conservation of U.S. citizenship, as at present, for those Puerto Ricans that wish to conserve it;

• Free traffic of persons, goods, and capital will be upheld and preserved between the two countries;

• The laws and federal programs to be continued in Puerto Rico will be mutually and explicitly agreed to, with Puerto Rico retaining all the powers of government needed to steer its own economic, political and cultural development, in accordance with its own national interests;

• The federal contributions for Social Security, veterans benefits, federal retirement, or other rights acquired by labor or services rendered, will continue as at present;

• An agreed upon transition period and allocation of block grant federal funds which would allow us to finance alternative and self-sustaining development projects in order to gradually eliminate our current reliance and dependence on federal funds;

• The United States will continue to have access to the Puerto Rican market and will continue to benefit from special economic investment incentives and policies that will be approved by Puerto Rico to attract foreign capital and investments;

• Maintain the U.S. dollar as the official currency of the Republic of Puerto Rico. Along with the United States, other countries (such as Ecuador, El Salvador, Zimbabwe, Timor-Leste, Micronesia, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Turks and Caicos, and the British Virgin Islands) also use the U.S. dollar as their official currency.

Other countries, such as the Bahamas, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Liberia, also use the U.S. dollar alongside their national currencies. Globally, there are over 350 million people using the U.S. dollar as their currency, and the U.S. dollar is involved in over $17 trillion of economic activity[i].

In Puerto Rico, the statehooders and colonialists like to spread the myth that if Puerto Rico were to become a sovereign country, the United States would punish Puerto Rico by not allowing us to use the U.S. dollar as our official currency. Obviously, such people are seriously misinformed and do not understand international relations, currency systems, and economic systems.

A sovereign Puerto Rico using the U.S. dollar as the official currency would be in the U.S. national interest and facilitate trade between Puerto Rico and the United States;

• An agreed upon Common Defense Agreement with the United States, who may retain in Puerto Rico, those military bases and facilities that already exist and are indispensable for American and regional defense. All other federal property and assets would be transferred to the people of Puerto Rico.

Is Free Association considered the “consensus option” regarding Puerto Rican decolonization?

Unlike politics in the United States and most other countries, Puerto Rican politics are not based on the usual Left/Right and Liberal/Conservative political spectrum, but on the century’s old status issue.

As a Spanish colony and province, Puerto Rican politics were centered as to whether Puerto Rico should integrate with Spain as a full province or should develop autonomous institutions. Pro-independence groups were banned and persecuted by the Spanish government in Puerto Rico. After the Spanish-American War of 1898, Puerto Rico was occupied and became a U.S. colony.

Under U.S. colonial rule, Puerto Rican politics again were centered on status: whether to become a U.S. state, remain a colonial territory called Commonwealth, or become an independent country. Pro-independence groups were also persecuted by the U.S. colonial regime, and even the Puerto Rican flag and anthem were banned. Today, the Puerto Rican political system is still structured around and based on the old status issue. The U.S. Democratic and Republican parties were never able to establish themselves in Puerto Rico as viable political institutions and options.

Currently, the pro-statehood party has been discredited, with many of its leaders arrested in major corruption scandals, its corrupt and inept governor ousted by a civic revolt, and many people now realize that statehood is not an option for Puerto Rico nor the United States. Of course, diehard statehooders and their “lunatic fringe” are always saying that “statehood is just around the corner.”

The pro-Commonwealth party has also been mired in corruption scandals, and its “Commonwealth” status option has been repeatedly attacked and exposed as colonial by most Puerto Ricans and the very U.S. government itself via Presidential Reports, congressional actions and policies, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions that reaffirm that Puerto Rico has no sovereignty and is merely just a U.S. property, called a territory, of course.

As a colonial territory, the U.S. can even sell or cede Puerto Rico away to a foreign country! The pro-independence party and other pro-sovereignty organizations, although persecuted and criminalized for 121 years, have survived, held firm, and are now beginning to experience a surge in support, particularly by professionals and younger generations in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora.

These political organizations work to block and derail each other at every turn in hopes of advancing their own status option, thus creating a deadlock in Puerto Rico. American politicians use this status deadlock as an excuse to do nothing as regards to Puerto Rican decolonization.

Knowing that statehood is no longer an option and that the much-lauded “autonomous” Commonwealth has ceased to exist theoretically, Puerto Ricans have an opportunity to finally find a consensus and forge the path to decolonization via the status option of Free Association. All Puerto Rican political factions can benefit from sovereignty and Free Association:

Statehooders:

In 121 years, the U.S. Congress has never once brought up the issue of Puerto Rico statehood because it is not in the United States’ national interest to do so. Recent bills in Congress to admit Puerto Rico as a state are a joke and do not even make it to a public hearing. Also, plebiscite after plebiscite continues to show that the majority of Puerto Ricans do not support statehood.

Statehood is not a right, but a concession that the U.S. Congress grants to territories it wishes to admit into the American union. Admitting a poor and bankrupt Spanish-speaking Latin American and Caribbean nation with an active, vocal, and strong nationalist and pro-sovereignty movement does not fit into that congressional agenda.

Realizing that the U.S. Congress will never make Puerto Rico a state, the Free Association option would offer statehooders a process of decolonization and the establishment of a serious treaty-based relationship with the United States, where Puerto Rico would be a U.S. ally and strategic partner. Diehard statehooders that wish to pay federal taxes and vote for the U.S. President can always move to one of the fifty states of the United States and enjoy the “American Dream” with their fellow American citizens.

In fact, in a Republic of Puerto Rico in free association with the United States, the ex-statehooders in Puerto Rico could regroup as a new center-right conservative party in Puerto Rico that would promote and defend such political and economic ties and policies with the United States, of course, within the framework of our sovereign national government.

Commonwealth Supporters:

Realizing that the autonomous powers and functions of the colonial Commonwealth have been superseded by the undemocratic and unelected U.S.-imposed Fiscal Control Board (La Junta), the option of Free Association would offer the Commonwealth party supporters (the Populares of the Partido Popular Democrático) a decolonization process where Puerto Rico would gain actual power and sovereignty over its own affairs, yet be able to maintain political and economic links with the United States that many Populares desire. In the 2012 plebiscite, much of the support for the Free Association option came from the very ranks of the Commonwealth party.

For many Commonwealth party supporters, Free Association would be welcomed and considered the culmination of the autonomy movement. In fact, in a Republic of Puerto Rico in free association with the United States, the Populares could remain or regroup as a new center-left liberal and progressive party in Puerto Rico that would also promote and defend Puerto Rico’s ties with the United States.

Independence and Sovereignty Supporters:

Although most pro-independence supporters desire full outright independence from the United States, Free Association (as their second preferred option) would allow them to finally achieve Puerto Rican sovereignty and establish the Republic of Puerto Rico, but under a Treaty of Free Association with the United States. Pro-independence supporters will not get their desired full independence, but they would achieve the Republic, a goal that has been desired by all Puerto Rican patriots since the 1800s.

Within the pro-sovereignty political spectrum, there are those that prefer independence, those that prefer free association, and those that would prefer any of those sovereignty options. In a Republic of Puerto Rico in free association with the United States, the pro-independence and pro-sovereignty organizations could regroup as a new liberal, social democratic, and progressive party or electoral alliance in Puerto Rico that would also defend Puerto Rico’s ties with the United States and other nations, particularly nations in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

With Free Association, all Puerto Rican political groups can come together at the negotiating table, secure their most important interests, build a consensus, and leave the table with a victory. All of them would lose their main zero-sum demands (statehood, commonwealth, and full independence), yet all would be able to secure their interests (strong political and economic links and a strategic partnership with the United States and Puerto Rican sovereignty) within the comprehensive structures and possibilities of a Treaty of Free Association.

Although Commonwealth was historically touted as “the best of both worlds”, Free Association would be “the best of all worlds” since it would secure Puerto Rico’s important ties with the United States, yet allowing Puerto Rico to become a sovereign nation integrated into the world economy and international politics, thus opening up many opportunities for Puerto Rican entrepreneurs, workers, students, universities, and companies.

All in all, Free Association would help create a powerful consensus between Puerto Rico’s political organizations and promote our eventual decolonization and freedom. With sovereignty, Puerto Rico would finally be able to establish a functioning democratic government; be accountable to its own people; ratify its own national constitution; establish and implement various modern economic development policies and projects; and create the prosperous, international, and stable Puerto Rico that we all want and need in order to move forward as a free and democratic nation.

How will a Treaty of Free Association between Puerto Rico and the U.S. be negotiated?

When the people of Puerto Rico opt for the Free Association option, pro-sovereignty groups propose a national dialogue through a Constituent or Peoples’ Assembly, duly legislated by the Legislature of Puerto Rico. If the Legislature of Puerto Rico is unable or unwilling to bring forth such an assembly, the people of Puerto Rico can assemble among themselves and establish their own Constituent Assembly.

The purpose of this assembly will be to draft and adopt the Treaty Proposal, which will emerge after an extensive process of public hearings. Drafts of such a treaty proposal already exist. Then, a group of delegates, elected by and from among the delegates of Puerto Rico, will negotiate with representatives of Congress and the President of the United States, in order to agree on the specific terms and policies of the Treaty of Free-Association that will govern the political relationship between the two partner countries.

The treaty will enter into force only if approved by Congress and the President of the United States and, by Puerto Rico, if it receives a majority vote of the people in a plebiscite. At the very moment that representatives of the U.S. government sit down to negotiate the elements of, the process, and the terms of the agreement with the representatives of the people of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico’s sovereignty will have been recognized by the United States.

What kind of territory is Puerto Rico?

The United States does not use the term “colony” to refer to its territorial possessions. They are merely and euphemistically called territories. The U.S. Supreme Court determined that there are two types of territories: the incorporated and the unincorporated. The incorporated territories are those that Congress has determined that, after a period of transition, will become states. The unincorporated territories will continue as “territories” indefinitely until the U.S. Congress decides to dispose of them (or decolonize). Most Puerto Ricans and the international community routinely classify and consider Puerto Rico a “U.S. colony.”

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory that is under the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution. As such, the U.S. Congress has the power to legislate for Puerto Rico and determine which articles of the Constitution of the United States will apply to it or not. Being held under colonial rule is demeaning, humiliating, and wrong, for both Puerto Rico and the United States.

What are the economic advantages of Sovereignty and Free Association?

The biggest economic advantage for Puerto Rico would be that its economic development strategies and projects would be under the direct control of Puerto Rico and respond to the interests of Puerto Rico, our country, not under the laws or guidelines of the United States. As a sovereign nation in free association with the United States, the new democratic Republic of Puerto Rico:

1. Would participate in international economic I such as the World Trade Organization;

2. Have control of customs and the laws regulating airports, ports, and international borders;

3. Would have access to the U.S. market and American companies would continue to have access to the Puerto Rican market;

4. Would establish trade agreements with the U.S. and other nations with whom it is in our interests to negotiate with. These trade and investment agreements would be international negotiation processes very similar to those that the U.S. has participated in, such as the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Mexico (NAFTA) and the Trade Agreement with Central America (CAFTA);

5. Would continue to use the U.S. dollar as its official currency.

6. Along with developing trading and economic relationship with other nations, Puerto Rico could also enact entrance and exit fees that would generate billions in revenue for the national government of Puerto Rico.

Under Free Association, how would the federal financial assistance that Puerto Rico currently receives be affected?

Currently, two of every three federal dollars received by Puerto Ricans are acquired rights, which are funds that Puerto Ricans contributed to (Social Security and retirement schemes) or earned via federal or military service (Veterans benefits, etc.). Essentially, most federal “aid” is not free money, but earned contributions and benefits that Puerto Ricans paid into.

Under Free Association, Puerto Ricans would continue to receive federal funds under Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, veterans’ benefits, unemployment benefits, and any other benefits because of work or service, in addition to any national social security system established by the government of the Republic of Puerto Rico.

In addition to receiving the mandatory funds mentioned above, the Republic of Puerto Rico could negotiate to receive discretionary funds from various federal programs like FEMA, Pell Grants, and funds for infrastructure, to name a few, if it were in Puerto Rico’s interests to do so. Just like the United States supported the reconstruction of Germany and Japan after World War II, with a Treaty of Free Association with Puerto Rico, the United States should also support the reconstruction and development of the Puerto Rican economy because a poor Puerto Rico is a dangerous and unstable Puerto Rico and such an unstable and poor country cannot properly be a strong ally and strategic partner of the United States.

A strong and economically prosperous Puerto Rico would be a strong ally and can support U.S. regional economic development initiatives in the Caribbean and Latin America.

As a sovereign Republic of Puerto Rico, would U.S. companies be willing to invest in Puerto Rico?

International companies, including American ones, invest overseas looking for markets, safety, and low risk. As a sovereign nation in a free association relationship with the United States, Puerto Rico would be able to offer such investors the markets, the safety, and the low risk they are looking for, not to mention excellent physical infrastructure, world-class and professional human capital, and a pro-business and economic development infrastructure and platforms to promote economic growth and long-term development. American companies operate in most countries worldwide, including Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Canada, among others.

The Republic of Puerto Rico will work to attract and procure not just American investment, but foreign investment, opportunities, and companies from around the world. These new economic opportunities, due in large part to gaining sovereignty, will help Puerto Rico create jobs, energize and increase its workforce, sell its products abroad, and become an engine of economic development in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Why is sovereignty in the best interests of U.S. and Puerto Rico bondholders?

A colonial, stagnant, and poor Puerto Rico, such as today’s Commonwealth, will never develop economically to be in a position to pay any portion of Puerto Rico’s public debt. A hypothetical “State of Puerto Rico” dependent on federal and welfare funds will also not be able to develop a prosperous economy nor pay off any debt due to the lower capacity to generate revenues. Even if a large portion of the debt is declared illegal and written off, Puerto Rico would still be unable to pay off such a large debt without the tools of sovereignty and economic development to actually create a viable and prosperous economy that can pay off the debt.

In short, a colonial and poor Puerto Rico cannot payoff off the public debt. A sovereign and economically prosperous Puerto Rico could actually pay off any legal portions of debt as negotiated between Puerto Rico, the United States, and bondholders.

[i] https://www.businessinsider.com/usd-countries-use-dollars-as-currency-2018-5/