Puerto Rico independence news and discussions

[wjfox]

Puerto Rico independence vote bill passes U.S. House

December 16, 2022 12:35 AM GMT

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico's movement for greater self-government got a boost on Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives, which passed a bill for a referendum on three potential futures although the measure had little chance of being taken up by the Senate.

The Puerto Rico Status Act outlines terms for a binding referendum on the three options: full independence, U.S. statehood or sovereignty with formal U.S. association, similar to the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

Democratic Representative Raul Grijalva, the bill's original sponsor, said that whether the measure gets a vote in the Senate or not, it will still set "an important historical precedent" for Puerto Rico.

The legislation "tells the people in Puerto Rico, our fellow U.S. citizens, that this election is going to be aboveboard and the consequences are going to be aboveboard," Grijalva told a House committee hearing on Wednesday night.

The measure passed in the Democratic-controlled House in a 233-219 vote largely along party lines.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/puerto ... 022-12-15/

[caltrek]

I may be wrong about this, but I suspect part of the problem lies within Puerto Rico itself. There are three options available, none of which seem to be favored by an absolute majority of Puerto Ricans.

• Full statehood, which even if favored by the islanders would likely be opposed by the Republicans

• Continued status as a territory - the status quo option

• Full independence

A referendum would be a good place to start, but the question of willingness to grant full statehood would have to be at least tentatively forthcoming. Full independence would seem to have possible Brexit type implications.

The status quo may not last forever, but given the problems mentioned with the alternatives...

Other thoughts are more than welcome as I don't consider myself any sort of expert on Puerto Rico.

[erowind]

If the house and senate manage to pass a Puerto Rican independence referendum bill but can't pass a law to get rid of daylight savings time I'm going to be dumbfounded.