Last week I learned something that I had never been privy to: Puerto Ricans have the opportunity to vote in the United States Presidential Primaries. This comes as a fairly huge surprise to me as I was unaware that Puerto Rico was even a state in these United States. Why should they have the privilege to cast their vote for a Presidential nominee? I mean they are a commonwealth, not a state! Puerto Rico has been a U.S. commonwealth since 1947 and a subservient state to the U.S. since the Spanish-American War. They elect their own governor, have 3 governmental branches (executive, legislative, & judicial), they are considered U.S. citizens, and they even have an elected official in the U.S. Congress. It sounds like Puerto Rico is a state to me! So why then is it not recognized as such? Unfortunately I have no idea why Puerto Rico hasn’t become the 51st state of the U.S., but with their primary coming up in a week, perhaps they can demonstrate that they are actively interested in becoming a United State.

With the majority of Hispanics casting their vote for Hillary Clinton, Puerto Rico’s 63 delegates could easily give Clinton the push that she needs to surpass Barack Obama. Over the past two presidential elections, Puerto Rico has held caucuses for the nomination process because by the time it came to vote, the nominees were already chosen. This time the Chairman of the Puerto Rican Democratic Party, Roberto Prats stated,

Puerto Rico has chosen to hold caucuses because they are “less expensive” than a primary, but the island may switch to a primary this time round, if the race is still competitive.

He expects the excitement over this election to encourage many Puerto Ricans to cast their vote for either Clinton or Obama. Unfortunately, for Puerto Ricans this is the only decent chance they have to make their voices heard in the U.S. government. They do not get the opportunity to vote in the general election and they have, but one non-voting representative in Congress.

It is of my opinion that the United States has reimposed colonial rule upon its neighbor. The U.S. grants citizenship and military protection to Puerto Ricans, but does not give them equal say in a government they are governed by. That is truly an abomination and exactly the same misrepresentation that the 13 colonies went through before they declared their independence. I am not advocating an independent Puerto Rico, but to me being a state is a black and white issue. They are just like a state in that their government is heavily influenced by ours. Just like any other U.S. state, they have an elected governor, a state system of government, and they have the privilege to vote for the U.S. Democratic nominee.  Puerto Rico, in my opinion, should become the 51st state.

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