I am writing from San Juan in Puerto Rico. Two weeks ago, Puerto Ricans voted for the first time to seek statehood from the United States. The change was a dramatic one. In the past, Puerto Ricans chose again and again to maintain their status as a “commonwealth” whose citizens were American but which was separate from the usual American state. A small minority wanted independence. The burdens of statehood (read that as taxes of the federal government) outweighed the advantages of statehood for the vast bulk of the Puerto Ricans. So what changed? I asked a number of folks in San Juan that question. The predominant answer surprised me. I was told that many changed their votes to statehood because they feared that the USA would cut Puerto Rico loose. They voted for statehood in order to stave off independence.
Obviously, I did not do a scientific survey, so the answer I got was purely anecdotal. Nevertheless, it would not have occurred to me ever that votes for statehood were really votes against independence.
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