Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,203
edits
Puerto Rico: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 10:
Most of the late 19th century history of Puerto Rico can be characterized by the development of political organizations seeking autonomous rule for the island. This was finally achieved in 1898, when the first autonomous government of Puerto Rico took power approximately one month before the United States invasion. It is worth noting that said government was similar, at least in broad strokes, to the then-Dominion of Canada: the only Spanish military officer on the island was its Governor-General, and served exclusively as the representative of the Crown; Puerto Rico agreed to answer to the Spanish crown on matters of defense and foreign affairs, but retained complete power over internal ones; and for the first time, could raise its own defense forces, land and sea alike, though it would depend on the Spanish Armed Forces in wartime.
Since 1898, Puerto Rico's relationship with the U.S. has been alternately good (sugar boom in the 1920s, ratification of the Puerto Rican Constitution and Operation Bootstrap in the 1950s, modern-day pharmaceutical and manufacturing boom) and bad (Governors Guy V. Henry, E. Montgomery Reilly, Blanton Winship). A recent report on the island reveals that the United States does not and will not consider the current status as "commonwealth" a viable option for the island's permanent future. The generally-accepted options for Puerto Rico's future (besides the status quo) are independence (which has a small but significant following) and statehood (which has a fairly large following - as of [[w:2020 Puerto Rican status referendum|the 2020 referendum]], a slim majority). The US Army has designed a 51-star flag just in case the latter happens, but only the US Congress can grant statehood in the USA.
Puerto Rico is home to many beautiful beaches, and 56 animal and 239 plant indigenous species, one of which is the emblematic ''coqui'' frog. Puerto Ricans have distinguished themselves in many fields, including music ([[Tito Puente]], [[Celia Cruz]], [[Jose Feliciano]], [[Hector Lavoe]]), literature ([[Rosario Ferre]], [[Tato Laviera]], [[Miguel Algarin]]), the military (RADM Frederick Lois Riefkohl, USN; ADM Horacio Rivera, USN), and beauty pageants, with five victories in Miss Universe (Puerto Rico often sends representatives to international events separate from the American ones), second most successful in that pageant, and not surprisingly as Puerto Rican women have been described as staggeringly beautiful since Columbus' voyage there in 1493. However, poverty remains an ongoing challenge in many areas.
| |||