Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World - Tapa blanda

"A pithy account of Puerto Rico's troubled 500-year history . . . [and] a carefully reasoned case for a new approach to the perennially unresolved issue of Puerto Rico's status vis-a-vis the United States."-Thomas Carothers, New York Times Book Review "Nearly a century has passed since the United States annexed Puerto Rico. Jose Trias Monge's book is a thoughtful chronicle of a quasi-colonial relationship and a persuasive argument for the U.S. to focus attention on the island and liberate it from ambiguity."-Robert Pastor "Grounded in a deep understanding of the constitutional and political history of the United States-Puerto Rico relationship, Trias Monge presents a compelling case for prompt and decisive action to end the island's colonial condition, once and for all. As we reflect on one hundred years of this relationship, the author helps us envision a host of bold initiatives that will place it on a path of decolonization. The book is compulsory reading for anyone who eagerly awaits that outcome and hopes to engage actively in it."-Francisco A. Scarano

The island of Puerto Rico has a severely distressed economy, is one of the most densely populated places on earth, and enjoys only limited political freedom. As a United States commonwealth, it is still treated by Congress as one of the last remaining colonies in the world. In this book a distinguished Puerto Rican legal scholar and former government official discusses the island's century-old relationship with the United States and argues that the process of decolonization should begin immediately. Jose Trias Monge first describes the Spanish rule over Puerto Rico and then traces the impact of American colonial policies there, comparing them with those in the Pacific and the British, French, and Dutch experiences in the Caribbean. He argues that the large amounts of money the United States has given to Puerto Rico have not been productive: not only has the island become frightfully dependent on United States munificence but more than 60 percent of Puerto Rican families still live below the poverty line. Politically, the situation is even worse. The United States has granted Puerto Rico limited self-government but has ignored the wishes of the Puerto Rican people-as expressed in two plebiscites-for greater autonomy, since it cannot make up its mind which decolonization option best serves American interests. Trias Monge discusses the various options of Puerto Rican independence, statehood, and an enhanced commonwealth status and urges the United States to end its present policy of inattention and inaction.