Abstract

Excerpted From: Ediberto Román and Ernesto Sagás, A Puerto Rico for Whom? Race, Neglect, and Empire, 20 Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy 96 (Fall, 2024) (206 Footnotes) (Full Document)

Written over a half-century ago, the above quotes speak to the double standards of the United States (U.S.), a leader of the free world and the great democratic emancipator that ironically continues to rule over millions that make up its empire. In the case of Puerto Rico, the U.S.'s wrongs persist today with equal force and little to no rigorous challenge or even critical inquiry from its authorities. Puerto Rico and its people have been exploited, neglected, and subordinated to U.S. interests for over a hundred and twenty years now. Therein lies the irony and perhaps wizardry of the U.S. colonial endeavor. The great champion of democracy, liberty, and freedom possesses colonies with millions of residents living in unequal, disenfranchised, and subordinate standing--especially when compared to the states in the mainland--and no one seems to care. Puerto Rico, the largest of these overseas dependencies, with over three million inhabitants (who are U.S. citizens) and a large diaspora living stateside, exemplifies the novel and sophisticated means by which this twenty-first century empire is maintained. It is a scenario where, despite reality, roughly half of the colonial subjects did not, until perhaps recently, perceive themselves as subject to U.S. direct rule.

The following pages illustrate this newest and equally undemocratic form of colonial rule, one in which traditional labels of conquest are easily placed, foreign rule has occurred willingly, and even the colonized do not agree on how to resolve their status. Recently, a handful of international law scholars coined similar developments as the “new legal colonialism.” This new framework began at the turn of the last century and developed further throughout the subsequent one hundred years. The so-called advanced nations (e.g., the U.S. and Western Europe) create legal frameworks that give the appearance of supporting sovereignty in response to growing global calls for freedom and emancipation. In doing so, the colonizers give the appearance of new legal frameworks, but ultimately keep in place their strategic, and perhaps more importantly, economic influence.

Such a framework exemplifies the United States-Puerto Rico colonial endeavor-- one that has existed for well over a century and will likely continue to do so with no readily available resolution. This article examines the latest developments in the unequal relationship between the U.S. and its colony of Puerto Rico, with a focus on the last two decades--a period in which new forms of economic exploitation within the colonial legal framework and deliberate political neglect have wrought havoc on the Puerto Rican people. It argues that although new forms of economic exploitation characterize the latest chapter in the United States-Puerto Rico colonial relationship, they are part of a well-established colonial pattern of revenue extraction by private corporations in collusion with the U.S. federal government, dating back to the early twentieth century. Thus, the latest saga in Puerto Rico's colonial woes is only new in the innovative ways in which U.S. corporate capital seeks to squeeze revenue out of the impoverish island. Before this historical, cultural, political, and legal case study is undertaken, a theoretical overview is in order.

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Puerto Rico represents the greatest territorial challenge for the U.S. federal government by virtue of its size, large diaspora of almost 6 million residing stateside, deep-rooted Latin American culture, centuries-old struggle for independence, and historical “foreignness.” Unfortunately, this is a challenge that the U.S. has not stepped up to. Quite the opposite, the U.S. federal government has repeatedly ignored the pleas of Puerto Ricans (amply demonstrated by its response to Hurricane Maria), neglected the island's inhabitants, and lately taken a hands-off approach on an issue for which it bears major responsibility and has the ultimate say on. Unlike the salutary neglect that benefitted the Thirteen Colonies of North America, Puerto Rico's neglect can only be labeled as pernicious-- even despite good intentions. Conquering an empire and then failing to assume responsibility for its colonial subjects--or even acknowledging that it has an empire--betrays the democratic principles of the U.S., hurts the people of Puerto Rico, and undermines the standing of the U.S. as a leader of the free world. Perhaps that is one of the many consequences of this new form of colonialism? The question thus arises: Did this new form of colonialism ultimately benefit either the metropole or the conquered? For Puerto Ricans, the irony is striking--they are hostages to the willful neglect of the world's greatest democracy, and at the same time, they have been loyal members of the U.S. empire. They are U.S. citizens but unable to decide their own future. They must wait for the metropole to decide for them--if ever.

In conclusion, Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory largely inhabited by Puerto Ricans but owned, exploited, and manipulated for political purposes by the U.S. empire. Puerto Ricans have little say in their own affairs, and by now it has become abundantly clear that the Commonwealth government is just a fiction of self-rule that no longer placates the demands of Puerto Ricans for a greater say in their internal affairs. Moreover, the U.S. government has failed in its obligation as “caretaker” of its territory and its people by letting U.S. corporate interests run the island's economy at will, whether it was during the sugar frenzy of the first half of the twentieth century, the island's industrialization in the immediate post-World War II period, the lucrative 936 corporate tax shelter-era of the late twentieth century, or more recently as Wall Street's vulture capitalists raid the island's bond market. It is time for the oppressive weight of colonialism to be lifted from the shoulders of the Puerto Rican people and let them decide their own fate. It's the right thing to do for the oft-touted “world's greatest democracy.”

Professor of Law, Florida International University College of Law.

Professor of Ethnic Studies, Colorado State University.