Changes

Since 1952, Puerto Rico had a defined constitution and since then its economy has transformed from an agricultural one to, initially, a manufacturing and tourism economy. This time also now saw an increasing and growing statehood movement. Since the 1950s, Puerto Rico's relationship with the United States was defined as a commonwealth entity, with the US having overall rule on the island in relation to defense, foreign policy, and many other areas, including citizenship for islanders. Since the 1960s, Puerto Rico has held periodic referendums to vote on statehood, independence, or commonwealth status in defining its relationship with the US. Both the 1998 and 2012 referendums showed that the majority of Puerto Ricans wanted to be granted statehood in the United States. However, the results were not accepted as the US Congress has the authority to accept the results. In both these referendums, there were many blank ballots or choices for 'none of the above' in regards to independence, statehood, or continuing the commonwealth status. These results were considered by Congress to be unclear, leading to Congress not fully taking up the issue of Puerto Rico's statehood. The 2017 referendum resulted in a 97% result for statehood, but since only 23% of the eligible population voted and the Justice Department had not approved the referendum's language, leading to no commitment on the part of the US government on the results. Since 2016, the United Nations has called on the US government to clear up the statue of Puerto Rico, allowing its self-determination, and has called Puerto Rico effectively a colony.<ref>For more on recent political changes in Puerto Rico, see: Ayala, C.J., Bernabe, R., 2009. <i>Puerto Rico in the American century: a history since 1898</i>. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.</ref>