Walk through the streets of Old San Juan and you'll see the blue cobblestones, the massive walls of El Morro, and plenty of American flags fluttering alongside the Puerto Rican Monoestrellada. It's a beautiful contradiction. But beneath the tourism brochures and the "Island of Enchantment" marketing, there is a heavy, century-long shadow. We need to talk about Puerto Rico US imperialism because, honestly, most people in the stateside US have a massive blind spot when it comes to how this relationship actually works. It's not just a vacation spot. It’s a territory. Or, if we’re being blunt and using the language of international law experts like Christina Duffy Ponsa-Kraus, it’s an unincorporated territory that looks an awful lot like a colony.
The story didn't start with a vote. It started with a war. In 1898, the United States didn't just "get" Puerto Rico; it took it during the Spanish-American War. One day the island was under Spanish rule, and the next, General Nelson A. Miles was landing in Guánica promising liberty while the US military set up shop. Think about that for a second. The people living there went from one empire to another without so much as a "how do you do?" This wasn't some accidental acquisition. It was a strategic move to control the Caribbean.
The Legal Gymnastics of Being "Foreign in a Domestic Sense"
You've probably heard of the Supreme Court, but have you heard of the Insular Cases? Most people haven't. These are a series of court opinions from the early 1900s that basically created a legal loophole for Puerto Rico US imperialism to exist. The Court essentially said that Puerto Rico belongs to, but is not part of, the United States. It sounds like a riddle. It’s actually a recipe for inequality.
Justice Edward Douglass White coined the phrase "foreign in a domestic sense." It’s basically a way of saying, "You’re under our thumb, but you don't get the full rights of the Constitution." This is why Puerto Ricans are US citizens—thanks to the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917—but they can’t vote for President if they live on the island. They have a Resident Commissioner in Congress, Jenniffer González-Colón, but she can’t vote on the final passage of bills. It's a "look but don't touch" version of democracy.
Some people argue this isn't imperialism because the US has poured money into the island. They point to federal grants and disaster relief. But that's a surface-level take. If you look at the Jones Act of 1920 (not to be confused with the citizenship one), you see the economic chains. This law requires all goods shipped between US ports to be carried on ships that are built, owned, and operated by Americans. For an island, this is a death sentence for the cost of living. It makes everything from milk to cars way more expensive than it needs to be. It's a captive market. That is a classic hallmark of an imperial setup.
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The Sugar Kings and the Debt Crisis
Money speaks louder than manifestos. Early on, American corporations—specifically the "Big Four" sugar companies—basically turned the island into a giant plantation. They bought up the best land, pushed out local subsistence farmers, and turned Puerto Ricans into low-wage laborers for the American sweet tooth. This shifted the entire economy from self-sufficiency to a total dependence on imports. When the sugar industry collapsed, the island had to pivot, but the structural power stayed in Washington and Wall Street.
Fast forward to the modern era. You can't talk about Puerto Rico US imperialism without talking about PROMESA. No, not the Spanish word for "promise." It stands for the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act. When the island’s debt hit $70 billion, Congress stepped in. But they didn't just help; they appointed an unelected Fiscal Control Board, known locally as La Junta.
Imagine a group of people you didn't vote for coming into your town and telling you that you have to close schools and cut pensions to pay back hedge funds. That's the reality. It’s a vivid, modern-day example of how the US maintains control over the island’s most intimate domestic affairs. Local politicians are basically middle managers. The real power sits with the board members in air-conditioned rooms in D.C. and New York.
Sterilization, Experiments, and the Human Cost
This history has teeth. It’s not just about laws and money; it’s about bodies. For decades, the US used Puerto Rico as a laboratory. You might have heard of the "Pills." In the 1950s, the first large-scale human trials for the birth control pill were conducted on Puerto Rican women, often without their full informed consent. The doses were incredibly high, and the side effects were brutal.
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Then there’s the sterilization. Between the 1930s and the 1970s, about one-third of Puerto Rican women were sterilized, often through a procedure known simply as "la operación." This wasn't always a choice. It was pushed by US-funded population control programs that viewed Puerto Rican poverty as a biological problem rather than an economic one. It’s a dark, visceral chapter that explains why there is so much deep-seated mistrust toward federal intervention.
And we can't forget Vieques. For sixty years, the US Navy used the island of Vieques as a bombing range. They tested everything from conventional explosives to depleted uranium. The local population suffered from sky-high rates of cancer and other illnesses. It took massive, sustained protests and the death of a local security guard, David Sanes, to finally get the Navy to leave in 2003. But the environmental damage? That’s still there. The unexploded ordnance? Still there too.
The Myth of the "Lazy" Economy
You’ll often hear pundits claim Puerto Rico is a drain on the US taxpayer. Honestly, it’s the other way around in many ways. For decades, Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code allowed US corporations to operate tax-free on the island. They made billions. When Congress phased out Section 936 in the late 90s and early 2000s, the companies packed up and left, leaving the island’s economy in a tailspin.
The US didn't "save" Puerto Rico; it used it as a tax haven until it wasn't profitable anymore.
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Identity and the Three-Way Tug of War
So, what do Puerto Ricans want? It’s not a simple answer. The population is split into three main camps:
- Statehood: Those who want to become the 51st state to get full voting rights and equal federal funding.
- Commonwealth: Those who want to keep the status quo but maybe "enhance" it (though this is losing popularity fast).
- Independence: Those who want a fully sovereign nation, free from US oversight.
Every few years, there’s a plebiscite. The results are always messy. In 2020, statehood won with about 52% of the vote. But the US Congress—which is the only body with the power to actually grant statehood—basically ignored it. Why? Because the Republican party fears two more Democratic senators, and some Democrats worry about the cultural implications. It’s a political stalemate where the people of Puerto Rico are the pawns.
Actionable Steps for Understanding the Issue
If you want to move beyond the headlines and truly grasp the nuances of this relationship, you have to look at the primary sources. Don't just take a politician's word for it.
- Read the Insular Cases: Specifically Downes v. Bidwell. It’s dry, but it’s the foundation of the legal "separate but unequal" status.
- Study the Jones Act (1920): Look at how it impacts shipping costs today. Check out reports from the Center for a New Economy (CNE) in San Juan for the most accurate data.
- Follow local journalism: Outlets like Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) do the hard work that mainstream US media often ignores. They were the ones who broke the "Telegramgate" story that led to the ousting of Governor Ricardo Rosselló in 2019.
- Understand the Diaspora: There are more Puerto Ricans in the mainland US than on the island. The "Nuyorican" experience and the growth of the community in Florida are central to how this political battle will eventually be settled in Congress.
The reality is that Puerto Rico US imperialism isn't a relic of the 19th century. It’s a living, breathing system. It’s in the lack of a vote, the control of the debt, and the fact that the Supreme Court can still decide the island’s fate based on 100-year-old racist precedents. Whether the future holds statehood or independence, the first step is admitting that the current "territory" status is a polite word for something much more complicated.
The next time you hear someone talk about Puerto Rico, remember that it's not just a "territory." It's a place with a distinct history, a vibrant culture, and a political status that challenges everything the United States says it stands for regarding democracy and self-determination. The conversation is moving toward a breaking point, and the US Congress will eventually have to decide if it wants to remain an imperial power or finally live up to its founding ideals.