#73 A Time for Decision: Puerto Rico and the United States Facing the 1980s. A Rapporteur's Report
By Jorge Heine and Barbara Mauger
From the Introduction
The "Puerto Rican question" is perhaps the last outstanding colonial issue in U.S.-Latin American relations. It may also become an important issue within the U.S. political system in the 1980s, if Puerto Rico's push for statehood culminates in a majority endorsement of that option in a plebiscite announced for 1981. In many ways, such an outcome would confront Congress with an unprecedented situation for the first time an overseas possession with a sizeable population and national characteristics that are different from those predominating in the United States would ask for its formal incorporation into the Union.
Whether such a plebiscite takes place or not, it is apparent that the Commonwealth formula which has provided the framework for U.S.-Puerto Rican relations for almost three decades is under severe strain.
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