For more than 125 years, Puerto Rico has lived between worlds
caught between a flag that governs us and another that remembers us.
Between an identity we cherish and a future we have yet to define.
Three paths have always stood before us:
Statehood. Independence. Or Autonomy.
But what if the best path wasn’t about choosing one extreme or the other?
What if the best path gave us the best of both worlds?
Let’s be honest — Puerto Rico’s current status is not sustainable.
We are a people with American passports but no voting representation in Congress.
We follow federal laws we didn’t write.
We serve in wars for a president we cannot vote for.
And after more than a century, Washington still calls us an unincorporated territory —
a phrase that means:
we belong to the United States, but we are not part of it.
But the truth tells a very different story.
To even be considered for statehood, Congress must first incorporate Puerto Rico —
a step it has never taken in 125 years.
Even Hawaii, incorporated from the start, waited more than 60 years to become a state.
So why would Congress suddenly grant full equality to a Spanish-speaking Caribbean island with no senators, no vote in Congress, and no power?
Before we look at the data, let’s be clear:
We are not going to talk in percentages.
Percentages are what politicians use to sell illusions.
They turn low turnout into “majorities.”
They erase the millions who stayed home — the ones who looked at the ballot and said, none of these options represent me.
Raw numbers tell the truth.
Percentages hide it.
When you hear “52 percent voted for statehood,” it sounds like a landslide.
But when you see the actual votes and total registered voters, that “majority” becomes a mirage.
So let’s talk facts, not spin.
The Real Numbers They Don’t Want You to See
In the 2024 referendum, the results were:
That’s 1,240,412 total ballots out of 2,595,509 registered voters —
meaning over 1.3 million Puerto Ricans didn’t vote at all.
That silence isn’t apathy — it’s an invisible protest.
A quiet no against all the options that keep us colonized.
In 2020, there were 655,505 votes for statehood and 592,671 against —
about 1.24 million ballots out of roughly 2.3 million registered voters.
Nearly a million Puerto Ricans stayed home.
And in 2012, statehood received 834,191 votes,
while 937,955 rejected the current status,
and nearly 470,000 ballots were intentionally left blank.
Out of 2.4 million registered voters, only 1.8 million participated, leaving over 600,000 voices unheard.
So when politicians or the media claim “a majority voted for statehood,”
they’re re-arranging the truth —
using percentages from a fraction of voters and selling it as the will of the people.
But the raw numbers — the reality — say otherwise:
No status option has ever earned the support of most registered Puerto Ricans.
Not once.
The Decline They Don’t Want to Admit
And here’s something the statehood movement never mentions.
In 2012, statehood received 834,191 votes.
By 2020, that dropped to 655,505.
And in 2024, it fell again — to 620,782.
That’s more than 213,000 fewer people voting for statehood today than twelve years ago —
even though Puerto Rico now has more registered voters than it did then.
If the movement were gaining strength, the numbers would rise — not collapse.
But every referendum shows the same pattern: less enthusiasm, less trust, less belief.
So while politicians pound their chests and claim “the people have spoken,”
the truth is the people are walking away.
The so-called majority isn’t growing; it’s shrinking.
The Price of Statehood
And even if it became reality — what would it truly mean?
Statehood would mean surrendering what little autonomy we have left.
Every law, every court, every dollar would come from Washington.
English would dominate our schools and courts.
Our Olympic flag would vanish.
Our Miss Universe sash would read “USA.”
Our cultural identity — absorbed.
Statehood may promise equality —
but equality under someone else’s system is not freedom.
Transition
Strip away the slogans and the percentages, and the truth becomes clear:
Puerto Rico has never united behind statehood.
In fact, fewer Puerto Ricans believe in it every year.
And that’s why it’s time to talk about the next option —
one that some dream of, but few have truly analyzed: Independence.
Independence is the path of dignity — the dream of standing on our own feet.
But for Puerto Rico, it would mean rebuilding an entire nation from the ground up —
without a safety net.
The Currency Dilemma
An independent Puerto Rico would face a critical question:
Do we use the U.S. dollar, or create our own currency?
If we keep the dollar, we stay chained to Washington’s Federal Reserve —
just like Ecuador, El Salvador, and Panama.
Their economies move when the U.S. moves.
They can’t adjust interest rates or print their own money.
They’re dollar users — not dollar owners.
If we create our own currency, the risk multiplies.
Inflation, devaluation, and loss of investor confidence.
Imports — 85 percent of what we consume — would skyrocket in price.
That could cripple the economy in months.
Healthcare and Housing
Independence would also mean the end of federal funding.
No Medicare. No Medicaid. No FEMA.
Hospitals would lose billions, doctors would leave, and the healthcare system could collapse.
Housing aid would vanish — no HUD, no Section 8, no FEMA rebuilding funds.
Mortgage rates would soar, and post-hurricane recovery would depend on high-interest international loans.
Debt and Corruption
Puerto Rico still owes over $70 billion in public debt.
As an independent nation, we’d inherit that debt without U.S. credit backing.
We’d face the IMF and World Bank — with austerity demands and crippling interest.
And with the same corrupt political class still in power,
independence could deepen mismanagement, not cure it.
Without outside oversight, corruption might grow unchecked.
Social and Structural Challenges
A new passport. New embassies. New trade deals. New defense system.
All built from scratch.
We’d need our own army, coast guard, and foreign alliances.
We’d have to renegotiate trade with the U.S., Europe, and Latin America — just to feed our people.
Education, health, and infrastructure would depend entirely on local taxes,
but with half the population in poverty, the revenue just isn’t there.
Independence might bring pride — but without stability, pride alone won’t keep the lights on.
Final Reflection
Independence is noble.
It’s brave.
It’s the dream of our ancestors.
But dreams need solid foundations.
And ours has been weakened by corruption, dependency, and division.
Without unity and reform, independence could mean freedom on paper — and struggle in reality.
Autonomy with Spain.
It’s not about going backward.
It’s about going home — as equals.
Under this model, Puerto Rico would become Spain’s 18th autonomous community,
like the Canary Islands — with our own parliament, president, flag, and constitution inside Spain’s framework.
We’d preserve our Puerto Rican identity, culture, and language —
while gaining European citizenship, access to the European Union,
and representation in both the Spanish Cortes and the EU Parliament.
Our farmers could access EU agricultural funds.
Our universities could link with Europe’s best.
Our youth could live, work, and study anywhere in 27 EU nations.
Our hospitals would benefit from universal healthcare.
And our ports would finally be free from the Jones Act —
opening new trade routes across the Atlantic.
We’d stand again as a Caribbean bridge — Puerto Rican and European.
It’s not fantasy.
It’s a plan rooted in history and law.
The same model that works for the Canary Islands, Galicia, and the Basque Country —
could work for Puerto Rico.
We’ve tried believing in promises that never came.
But now, a new generation of Puerto Ricans is rising —
educated, awake, and ready to reclaim their future.
We’re not asking to be saved.
We’re asking to be respected.
To govern ourselves with dignity.
To reconnect with the family we were taken from — not as subjects, but as equals.
Autonomy with Spain is not submission.
It’s evolution.
It’s the rebirth of our identity — with the strength to stand tall in both worlds.
This is our moment.
Our voice.
Our choice.
And for those who still say that the United States is the best thing that happened to Puerto Rico…
Remember this day.
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