2015 • Puerto Rico
July 21, 2015 to July 25, 2015
For our family vacation in 2015, we decided to head on down to the Caribbean and explore the two US territories there: Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Despite being so close, the two are culturally, linguistically, and politically distinct. Anyway, our first stop was Puerto Rico, the largest US territory (by far), and candidate for 51st state. Even though Puerto Rico is larger, in terms of population, than a number of different states, there are many factors that have kept the territory from becoming a state. Many people on the island do indeed favor statehood while others believe that the current arrangement just needs some tweaking and even others demand full independence. The last few times they have voted on the issue, the statehood option won, but under less than ideal circumstances. One saw a confusing two-part question that saw many leave the second part blank and then another referendum that saw the anti-statehood parties boycott the vote. Needless to say, it is hard to know exactly what Puerto Ricans want when it comes to their relationship with the United States. That said, Puerto Rico is an absolutely beautiful place with nice sandy beaches, warm waters, and even the only tropical rainforest in the US National Park system. Also, being that Puerto Rico was first colonized by Spain in 1508, there are many historical colonial structures in and around San Juan—the island’s capital.
