It strikes me that the fact that the asshat governor in San Juan is pro statehood is probably a big strike against the movement. I’ve long thought, since we lost the bases, that we should just give PR independence.
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I think leaving things as they are is likely the better long-term approach. The last thing the U.S. needs is a new state that will send a solidly Democratic additional contingent to Congress and represent more Democratic Electoral College votes.
On the other hand, we also don’t need one more impoverished failed state “nation” with a shrinking population in the Caribbean.
In any event, about 2/3rds of Puerto Ricans have already acquired “statehood” for themselves, as individuals and families, by moving to the U.S. There are nearly 6 million people who self-identify as Puerto Ricans living in the 50 U.S. states now vs. less than three million remaining on the island.
Puerto Rico’s population seems to have peaked at just under 3.7 million around the turn of the 21st century, but has been falling ever since. The decline has picked up additional steam over the past five years. The rate of decline has been at or above 3.5% annually in each of the most recent three years.
If this population decrease rate simply holds steady, there will be fewer than a million Puerto Ricans left on the island by mid-century. But, given that today’s rate of shrinkage may actually continue to increase, as has been the trend of the last two decades, the island may, instead, be all but entirely depopulated by mid-century.
At that point, I suppose we could get the bases back – if we still had any desire for such – without a great deal of difficulty.
Perhaps Elon Musk, if he’s still alive – and hasn’t already done so long since – can take the place over and turn the island into the world’s largest spaceport.