Why Is Puerto Rico So Important To The United States?
Background
The island of Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean West Indies and was acquired by the United States after the Spanish-American War in 1898. Puerto Rico is considered a commonwealth, a nation or state governed by the people; a republic. Puerto Rico is one of the Caribbean countries that make up the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), a regional integration between themselves, formed in 1973. The purpose of regional integration is to achieve economic gains through free trade flow and investments between neighboring countries often by lowering or eliminating tariffs against imports from fellow member countries. These actions increase duty free trade, tourism, movement of labor, and the flow of capital across national borders, …show more content…
There is a representative government in Puerto Rico, which was incorporated by the United States. Internally, they are governed by a represented in the House of Representatives and the Senate, in hand with a democratically elected four-year term governor. There are four political parties in Puerto Rico. These parties consist of a Democratic Party, which proposes to maintain free association with the US, the New Progressive Party which seeks statehood, the Puerto Rico Independence Party which seeks independence, and the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party which wants to address the island’s problems from a neutral perspective. Even though the Puerto Ricans have a governing authority, and practice the Commonwealth standards, they are not part nor considered for the presidential elections, however; they are considered American citizens. The residents of Puerto Rico, pay government taxes but are not obligated to pay federal …show more content…
Much of the borrowing is in the form of municipal bonds. As the size of the debt grew, so did the complexity, with some branches of government issuing bonds on behalf of others, or backstopping each other’s debts, until it became nearly impossible to keep track of it all. Even then, demand for Puerto Rico’s bonds was strong because they pay interest that is tax-exempt in all jurisdictions. In addition, Puerto Rico owes billions more in pensions to retired public
The island of Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean West Indies and was acquired by the United States after the Spanish-American War in 1898. Puerto Rico is considered a commonwealth, a nation or state governed by the people; a republic. Puerto Rico is one of the Caribbean countries that make up the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), a regional integration between themselves, formed in 1973. The purpose of regional integration is to achieve economic gains through free trade flow and investments between neighboring countries often by lowering or eliminating tariffs against imports from fellow member countries. These actions increase duty free trade, tourism, movement of labor, and the flow of capital across national borders, …show more content…
There is a representative government in Puerto Rico, which was incorporated by the United States. Internally, they are governed by a represented in the House of Representatives and the Senate, in hand with a democratically elected four-year term governor. There are four political parties in Puerto Rico. These parties consist of a Democratic Party, which proposes to maintain free association with the US, the New Progressive Party which seeks statehood, the Puerto Rico Independence Party which seeks independence, and the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party which wants to address the island’s problems from a neutral perspective. Even though the Puerto Ricans have a governing authority, and practice the Commonwealth standards, they are not part nor considered for the presidential elections, however; they are considered American citizens. The residents of Puerto Rico, pay government taxes but are not obligated to pay federal …show more content…
Much of the borrowing is in the form of municipal bonds. As the size of the debt grew, so did the complexity, with some branches of government issuing bonds on behalf of others, or backstopping each other’s debts, until it became nearly impossible to keep track of it all. Even then, demand for Puerto Rico’s bonds was strong because they pay interest that is tax-exempt in all jurisdictions. In addition, Puerto Rico owes billions more in pensions to retired public