American colonialism in Puerto Rico

In his latest album, “Debí tirar más fotos,” Puerto Rican reggaetonero (reggaeton singer) Bad Bunny paid homage to his island and shared Puerto Rico’s culture and music with the world. However, in one of his songs the singer also denounced American colonialism as well as the mass tourism that the island has been experiencing for several years. This is not the first time that Benito denounces the living conditions and the difficult political situation of the island through his music. 

Puerto Rico is part of the unincorporated areas of the United States, like the island of Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands. These territories are not part of the 50 states of the United States. The US annexed the island of Puerto Rico in 1898 and 54 years later, in 1952, it became an unincorporated territory of the country. Before being annexed by the United States, the island belonged to the Spanish Empire since 1508. More than 5 centuries after its first annexation, colonialism continues to impact the island's inhabitants. To what extent does colonialism still exist in Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico, “the oldest colony in the world”

Concepts of colonialism and neocolonialism

According to the Cambridge dictionary, colonialism can be defined as “the belief in and support for the system of one country controlling another” and as “a policy or system in which a country controls another country or area.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines it as “a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another.”

Colonialism is a phenomenon that appeared during Antiquity, practiced for the first time by ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome with the aim of expanding their “living space” (Lebensraum in german) and finding new sources of economic gain. In the 15th century, Europeans (Portuguese and Spanish) arrived in America and undertook a large process of colonization, by appropriating land from local indigenous populations. Colonialism was practiced by the European powers in the territories of America, Africa and Asia. It can take different forms and have various impacts on colonized populations. At the beginning of the 20th century, most territories in Africa were European colonies. After the Second World War and especially from the 1960s, the colonized territories began to claim their rights to independence and undertook a long process of decolonization with the imperialist powers. At first, we could think of the 1960s as a period of improvement when it comes to colonialism/colonization when actually intellectuals coined the concept of “neocolonialism” in the 1960s as a continuation of colonization. 

Although traditional colonialism experienced its golden age from the 15th to17th century and many colonies obtained their independence at the end of the first half of the 20th century, African intellectuals theorized in the 1960s the concept of neocolonialism which would be seen as a more subtle colonialism. It can be argued that this concept is closely linked to the development of capitalist societies and neoliberalism in developed and imperialist countries. The first definition of the term was established at the African Peoples' Conference in 1961. [1]. This conference was organized with the aim of creating a mechanism by which independent countries in Africa could help other African colonies achieve their independence. Neocolonialism can be defined as the indirect political and economic control exercised by modern capitalist/imperialist/neoliberal powers over their former colonies. This form of colonialism is based on the fragility of newly independent states and their economic dependence on formerly colonizing states. [2]. The goal remains the same: to create a dependence between the colony and the State to benefit from economic advantages. 

Spanish and American colonialism

Throughout history, several imperial powers have been interested in the islands of the Puerto Rico archipelago due to their strategic geographic position. When Christopher Columbus arrived at Boriquen (former name of Puerto Rico when the settlers arrived, this is why we call Puerto Ricans "boricuas") in 1493 he decided to change its name and call it San Juan Bautista. The Spanish settled permanently on the island from 1508. The island was known as the “key to the Indies” (“clave de las Indias”) and was a supply port for Spanish ships. The main city of San Juan Bautista was called Puerto Rico (, “rich port” in English). In 1522, San Juan de Puerto Rico became the capital of the island and in1582 the island’s name became Puerto Rico. The island provided essential support for the Spanish continental advance.

Puerto Rican nationalist sentiment started to appear among the Creole population (“criollos”) in the 18th century and was fueled by the British invasion of the island in 1797. Creoles started to demand the implementation of new political and socio-economic reforms, especially in the 19th century. The 1800s were difficult for the Spanish crown due to Napoleon's invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1808. As the Spanish Empire focused all its efforts on stopping the French advance on its territory, the colonies took the opportunity to rebel and demand independence from the Crown. Several wars of independence took place in Latin America in the 19th century and the Spanish Crown lost almost all of its possessions due to its inability to manage two conflicts at the same time. The Spanish wanted at all costs to contain the independence and revolutionary movements in Puerto Rico, notably through fairly repressive governments and with the support of pro slavery elites. 

The Spanish government attempted to silence the growing demands of the new Creole elites for the abolition of slavery and independence, but eventually granted the population the creation of an autonomous government. This government only lasted a very short time since in 1898 the war broke out between the United States and Spain. In February 1898, an American ship exploded in the bay of Havana (Cuba), generating a conflict between the two powers. Just eight days after the inaugurated Puerto Rican legislature first met, American troops landed on July 25, 1898. The war ended the granted self-government and marked the beginning of American colonization in Puerto Rico.

The annexation of Puerto Rico by the United States in December 1898 (Treaty of Paris) was part of the geopolitical vision of American hegemony in the Caribbean. The treaty establishes that from then on, all rights, freedoms and duties of Puerto Ricans would be determined by the United States Congress (Article 9).

Many pro-independence and separatists had “welcomed” the Americans during the war in the hope that they would definitively free them from the Spanish crown, but were surprised and disappointed to find that the largest democracy in the world at the time did not even grant them political autonomy. Even worse, a military regime was put in place on the island for two years and, from a legal point of view, Puerto Rico was a territory belonging to the United States but was not officially part of it. In other words, Puerto Rico was once again a colony. 

During the 20th century, on the one hand, the United States implemented measures through the local government of the island to “Americanize” Puerto Ricans, notably through the compulsory learning of English in public schools. On the other hand, nationalist and independence movements were gaining more and more weight.

Even though Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917, the nationalist sentiment did not fade away. The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party (PNRC) was created in 1922. The leader of the party at the time, Pedro Albizu Campos, considered that PR must obtain its independence at all costs, even if it meant armed conflict with the United States. Over time, the party started to radicalize and its goal was to obtain self-determination for Puerto Rico. The local government of the island, controlled by the United States, implemented repressive measures against the PNRC which attempted to organize a revolution in 1952 during the adoption of the status of Freely Associated State (FAS). Due to local government repression, the PNRC has now almost disappeared and has very little importance in Puerto Rican politics.

With this new FAS status, a governor is elected directly for a four-year term (previously elected by Washington) and is therefore responsible to the Puerto Rican people. The governor appoints the 9 secretaries of the different departments (justice, health, finance, etc.). The legislative power is made up of a Senate of 27 members and a House of Representatives of 51 members, all elected directly. Additionally, approval of laws by the U.S. Congress is no longer necessary. However, U.S. federal laws apply to Puerto Rico and local laws cannot conflict with federal law. The judicial system becomes completely autonomous, Puerto Rico having its own Supreme Court, whose judges are appointed by the governor with the agreement of the Puerto Rican Senate. In 2025, Puerto Rico is still a Freely Associated State.

How does neocolonialism affect Puerto Ricans today?

“I don't want to leave here

I don't want to leave here

Let them go, let them go

Let them go, let them go, let them go

What belongs to me, they'll keep it to themselves

Let them go

This is my beach, this is my sun

This is my land, this is me

This is my beach, this is my sun

This is my land, this is me"

Bad Bunny, El Apagón, 2022

What the economic data tells us 

In the chapter “The political economy of contemporary Puerto Rico » of the book (Post)colonialism put to the test: Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines through a comparative perspective [3], the authors describe the economy of PR as “economy that consumes what it does not produce and produces what it does not consume”. 

Let's see what the data tells us:

According to data from the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) [4], in 2022, Puerto Rico's GDP reached 113,118 million US dollars and its GNP represented 94,519 million US dollars (difference of 18,599 million US dollars). GDP decreased by 2.5% between 2021 and 2022. Investment in intellectual property products decreased by 24%, fixed investment by 4.6% and exports by 14.6%. Private investment decreased by 0.2% between 2021 and 2022.

Puerto Rico benefits from a positive trade balance with $60,832 million in exports compared to $54,126 million in imports in 2022. PR imports more goods, but exports more services. According to the most recent data from the BEA, unemployment in June 2023 reached 6.1%.

Several studies have demonstrated the relevance of analyzing the difference between the GDP and GNP of Puerto Rico. Let's first remember what GDP and GNP are:

The GDP is an indicator of the economic health of a territory (world, country, region, etc.) and therefore of its wealth. It represents the sum of wealth created during a given year in a given region. This indicator includes all economic agents present in the said territory, whether national or foreign, but does not take into account the wealth produced by economic agents outside their territory of origin.

GDP is an indicator of a country's economic growth and wealth, but it does not measure the social well-being of its inhabitants. 

The GNP represents the wealth created by businesses and other economic agents of the same nationality established in the territory concerned, but also abroad. It therefore corresponds to the annual production of goods and services of nationals of a country inside and outside the latter.

This indicator, however, excludes the wealth produced by foreign companies operating in a given country. GNP best reflects the wealth created and therefore the standard of living of a country's inhabitants.

According to Juan Castaner [5], the gap between the two indicators reveals the fragility of the local economy since the gap represents profits generated by individuals and businesses (the majority are U.S. multinational corporations) that operate in Puerto Rico but whose tax residency is not on the island. Puerto Ricans benefit little, if not at all, from the wealth generated by the American multinational corporations that operate in their territory. Normally, the gap between GDP and GNP should not be as large as that observed for Puerto Rico. 

Additionally, 80% of what is consumed by Puerto Ricans is imported while only 15% of purchases made by multinational companies come from local businesses. [6]. 

Added to this is the fact that American and foreign companies can benefit from a law allowing them (if they meet the necessary conditions of course) not to pay taxes to PR. There is a law in Puerto Rico allowing foreigners not to pay taxes on their investments and income: the “Act to Promote the Relocation of Investors to Puerto Rico” of 2012, known as Act 22.

Law 22 aims to “encourage any person who has not resided in Puerto Rico for at least fifteen years prior to the approval of this Act and who maintains investments in the United States or outside the United States, to establish residence in Puerto Rico”(translation from Spanish). In theory, this law promises to attract foreign capital and investors. This only applies to resident foreign investors, but not to Puerto Rican residents. To benefit from this law, a person must reside at least 183 days in Puerto Rico and cannot have resided on the island between 2006 and 2012. This law exempts him 100% from income tax on all income, dividends and interest and completely exempts him from paying income tax and its capital gains. Act 22 benefits everyone moving from anywhere to PR. 

Puerto Rico's economic model, mainly oriented towards foreign investment, generates wealth, but this wealth is poorly distributed and Puerto Ricans benefit very little from it, as demonstrated by the gap between the island's GDP and GNP. According to data from the Puerto Rico Department of Family Affairs, 83.8% of households face difficulties regarding their housing: indecent housing, economic difficulties, etc. 54.3% of those under 18 live below the poverty line. Furthermore, according to data from the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, between 2014 and 2018, 36 of the Island's 78 municipalities had 50% or more of their total population living below the poverty line. Between 2016 and 2020, 39.8% of households lived below the poverty line.

Puerto Rico: modern colony of the 21st century

Despite the fact that Puerto Rico should be a "free" state, the United States continues to control many aspects of life on the island. For example, at the international level, PR does not have a foreign policy and cannot sign international treaties with other countries nor have diplomatic representations or directly integrate international organizations. Furthermore, according to the article “Puerto Rico and Colonialism in the 21st Century” written by Julio A. Muriente Pérez from the University of Puerto Rico in 2022, the United States has a right of surveillance in several areas, the author mentions among others:

• Absolute control of the United States over the air, maritime and land space of Puerto Rico

• Control of rivers, lakes and all bodies of water in general

• Control of customs, ports and airports, control of people entering and leaving the territory

• Imposition of laws controlling maritime traffic: any product entering or leaving Puerto Rico must pass through the U.S. merchant marine

• Control of the media, through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

• Prevalence of US laws over Puerto Rico laws: the laws passed by the United States Congress, as well as executive orders issued by the president or decisions made by the United States Supreme Court apply directly to the people of Puerto Rico. Although every four years Puerto Ricans elect a governor for the island, a representative commissioner in Washington and mayors, in reality they lack basic powers and are subordinate to the U.S. government. Puerto Ricans have U.S. citizenship but cannot participate in U.S. general elections.

• Control market: more than 85% of food products consumed by Puerto Ricans are imported, coming directly or indirectly from the United States (remember that imports of goods are greater than exports of goods). Agriculture represents less than 1% of economic activity.

• Imposition of the English language as an official language at the same level as Spanish when English was not even an official language of the United States until 2025.

Furthermore, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) implemented in 2016 by Barack Obama to address the economic crisis in Puerto Rico and allow it to restructure its debts, further reduced the island's sovereignty. Within the framework of this law, the Financial Oversight and Management Board was created, thus reducing the scope of action of Puerto Rican political and economic entities. Likewise, the budgetary austerity plan adopted by the Board led to significant budget cuts for public services (health, education, etc.). 

Finally, Puerto Rico has been facing large issues of gentrification for several years now. The concept of gentrification was theorized by British sociologist Ruth Glass in 1963. [7] who studied how in London working-class people living in working-class areas were “replaced” by people from more affluent classes. This phenomenon generally occurs during a transformation or renovation of urban space, leading to the displacement of the working classes. Likewise, gentrification leads to an almost mechanical increase in rents, accentuating the process of selection of the population based on their income. In the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan, gentrification is hitting the population with an increasingly rapid rise in rents since Hurricane Maria in 2017. The rise in rents and gentrification are mainly due to the development of short-term rentals (such as Airbnb) for tourists. In the big cities of the island, modest households regularly have to move.

An unequal health system whose operation depends on federal funds

Several academic studies have demonstrated the effects of colonialism on the Puerto Rican healthcare system and have also demonstrated the effects of colonialism on the mental health of the island's residents. 

First, Puerto Rico's health system, like that of the United States, saw state spending decrease from 1970 on. The health system has been entirely privatized in the name of competitiveness and qualitative improvement of services. This model does not allow the poorest to access social services since, as we recall, nearly 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. Likewise, it is important to emphasize that although Puerto Rico was forced to privatize its health system, Puerto Ricans were not able to benefit from the famous “Obamacare Act” (Affordable Care Act) in 2010 when it was implemented in the United States by the Democratic president at the time, Barack Obama. 

Puerto Rico is currently facing a medical crisis due to a lack of federal investment and a shortage of doctors who are largely emigrating to the United States. In general, the privatization of essential sectors such as transport, energy and health has increased the cost of living while residents do not benefit from the economic gains generated in the country due to the maldistribution of wealth. Access to services and care depends on each person's purchasing power. A high-income household will be able to subscribe to private insurance, but low or modest-income households will have to depend on the public health system.

In an article published in the Journal of Social Sciences of the University of Puerto Rico in 2015 and written by Marinilda Rivera Diaz [8], the author points out that in 1952, when PR presented its Constitution to the United States Congress with the Bill of Rights containing the right to health for all Puerto Ricans, Congress accepted that Charter with the exception of this particular right. Puerto Rico's health care system therefore depends largely on the goodwill of the U.S. government and its funds.

Additionally, an article published by the United Nations in 2024 claims that American colonialism in Puerto Rico affects the mental health of residents. Several scientific studies have shown that colonialism makes it difficult to manage emotional problems and that colonized populations present a greater risk of developing depressive disorders and suffering from anxiety. American colonialism allegedly created “widespread psychological trauma” in Puerto Rico. The Psychological Association of Puerto Rico continues to warn that “Council policies increase poverty levels in the country and generate structural and systemic conditions of violence”[9]. 

The cost of living, the price of rent and the political situation push many Puerto Ricans to emigrate, often to the United States (since they have American citizenship) although “'here no one wanted to leave" And "the one who left dreams of coming back” (Bad Bunny, Lo que le pasó a Hawaii, 2025).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Latin American academic literature clearly shows that neocolonialism is a visible and concrete phenomenon in Puerto Rico. Even if the Freely Associated State project had been presented as a status that should lead to self-determination in the long run, in 2025 Puerto Rico increasingly lacks sovereignty. Many sectors of the Puerto Rican economy depend on federal funds, and the United States still exercises control over the island in many areas. 

Since its creation in 1962, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has approved several resolutions on the inalienable right of the Puerto Rican people to self-determination and independence, in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 1514 (“Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples" of 1960) and in accordance with the fact that Puerto Rico constitutes a Latin American and Caribbean nation with its own national identity. However, the United Nations resolutions have had no influence on the United States, one of the member countries of the organization's Security Council. 

In addition, if part of the population wishes to clearly define the political status of the island, that is to say either to integrate the United States as an official state or to obtain independence, another part of the population wishes to keep the current status of FAS, but with additional freedoms and rights. 

Ultimately, although the island identifies as a Latin American and Caribbean country, Puerto Rico's political situation has caused a gradual loss of its identity and culture.

“They want to take away the river and also the beach.

They want my neighborhood and they want grandma gone

No, don't let go of the flag and don't forget the lelolai

I don't want them to do to you what they did to Hawaii”

Bad Bunny, Lo que le pasó a Hawaii, 2025

Bibliography - American colonialism in Puerto Rico.pdf

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[1] Karla Cecilia Macías Chávez, "The neocolonialism of our days: the perspective of Leopoldo Zea", Philosophical University 32, no. 65 (December 2015): 81-106, https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.uph32-65.ncplz.

[2] Karla Cecilia Macías Chávez, "The neocolonialism of our days: the perspective of Leopoldo Zea", Philosophical University 32, no. 65 (December 2015): 81-106, https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.uph32-65.ncplz.

[3] Argeo Quinones and Ian Seda-Irizarry, “The Political Economy of Contemporary Puerto Rico,” in (Post)colonialism put to the test: Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in comparative perspective, Editorial Gedisa (Mexico), accessed March 29, 2025, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354046991_La_Economia_Politica_del_Puerto_Rico_Contemporaneo. 

[4] « Puerto Rico GDP | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) », see March 29, 2025, https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/pib-de-puerto-rico.

[5] Juan Castaner, “The gap between the GNP and GDP of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic”, 2022, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371948872_La_Brecha_Entre_el_PNB_y_PIB_de_Puerto_Rico_y_Republica_Dominicana.

[6] Argeo Quinones and Ian Seda-Irizarry, “The Political Economy of Contemporary Puerto Rico,” in (Post)colonialism put to the test: Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in comparative perspective, Editorial Gedisa (Mexico), accessed March 29, 2025, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354046991_La_Economia_Politica_del_Puerto_Rico_Contemporaneo. 

[7] Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus, “Gentrification”, Language and society, No. HS1 (September 23, 2021): 151-54, https://shs.cairn.info/revue-langage-et-societe-2021-HS1-page-151?lang=fr. 

[8] Marinilda Rivera Díaz, “Neoliberalism, colonialism and the right to mental health of children in Puerto Rico”, Social science review 28 (January 1, 2015): 58-73, https://revistas.upr.edu/index.php/rcs/article/view/5057.

[9] “Puerto Rico: US colonialism causes emotional damage to population, psychologists say | UN News”, United Nations, June 20, 2024, https://news.un.org/es/story/2024/06/1530691.