On July 25th, 1898, following 400 years of Spanish rule, US troops invaded the island [of Puerto Rico]. At the end of the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded Puerto Rico and other territories to the United States.Over a century later, Puerto Rico is still a US territory. Puerto Ricans have had US citizenship since 1917, but residents of the island cannot vote for President and lack voting representation in the US Congress. Debate continues over Puerto Rico's political independence and US military and corporate presence on the island.
Puerto Ricans currently make up about 2.5% of the US population, and after multiple waves of migration over the past two centuries, the continental population is now larger than the population on the island itself.
What they say
must be true:
I am smart,
but I have a bad attitude.
- Martin Espada
Check out the entire radio program; an interview by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez with poet Martin Espada and his father, Frank Espada, by clicking on the post title above.
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