Is puerto rico in north america: Where is Puerto Rico Located?
Is Puerto Rico Part of Latin America
The term “Latin America” means different things to different people. “Americans” understanding of this term is based mostly on stereotypes rather than facts. Many “Americans” imagine some poor “3rd World” improvised nation where the locals take siestas while wearing some oversized brimmed hat.
Even many analysts and “experts” erroneously define Latin America as encompassing all the countries south of the United States, including the English, French, and Dutch-speaking countries, plus the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Map of the traditional 20 countries of Latin America
Is Puerto Rico part of Latin America?
Puerto Rico is excluded from Latin America as it has never been independent (commonwealth of USA) and doesn’t share the key characteristics, such as post-independence timing, geopolitics, or liberated bureaucratic organization.
Traditional Latin America
Historically, Latin America was limited to 20 countries (see the above map):
The 10 Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of South America
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
The 6 Spanish speaking countries of Central America (Belize speaks English)
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua
Mexico
Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean region
Shared History: Latin America
Geographers and geopolitical historians define Latin America as a group of nations that share 5 core traits:
downtown Old San Juan – Puerto Rico
Geographical: Puerto Rico & Latin America
While the vast majority of Central and South America is considered to be part of Latin America – minus the three “Guianas” and Belize.
The Caribbean region has traditionally not been associated with Latin America – minus Cuba and the island of Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti share this island).
Map of the Caribbean
The Caribbean has over 700 islands, 26 of which are independent nations – 30 are territories, including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies – with Puerto Rico being one of these 30.
This region, which includes famous tropical islands, such as Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guadeloupe, and Montserrat has never been associated with Latin America. Geographically speaking, Puerto Rico is near the Dominican Republic, however, the Caribbean as a whole is not typically associated with Latin America.
Latin America & timing of post-independence
The standard 20 countries of Latin America all gained their independence within decades of each other:
17 of these 20 countries gained their independence within 15 years of each other (Panama is more complex, but fits this timeline).
Haiti was the first to gain independence, only 6 years before the 15 year run of independence.
Puerto Rico, as of 2021, is still a U.S. territory and is NOT an independent nation.
Furthermore, Puerto Ricans, since 1917, have United State citizenship and are free to work and live on the mainland or travel to/from without restriction.
Capital building in San Juan – Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico & Oldest Colony
The title of the oldest colony in the world belongs to Puerto Rico. Christoper Columbus became the first European to land in PR in 1493, remaining under Spanish rule until becoming an unincorporated territory of the United States in 1898.
Historically, Puerto Rico was never considered part of Latin America because it was and remains to this day as part of the United States and is not an independent nation.
Puerto Ricans by birth is granted U.S. citizenship and can freely travel and work in any of the 50 states.
The 20 original countries that makeup Latin America are all independent nations, therefore excluding Puerto Rico from the shared experiences of self-government.
Linguistic: Puerto Rico & Latin America
Since Puerto Rico was colonized by Spain in 1493, the Arawakan language of the native Taínos was replaced by Spanish. Even though Puerto Rico wasn’t to become a U.S. territory until 1898, Puerto Rico was trading and conducting business with the U.S. mainland since the 17th century.
In 1902, the Official Languages Act was instituted, which declared that in all governmental departments, courts, and public offices, English was to be regarded as co-official language along with Spanish.
Puerto Rico has two official languages:
English
Spanish
While Spanish is the majority language on the island, English is spoken as a second language by over 50% of the island’s residents and is the dominant language in the professional workplace.
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Sources & References
Pousada, Alicia & Alicia,.
(1999). The singularly strange story of the English language in Puerto Rico. Milenio. vol. 3. pp.33-61.Suárez, Sandra L. “Does English Rule? Language Instruction and Economic Strategies in Singapore, Ireland, and Puerto Rico.” Comparative Politics, vol. 37, no. 4, 1 July 2005, p. 459, 10.2307/20072904.
(1999). The singularly strange story of the English language in Puerto Rico. Milenio. vol. 3. pp.33-61.Puertorriqueños de Estados Unidos: Identity, Arts, and Culture
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean. Puerto Rican migration to the mainland United States has largely been driven by economic necessity, whether of individuals’ needs to earn more to support themselves and their families, or large scale economic events such as the Great Depression and other economic downturns. Natural disasters such as hurricanes have also played a role. Puerto Ricans who work in the U.S. often go back and forth to the island as their career allows and may have homes in both places. Puerto Ricans who live on the mainland retain strong connections to their island and generally have a desire to preserve their cultural traditions wherever they may live.
The American Folklife Center has many collections documenting Puerto Rican culture. This blog will showcase event videos and collection items available online featuring Puerto Rican arts and culture among those who live or work on the mainland.
In 2013 Elena Martínez presented a lecture on her research on the strong sense of identity of Puerto Ricans in New York City. She also follows the history of Puerto Ricans’ migration to New York. As is evident in her presentation, Puerto Rican culture has many influences, from its Spanish history, its indigenous Arawakan or Taino roots, the traditions brought to Puerto Rico by Africans, Puerto Ricans’ interactions with other Caribbean island cultures, influences from South and Central America and Mexico, and the many influences of ethnic groups in the continental United States. Her title is a reference to a poem, “Boricua en la Luna,” a poem by Juan Antonio Corretjer (1908-1985).
During the Great Depression Puerto Rico suffered an even worse economic crisis than other parts of the United States and many Puerto Ricans migrated to the mainland to find work and help support their families in Puerto Rico.
Sidney Roberson Cowell documented Puerto Rican singers as part of the WPA California Folk Music Project. Aurora Calderon, Elinor Rodriguez, and Cruz Losada, all migrants to California, sang songs from their heritage. In the player below you can listen to Elinor Rodriguez singing a sad song about the Great Depression in Puerto Rico “Bolero Sentimental.” Other examples include Cruz Losada singing a dance song, “La Pajaro Pinta” (The gay bird), which is also used as a children’s song, and the patriotic song, “La Tierruca,”performed by Aurora Calderon. More examples of songs as well as photographs of the singers can be found at this link.
Aurora Calderon, Elinor Rodriguez, and Cruz Losada. WPA California Folk Music Collection. Sidney Robertson Cowell, collector, 1939. Library of Congress
The cuatro is a Spanish-Caribbean instrument related to the Spanish guitar that is strongly identified with Puerto Rican music. A folk instrument, the cuatro varies in size and in the way it is strung.
Although it was called the “cuatro” because the original instrument had four strings, later a fifth string was added. Today there are six and eight string cuatros as well. In addition they may have single strings like a guitar, or doubled strings like a mandolin. The cuatro is officially a national instrument of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and celebrated on November 17, el día del Cuatro y del Cuatrista Puertorriqueño. In Working in Paterson, a field project of the American Folklife Center, Manuel Rodriguez describes for Tom Carroll how his cuatro was made: “My Cuatro was made out of a wood called Palo Santo.” He also tells a story of a man who had a cuatro but did not play it, and what happened when they met: “You like to have a cuatro in your house because it is something you have to have in a Puerto Rican home.”
The Chicago Ethnic Arts Project survey was conducted in 1977 by the American Folklife Center at the request of the Illinois Arts Council to assess and document the status of ethnic art traditions in more than twenty ethnic communities in Chicago.
It includes documentation of Puerto Rican music and events in 1977. Recordings of performances at El Romance Club include Los Amantes performing dance music, showcasing a performer playing a small electrified cuatro that appears to have six strings. Part one of the field recording of Los Amantes can be heard using the player below the photograph of the group, and part 2 is also available at this link.
Los Amantes at El Romance Club, Chicago, Illinois, 1977. Photo by Jonas Dovydenas. Chicago Ethnic Arts Project, Library of Congress.
The Lowell Folklife Project includes documentation of the Puerto Rican Festival in 1987 with recordings of several musical groups (information on the content of these recordings may be found on folklorist Tom Rankin’s recording logs at this link). The documentation includes recordings of a well known singer and cuatro player, Johnny Albino (1919-2011). He got his start in music playing for fellow service personnel in the U.S. Army during WWII. After the war his music took him to the mainland U.
S. where he toured extensively as part of the group Los Panchos. Although his career led him to live and travel on the mainland, he always considered Puerto Rico his home. In this performance he is billed as Johnny Albino y su conjunto from Puerto Rico.
Johnny Albino y su conjunto from Puerto Rico at the Puerto Rican festival, Lowell, MA. Lowell Folklife Project Collection, Library of Congress. Photo by Tom Rankin, 1987.
Here is a recording of Johnny Albino playing cuatro with his band. This is the second of two recordings of the group. Although this includes traditional style music played on the cuatro, not all the music is Puerto Rican. At about 20:30 minutes into the recording the group performs the traditional Mexican song, “La Bamba,” made famous by Ritchie Valens. The song has become an anthem for Hispanic Americans. If you want to hear more music from this group, find the first recording of Johnny Albino and his trio at this link.
Another master of the cuatro, Gabriel Muñoz from New Jersey, performed at the Library of Congress in 2016 as part of the group Gabriel Muñoz and Melodias Borinqueñas.
Gabriel Muñoz was also interviewed by folklorist Stephen Winick. In this blog in Folklife Today, Winick presents both the concert video and the interview: “Homegrown Plus: Gabriel Muñoz and Melodias Borinqueñas” The cuatro Muñoz plays has the pear-shaped body that is most characteristic of the Puerto Rican cuatro. It is strung with double strings so that it has a mandolin-like sound.
Gabriel Muñoz at the Library of Congress. Photo by Stephen Winick, Library of Congress.
This concludes this tour of some collections of Puerto Rican arts and music from the mainland in American Folklife Center collections. More information can be found in the new guide American Folklife Center Collections: Puerto Rico. If you wish to explore Puerto Rican arts represented in other special collections of the Library of Congress, the PALABRA Archive has excellent recordings of Puerto Rican authors reading their poetry and fiction. As Elena Martínez explained in her talk in the video above, poetry and literature are important ways that Puerto Ricans express their cultural identity.
In this example, Esmeralda Santiago explains “How to eat a guava,” and what the tastes and smells of Puerto Rico mean to her. Find more examples of Puerto Rican authors reading their work at this link.
Resources
American Folklife Center Collections: Puerto Rico (finding aid)
Martínez, Elena, ” I’d Still be Puerto Rican, Even if Born on the Moon: Documenting Puerto Rican Migration & Community through the Arts,” 2013 (video) Library of Congress
Martínez, Elena, “I’d Still Be Puerto Rican, Even if Born on the Moon Documenting Puerto Rican Migration and Community Through the Arts,” 2013 (PDF, essay)
Search for audio recordings of Puerto Rican authors and poets reading from their work, Library of Congress PALABRA Archive
Winick, Stephen, “Homegrown Plus: Gabriel Muñoz and Melodias Borinqueñas,” Folklife Today, November 23, 2018d
90,000 Puerto Rico referendum bill approved in Congress 90,001
Worldwide
Global Look Press / Erik Mcgregor / ZUMAPRESS.
com
Washington Dec. 15. The Democratic Party has submitted a bill to hold a referendum on changing the status of the island territory to the US House of Representatives.
The Democratic Party was able to pass a referendum bill through the House of Representatives on three possible futures for Puerto Rico. The island’s status document lays out the conditions for a mandatory vote on three options: full independence, statehood, or sovereignty with formal association with the United States, similar to the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. nine0005
US Democratic Party spokesman Raul Grijalva, who sponsored the bill, said whether the measure gets a vote in the Senate or not, it will still set “an important historical precedent” for Puerto Rico.
The referendum bill passed in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives by a vote of 233 to 219. The referendum was strongly opposed by Republicans, who believe that the bill diverts attention from more important funding bills and does not provide for a status quo after the referendum.
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However, it is unlikely that the US Senate will pass the Puerto Rico bill this month. The new composition of Congress, in which the majority will be representatives of the Republican Party, will be able to withdraw the project.
Puerto Rico became a US territory in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. 3.3 million inhabitants of the Caribbean island are US citizens, but cannot vote in elections to Congress and participate in the election of the country’s president due to the lack of statehood. For decades, activists have been trying to change the status of the island, but to no avail: any local referenda had no legal force. Only the US Congress can grant statehood. nine0005
A referendum could solve the island’s energy crisis. Puerto Rico is experiencing a severe shortage of gasoline. Fuel suppliers do not want to bring it to the island due to low liquidity. Full state status will allow Puerto Rico to receive federal assistance for the purchase of fuel. In this regard, the island has been trying to actively lobby for the idea of changing its legal status for the last 5 years.
In January 2022, the US government adopted a plan to restructure the island’s debt. The decision ended a five-year lawsuit that concerned Puerto Rico’s financial situation. In May 2017, the island’s government filed for bankruptcy protection. Its $135 billion commitment included over $55 billion in underfunded pension liabilities. nine0005
However, the inhabitants of the island were not satisfied with the agreement between the US government and the local administration. The Puerto Rico Budgetary Control and Management Commission, which was headed by former Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko, failed to secure the requested salary increase for civil servants, prompting protests from teachers. Previously, more than half of the Puerto Rico policemen participated in the strike against the actions of the head of the commission. Mass demonstrations led to a shortage of law enforcement officers in several municipalities of the island at once, which is why a state of emergency was declared there.