For years, advocates of Puerto Rico’s statehood have claimed that “the people have spoken,” with Puerto Ricans decisively choosing to become the 51st state of the United States. This supposed “mandate” is the basis for numerous press releases, congressional letters, and lobbying efforts. However, when the numbers are honestly reviewed and seen in a “big picture” perspective, the myth falls apart.

Far from having majority support, the statehood movement has gradually lost ground. Over the past decade, its electoral base has shrunk, its credibility has been damaged by manipulation, and its moral authority has been undermined by corruption and fraud. The truth is simple: there is no mandate for statehood. There never was.

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The Numbers Don’t Lie

Puerto Rico’s 2024 plebiscite reveals a misleading impression. Of the 3.3 million residents, merely 620,782 voted for statehood. This accounts for only 47.7% of voters and just 20% of the entire population. If only 20% of all Puerto Ricans favor statehood, how can it be called a mandate?

In 2012, 61% of voters supported statehood. Over the following twelve years, the movement’s support dropped by more than 213,000 votes. Meanwhile, approval for sovereignty options—such as independence and free association—and blank protest ballots increased to 52.3%. This trend indicates political decline, not progress.

These figures show a clear trend: statehood is losing support, while pro-sovereignty sentiment—especially among professionals, young people, and Puerto Ricans abroad—is gaining ground.

The Machinery of Control

Behind the mandate illusion lies the New Progressive Party (PNP)—Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood political machine. For decades, the PNP has relied on propaganda, patronage, corruption, and electoral manipulation to stay in power.

In a very anti-democratic move, the PNP took over and oversees the island’s electoral commission, giving it the power to alter rules, adjust ballots, and prevent oversight. It has amended electoral laws to weaken opposition coalitions, banned electoral alliances that might challenge it, and exploited “special voting categories”—such as mail-in, early, home-bound, and prison ballots—that it can manipulate with ease.

Reports, videos, and testimonies from recent elections reveal troubling irregularities: deceased individuals “voting,” bedridden elderly being coerced by party operatives, and ballots appearing unexpectedly after polls closed. Despite this evidence, PNP-affiliated judges consistently dismiss complaints, maintaining a pattern of impunity. It is an old colonial narrative presented with contemporary strategies—a ruling elite sustaining power through corruption and manipulation while professing to represent “the people.”

Follow the Money

Why does the PNP cling to this illusion so stubbornly? Because for them, statehood equals money—not unity, not equality, not assimilation, but billions of dollars in new federal funds to profit from, entrench dependency and poverty, and skim off in government contracts to friends, lobbyists, and party loyalists.

The party’s slogan, “Statehood is for the poor,” reveals its true strategy. It promises more federal benefits, bigger food aid checks, and additional welfare programs, rather than the civic duties or cultural unity that real statehood involves.

Currently, about 1.2 million Puerto Ricans—roughly 40% of the island’s population—depend on the federal Nutritional Assistance Program (PAN). Instead of encouraging economic independence and prosperity, the PNP promotes greater dependency.

Why?

More poverty equals more people who need to depend on federal funds and handouts, and when these folks go to vote, the PNP reminds them, “Vote for statehood so you can get more American money.” Their argument is straightforward: join the Union, and Washington will provide more financial support on the backs of American taxpayers.

In a true democracy, political legitimacy relies on informed and voluntary consent. Puerto Rico lacks this. Most of its residents oppose statehood, but the same small elite continues to hold power through a political system they designed to maintain it. Contradictions persist even within the PNP. Leaders advocate for statehood in English on Capitol Hill but run campaigns in Spanish on the island, promising “more benefits” and “less federal control.”

Privately, they concede that Puerto Ricans will never fully assimilate—English will remain a second language, and American “patriotism” a foreign sentiment. Calling this a movement for equality insults American common sense.

A Threat to the American Republic

For the United States, admitting Puerto Rico as a state would fundamentally change the nation. It would bring a Spanish-speaking Latin American country into the Union during a time when Americans are already debating identity, culture, and unity.

Puerto Rico would become a bilingual, bicultural welfare state heavily reliant on federal funding and led by politicians opposing assimilation. It would gain two senators and five representatives in Congress, significantly shifting the political landscape despite contributing minimal federal revenue.

The issue isn’t partisan but structural. Granting statehood could transform a unified federal republic into a multinational confederation with different languages, flags, and loyalties. This is contrary to the Founders’ vision. The U.S. fought a civil war to maintain national unity and should not willingly dismantle it.

The Illusion of “Equality”

Proponents often frame statehood as a civil rights issue, comparing it to the fight against segregation. However, the analogy breaks down upon closer look. Civil rights are about citizens seeking equality within their own country. Puerto Rican statehooders are not requesting equality inside their nation—they are working to join another foreign nation. In any other country, such people would be called traitors; yet in Puerto Rico’s colonial regime, these people are in charge.

The Rise of Sovereignty

While the PNP weakens, the movement for Puerto Rican sovereignty—whether independence or free association—is growing stronger than ever. Once persecuted, jailed, and criminalized for their beliefs, pro-independence and sovereignty leaders are now respected as intellectuals, economists, and public figures, in Puerto Rico and in Washington, DC. The movement has become more pragmatic than ideological: it aims for mutual benefits for both nations.

Pro-sovereignty economists and planners already have a national transition plan that would sustain U.S.-Puerto Rico trade, secure defense collaborations, and uphold fiscal stability. Independence does not mean isolating oneself; it signifies a partnership built on dignity.

Under sovereignty, Puerto Rico would negotiate with Washington as an equal, building a mutually beneficial partnership rather than submitting to colonial subordination. This approach would lessen the ongoing financial burden on American taxpayers while securing U.S. interests in the Caribbean.

The Responsible Path Forward

The responsible course for both nations is to initiate an organized transition toward sovereignty. The White House already has a draft Executive Order that would start Puerto Rico’s shift to independence. A federally supervised referendum could give Puerto Ricans the chance to choose between two honorable and viable options—independence or free association—under transparent, fair conditions. All those Puerto Ricans who wish to live in a U.S. state and pay federal taxes can always move to one of the fifty states and finally live side-by-side with their “fellow Americans.”

This path would ultimately mark the end of a century of colonial hypocrisy and enable the United States to demonstrate global leadership in advocating for freedom and self-determination. It would uphold American principles rather than betray them. No American should support annexing a nation that refuses assimilation.

There is no mandate for statehood. Even the Government Accountability Office (GAO) states in its 2014 report that statehood would destroy the Puerto Rican economy and negatively impact the United States. The numbers, the laws, and the culture all lead to the same conclusion: Puerto Rico does not want, and cannot sustain, statehood. Sovereignty is the only viable option for both nations. The myth of statehood must end. The era of Puerto Rican freedom must begin.

Javier A. Hernández is a Puerto Rican author, linguist, educator, former federal official, and pro-sovereignty advocate. He is the author of PREXIT: Forging Puerto Rico’s Path to Sovereignty, The Patriotic History of Puerto Rico for Young Readers, and Puerto Rico: The Economic Case for Sovereignty.

Contact: https://linktr.ee/javierahernandez