Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World

Trías Monge, José

ISBN 10: 0300076185 / ISBN 13: 9780300076189

Published by Yale University Press, 1999

About this Item

Fast Free Shipping â Good condition. It may show normal signs of use, such as light writing, highlighting, or library markings, but all pages are intact and the book is fully readable. A solid, complete copy that's ready to enjoy.

Seller Inventory # GWV.0300076185.G

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300076185
• ISBN 13: 9780300076189
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

The island of Puerto Rico has a severely distressed economy, is one of the most densely populated places on earth, and enjoys only limited political freedom. As a United States commonwealth, it is still treated by Congress as one of the last remaining colonies in the world. In this book a distinguished Puerto Rican legal scholar and former government official discusses the island’s century-old relationship with the United States and argues that the process of decolonization should begin immediately.

José Trías Monge first describes the Spanish rule over Puerto Rico and then traces the impact of American colonial policies there, comparing them with those in the Pacific and the British, French, and Dutch experiences in the Caribbean. He argues that the large amounts of money the United States has given to Puerto Rico have not been productive: not only has the island become frightfully dependent on United States munificence but more than 60 percent of Puerto Rican families still live below the poverty line. Politically, the situation is even worse. The United States has granted Puerto Rico limited self-government but has ignored the wishes of the Puerto Rican people―as expressed in two plebiscites―for greater autonomy, since it cannot make up its mind which decolonization option best serves American interests. Trías Monge discusses the various options of Puerto Rican independence, statehood, and an enhanced commonwealth status and urges the United States to end its present policy of inattention and inaction.

About the Author

José Trías Monge was Attorney General of Puerto Rico from 1953 to 1957 and Chief Justice of Puerto Rico from 1974 to 1985.