Puerto Rico Democracy Act - Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2010 - Key Issues Before Congress - Meaning of "Sovereignty in Association With The United States"

Meaning of "Sovereignty in Association With The United States"

The first and third status options in the second plebiscite – independence and statehood, respectively – are straightforward. The second option, however, uses terminology that is not widely recognized in discussions of political status. It proposes: "Sovereignty in Association with the United States: Puerto Rico and the United States should form a political association between sovereign nations that will not be subject to the Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution."

“Sovereignty in association with the United States” is not a term of art typically used in status discussions. The proposed ballot language suggests that Puerto Rico would become an independent nation but maintain a close relationship with the U.S., perhaps akin to a concept known as “free association.” Free association generally implies negotiated legal, economic, or defense ties between two independent nations. Three former territories – the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau – are currently engaged in free association with the United States. (Following World War II, the U.S. administered all three of those territories on behalf of the United Nations, although they were never U.S. territories per se but United Nations Trust Territories.) Based on current compact agreements with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau, the U.S. provides those countries with defense protection and various forms of economic aid. If the “sovereign association” language proposed in H.R. 2499 is viewed as something akin to free association, the future relationship between the U.S. and an independent Puerto Rico could resemble the current relationships between the United States and the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.

“Sovereignty in association with the United States” might also be interpreted to mean so-called “enhanced commonwealth,” an option that is not a particular territorial status or official term, but which has been a component of previous popular status debates. Generally, “enhanced commonwealth” suggests a relationship that is, essentially, something between territorial status and statehood. Recent presidential task force reports have concluded that such an option would be unconstitutional because land under United States sovereignty must either be a State or a territory, but some in Puerto Rico maintain that such a political status could be negotiated between Puerto Rico and the U.S. These are two possible interpretations of option No. 2 in the second plebiscite and, in the absence of additional information, the precise meaning of the option is unclear.