Although a few bills have been introduced in Congress over the past 125 years seeking independence for Puerto Rico, almost all of these bills died fairly soon after they were introduced and received scant support from Puerto Ricans.
U.S. presidents for their part have briefly explored the idea of Puerto Rico independence, but any attempts to proceed along this path were short lived, ill-informed, often clumsy, and quickly rebuffed by Puerto Ricans.
President Roosevelt and Puerto Rico
The Tydings Bill of 1936 may have been the most serious proposal to end the current U.S.-Puerto Rico relationship by creating a new country of Puerto Rico, though its intention was clearly for the United States to divest itself of Puerto Rico, not for Puerto Rico to gain independence.
The New York Times explained that the bill had the support of the Roosevelt administration, but that its introduction “came as a surprise.”
“Apparently every effort was made to draft the bill quietly, and even administration officials closely in touch with Puerto Rican affairs had not seen the measure until Mr. Tydings introduced it,” reported the Times.
Senator Millard E. Tydings (D-MD), Chair of the Committee of Territories and Insular Affairs Committee, noted that “he did not write the bill himself and that it would doubtless need revision in committee.”
Luis Muñoz Marin, a future Governor of Puerto Rico serving in the Puerto Rican Senate at the time, rejected the proposal, predicting that it would “totally lack the support of the Puerto Rican people.”
“Under the bill introduced,” he said, “[i]ndependence plays the role of a victim in a hold-up.”
A Long History of Puerto Rico Independence Bills in Congress: No U.S. Citizenship
Did Eisenhower Offer Independence?
In 1953, at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly at which the U.N. agreed that Puerto Rico should no longer be considered a colony, Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge read a statement in which he explained that he was “authorized to say on behalf of the President [of the United States] that if at any time the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico adopts a resolution in favor of more complete or even absolute independence, he will immediately thereafter recommend to Congress that such independence be granted.”
Ambassador Cabot Lodge’s statement implicitly recognized that no such a resolution had been introduced at that time and the limits of Presidential power. The statement acknowledged that it is Congress that holds the reins when it comes to Puerto Rico’s status.
It is also worthwhile to note that the Ambassador’s audience was not the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly. He was instead speaking to a critical international audience during the Cold War, perhaps to deflect negative attention. There was no direct offer of independence to the officials who could have claimed it.
The Evolution of the “Commonwealth” Label During the Cold War
The Ambassador did not offer independence to Puerto Rico as much as punt to Congress with a promise to acquiesce to congressional actions if: (1) the people of Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly ever requested independence, and then (2) Congress followed suit.
Did Puerto Rico respond?
The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico never responded to Ambassador Cabot Lodge by requesting independence, although a few decades later the legislature requested statehood.
Puerto Rican Legislature Calls on Congress to Act
Independence has been an option on six of the seven political status referenda held in Puerto Rico, and it has always lost. Just over 10% voted for independence in 2024, and the separatists celebrated because that was a much larger number than have ever before chosen this option. Yet the 11% support is still a very small proportion of the votes, and it may have even been inflated due to uncertainty over the ultimate fate of current U.S. citizenship in an independent Puerto Rico.
What Will Happen to U.S. Citizenship in a New Nation of Puerto Rico? The Word from Washington
Although Eisenhower’s U.N. Ambassador suggested that the president would agree to independence for Puerto Rico, several subsequent presidents, including Reagan, Ford, and Biden, expressed direct support for Puerto Rico statehood. Since it is Congress, not the President of the United States, who can admit states, these statements of support were nonetheless not formal offers of statehood, just as the Ambassador Cabot Lodge’s statement was not a credible official Eisenhower offer of independence to Puerto Rico.
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