"What are the possible solutions to Puerto Rico's status dilemma?"

Both U.S. and international law recognize three status options as valid decolonization alternatives:

Statehood: Admission into the union on an equal footing with the other states.

Independence: Full and separate sovereignty.

Free Association: Separate sovereignty and independence, with a treaty where Puerto Rico would delegate certain powers to the U.S. (such as responsibility over defense matters). Each nation, however, would retain its own nationality and citizenship.

Contrary to these three status options, Puerto Rico's current status- territorial commonwealth - does not fulfill the requirements of decolonization. Under the status quo, 3.8 million U.S. citizens are denied the basic right of democratic representation.