"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.