In the US, you may receive the 51st state

In the US, you may receive the 51st state

Today, June 11, in Puerto Rico held a referendumto determine the future legal status of the island.

While Puerto Rico is a state, «associated with the United States.» Residents have a U.S. passport, they pay some American taxes, but not have all the social benefits that get Americans on the mainland.
The participants in the referendum can vote for one of three options: retain the current status of Puerto Rico joining the US as the fifty-first state and complete independence.
The last referendum on the same issue passed five years ago, but then the opinions of the inhabitants of the island were divided, and no did not gain an absolute majority.

The decision on the new referendum is dictated by the actual bankruptcy of the island, as well as the massive outflow of residents to the mainland.

A bit of history
Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean sea. When Christopher Columbus landed on the island on November 19, 1493 during his second voyage to the shores of America, the island was inhabited by Indians who called themselves Taino.
The island took the name Puerto Rico, meaning «rich port», and became a Spanish colony for almost 400 years. African slaves were imported to the island as free labor instead of the rapidly declining Indian population, forced to work for the Spanish crown. The remnants of the Indian population eventually mixed with the Spanish settlers and African slaves.
The island fell under US control in 1898 after the Spanish-American war.

Than Puerto Rico differs from the American States
Puerto Rico has its own Constitution, legislative, Executive and judicial branches of government.
Puerto Rico receives military protection of the USA and Federal funding for highways and social programs, but not as much as the States.
Residents have access to Medicare and Medicaid, but they have no right of additional social assistance for people with low income, elderly and disabled. That is, they are all programs of the Ministry of health.
Residents of Puerto Rico do not vote in the presidential elections in the United States.

What would happen if Puerto Ricans vote for it
In this case, Washington sent a delegation of local members of Parliament with a petition to Congress to approve the referendum. This requires a simple majority of both houses of the legislature and the signature of the President.
Details of the transition process to be adopted in the next years, and then Puerto Rico will become the 51st US state.

Many sociologists believe that at the referendum the majority would vote for annexation to the United States as another state. The economy of Puerto Rico is experiencing a collapse, unemployment in March 2017 amounted to 11.5% and almost 46% of the population live below the poverty line.

Moreover, in 2015 th year around the 89 thousands of Puerto Ricans moved to the mainland.

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