Título en español.

Abstract

The political relation between Puerto Rico and the United States is a permanent topic of discussion on the agenda of local public affairs. This political future consumes a large portion of the discourse of local political parties and analysts. Given the worsening in the quality of life, the status issue is a constant source of mutual recriminations. The political status discussion is loaded with insular perspectives avoiding a central question: What is the level of attention and priority given to this issue by the centers of power and public policy institutions in the United States? This is a rarely pondered question because the current asymmetry is never considered. There is a major difference of criteria by the US intelligentsia on how to approach this problem. These imperial doubts have a considerable weight regarding the resistance to change. Although it is usually argued that the territorial condition cannot be overcome because the lack of consensus in Puerto Rico, the reality is more complex and multidimensional. A traditional discussion regarding the political status that does not take into consideration how this problem is approach in the United States, both politically and scholarly, can end up encapsulated within itself.