- published: 21 May 2016
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Puerto Rico (/ˌpɔrtə ˈriːkoʊ/ or /ˌpwɛərtə ˈriːkoʊ/), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, [esˈtaðo ˈlibɾe asoˈsjaðo ðe ˈpweɾto ˈriko]—literally, "Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"), is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Puerto Rico (Spanish for "rich port") comprises an archipelago that includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands, the largest of which are Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest by land area of the Greater Antilles. However, it ranks third in population amongst that group of four islands, which also include Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Jamaica. Due to its location, Puerto Rico enjoys a tropical climate and also experiences the Atlantic hurricane season.
Originally populated for centuries by indigenous aboriginal peoples known as Taínos, the island was claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain during his second voyage to the Americas on November 19, 1493. Under Spanish rule, the island was colonized and the indigenous population was forced into slavery and nearly wiped out due to, among other things, European infectious diseases. The remaining population was emancipated by King Charles I in 1520. Spain possessed Puerto Rico for over 400 years, despite attempts at capture of the island by the French, Dutch, and British. The Spanish Crown, in an attempt to keep Puerto Rico from gaining its independence, revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. The decree was printed in three languages — Spanish, English and French — and it fostered the immigration of hundreds of non-Spanish European families.
Lupita's ‘gonna weave a path to the land up north
‘Gonna find her way through the thick of it all
Looking at the lights dancing in the sky
Hoping for a fallen star
“Me consuelo viendo estrellas bailando en el puerto”
Brought them gold from the country to help cure their illness
But they landed with only one purpose for conquest
Though there's still this wave of unsettling hunger that never disappears
Rigo working one, two, three different jobs
And when he comes back home he welds into the night
Builds an air balloon for his pickup truck
‘Gonna fly up and over the wall
If everything stays exactly the same
Then nothing can move and nothing can change
“Me siento ese pájaro que danza sobre el puerto”
Carried ships from the sea up over the mountains
The warriors fell to their knees by the invisible virus
And still you can feel this wave of unsettling anger that never disappears
She's talking on the phone in the heart of town
To her Bachata Mama in the heart of the world
Saying “please come back to Santo Domingo
Why you gotta be so far away”
If everyone stays exactly the same
Then no one can move and no one can change
“Amo ver la Luna vacilando en el puerto”
No one fortelling the depth and type of destruction
Nor the sadness trapped on the tongue of Malinche
Quetzalcoatl feathers strewn out over the altar
Blood running down the pyramid steps in the morning
Codices lost to a language that's been broken
There's this growing sense of impending anger that never disappears