Puerto Rico was taken over from the rule of Spain by the United States by the function of the Treaty of Paris of 1898. The agreement ensured to indicate the termination of the Spanish Empire while giving the rights of ownership of areas of Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States (Berbusse, 2017). An analysis of the developments shows that by the function of the treaty, Puerto Rico came into a situation of direct colonization of the United States. Undeniably, the action of the United States of taking over Puerto Rico as a colony implied the Violation of the rights of the people to independence. Over the years, however, and with the tremendous developments of globalization, the government of the United States has engaged some mechanisms or schemes of chicanery that tend to mislead the Puerto Rican people to make them think that they are part of the United States and not a mere colony. A main mechanism of the United States is the use of soft power by means of establishment of federal laws that extend to function in Puerto Rico and supposedly serve to enhance the situations of lives of Puerto Ricans. Such actions are not only unlawful by functions of the constitution of the United States but also serve to mislead the people from comprehending the realities of their colonization, dependency, and lack of democracy.
There is a need for analysis of the situation of the measures of the rule of the United States over Puerto Rico. Over time, the United States has been observed and referred to as the leader of the free world . The phrase is a common aspect of colloquialism that is used all around the world. By reviewing the acts of the acts of the United States of taking up and establishing control of territories, like Puerto Rico, around the world, one is compelled to ponder upon the thought that the truth is the opposite in this case and that the United States hardly promotes the existence of the free world . In fact, the United States is committed to achieving submission and control over areas of the world for purposes of serving its own interests and not those of the people in those selected areas; taking advantage of its superpower status.
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According to the CIA World Factbook, the United States, as a country, is limited to 48 contiguous states, Hawaii and Alaska. The state of Hawaii is an island in the middle regions of the Pacific Ocean while Alaska represents a land mass at the northwestern side of North America. There is also the District of Columbia, within the area of the 48 contiguous states occupying the areas of North America’s middle latitudes bordering Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. Those are the only regions that make the nation, which is officially known as the United States of America, abbreviations U.S.A or U.S, a federal republic that has only the 50 states and the District of Columbia (Central Intelligence Agency, 2018). Such implies that the federal laws of the United States are only supposed to be enacted in the mentioned areas by the function of the country’s constitution. What this means is that the actions of the United States of coming up with measures of federal law for the areas of Puerto Rico imply action that is unlawful on the international platform.
Further analysis shows that the government of the United States employs measures of strategy in its use of soft power over the colony of Puerto Rico. In reality, the developed measures of law involve targets of the provision of social services to the people of Puerto Rico (Venator-Santiago, 2015). It is clear for one to see that such measures serve to implore the people to observe the government of the United States as a beneficial entity that addresses the concerns of their lives and interests. Such initiatives also make the people fail to evaluate or be concerned about the interest of the United States in their region. Their minds are hence compelled to believe and to enjoy not only the thought of good protection but also a sense of belonging to the world’s greatest country in many capacities. In reality, however, the people are far from being free.
The action of the United States of taking over Puerto Rico ought to be observed as one that goes beyond the limits of its own law. Such is well comprehended on the grounds that it implies viability of extension of social services to any other territories of the country. Such associates with random affirmatives that the negative nature of the situation cannot be expected to explain on the basis of predictability. The resultant effect is that the United States has found itself in a position where it needs to revise its principles of policymaking. The realities of the situation also call upon the interests of stakeholders of global politics from the other regions of the world. It turns out that it is also critical for the organs of the United Nations to offer enlightenment and directions about matters of governments taking up territories or colonies in the modern age and times of independence and autonomy as important pillars of globalization. Nonetheless, a keen analysis shows that much remains to be a challenge since the United States remains to have the excessive power of control and influence over the United Nations, which has its headquarters in its city of New York.
The provision of social services by the federal government of the United State along lines of education and health services are aimed at empowering the people. Nonetheless, such seems not to be the case in the areas of Puerto Rico. Instead, the provision of the services to the people serves to make them be more dependent on the country for establishment and maintenance of social amenities. Cabán (2018) poses some theoretical and theoretical questions about the nature of dependency of Puerto Rico on the United States. Despite the of the measures of the aid of the United States for enhancement of the quality of life of the Puerto Ricans, the people developed a strong sense of antipathy to the colonial rule from as early as the beginning of the 20th Century (Berbusse, 2017). To date, a good number of Puerto Rican people continue to push for independence from the United States. Still, the government of the United State continues to dwell under the assumption that its rule of the area has gained and continues to gain adherents with the passing of time.
A measure of the law of the United States that has been extended to the areas of Puerto Rico is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). EITC is a federal financial service of the United States and needs to be applied only in the regions of the country (Tanner, & Hughes, 2013). Despite the fact that the people of Puerto Rico might find the provisions to be beneficial, it is important to note that the extension exhibits a strong sense of disregard of the law by the government of the United States. On the other hand, it promotes the manifestation of the dependency theory on the part of the Puerto Rican People. What is more is that the imposition of the laws of the United States to the people of Puerto Rico in this manner is a direct signal that the later do not enjoy any meaningful levels of democracy that exist in the other countries of the world. For further analysis of the situation, it is important to remember that financial services are completely different from social services according to the provisions of the law. From the perspective of many of the Puerto Rican people, the government of the United States is committed to the provision of financial aid to the poor people in the region, even as their social measures promote the provision of public goods. Again, they fail to evaluate and comprehend the interests of the United States in their region and that establishes a major effect of the initiatives of the colonization by the United States.
Conclusion
The area of Puerto Rico was taken up by the United States from the Spanish by the function of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which also ended the Spanish Empire. Since then, Puerto Rico has been under the rule of the government of the United States. What is appalling about the situation is that the United States practices enactment of its federal laws in Puerto Rico despite the fact that it does not fall under the jurisdiction of the United States of America. The situation has brought about the situation regarding Puerto Rico as a colony of the United States. An analysis of the mechanism of the rule of the United States over the region shows that the initiatives of colonization of the regions result in major effects on the people. Extension of social and finances services to them serves them to misguide the people of Puerto Rico in comprehending the reality of the matter. They fail to evaluate the interests of the United States in their region by the function of the so-called benefits that they are subject to by functions of developments in the laws of the leader of the free world - the United States of America.
References
Berbusse, E. J. (2017). The United States in Puerto Rico, 1898-1900 . UNC Press Books.
Cabán, P. A. (2018). Constructing a Colonial People: Puerto Rico and the United States, 1898-1932 . Abingdon-on-Thames, United Kingdom. Routledge.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). (2018). The World Factbook. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
Tanner, M. D., & Hughes, C. (2013). The Work Versus Welfare Trade-off: 2018: An Analysis of the Total Level of Welfare Benefits by State . Washington, D.C. Cato Institute.
Venator-Santiago, C. R. (2015). Puerto Rico and the Origins of US Global Empire: The Disembodied Shade . Abingdon-on-Thames, United Kingdom Routledge.
