The Caribbean countries have been in the centre of colonial interest of the capitalist countries of the world in the recent past. Globalization in particular has led to the birth and expansion of neo-colonialism. Puerto Rico forms the most significant example of this movement. First, it was a colony of Spain for about 4 centuries. However, through war, the country managed to kick out their colonial masters in 1898. Thereafter, the United States, a modern colonial master was obtained. As a consequence, struggle for independence and nationalism of the country has been frustrated by the hegemonic power created by the United States. Further, the economy of the country has been extremely downtrodden and this forms the focus of the paper.
On 3rd May 2017, Puerto Rico was officially declared the largest bankrupt nation by the public bond market of the United States. As stated by Gonzalez (2017), the economy of the country has reached a breaking point with a debt of $123 billion owed by the government and public corporations to the bondholders. This is ironical for a country that has been dubbed by many as a perfect tourist destination. The poverty level in the country …show more content…
During the 19th century in particular, Simón Bolivar assisted the country to champion for liberation. However, as soon as Puerto Ricans defeated the Spanish, Americans through their foreign policies attacked their former colonial masters. Puerto Rico thus became the largest overseas territorial possession for the United States. In addition, this was in tandem with the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 in which president James Monroe set out to echo the ideas of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson that stated that America should increase its association with the Caribbean countries and limit the association with capitalist European countries such as Spain. The two had a relationship, but the relationship only favored the United