Thanks for asking, man. This is a complicated thing. We had a "plebiscite" last fall (for the third or fourth time) and the whole thing was rigged. You see, we were instructed to vote yes or no on whether we agreed on the current status. Those that voted no were then further directed to vote for one of three options: statehood, associated but not territorial, and independence. Statehood won the second question, but a significant number of people (almost half) voted yes on the first question. So you see, this can be interpreted in many ways.
In none of the plebiscites has there been a clear majority desiring statehood. You see, we are spanish by heritage and don't want to lose that. Call us indecisive, but having lived stateside for 25+ years, it is clear that politicians are not spelling things out clearly. I heard the previous governor state that, if we were to become a state, we would not pay federal taxes because state taxes would cover the entire tax bill. We are also told that the official language would have to be english, and that our culture would have to be lost for the greater good. The true idiots argue that we can not possibly be a state because we would not be able to go to the Olympics or have a representative for Miss Universe.
Also, I don't think the US is ready for us. There is the racism thing (remember when Marc Anthony sang the Star Spangled Banner at a baseball game and everyone was asking who was that mexican singing?), and the fact that the Island is broke. Corruption is rampant. Less than half of the population is in the work force (something like 40%), and of that, 15% or so are unemployed. We even have car to car shootings, like in the movies (there was one this morning). There is "unofficial" federalization of the police (not necessarily a bad thing, but it just shows that perhaps we are a colony).
So, things are complicated, and none of the options that are presented to us are obvious.
