Nationalism in Puerto Rico

In recent years, nationalism has emerged in Puerto Rico and the claims to gain more freedom and independence of the USA become more and more popular in Puerto Rico. Obviously, the development of nationalism in Puerto Rico is beneficial for certain forces, but it is obvious that Puerto Rican nationalism does not mirror interests of the majority of the population and the current position of political parties, which stand on the nationalist ground and support the idea of independence, is not dominant. At the same time, it is not only political parties that benefit from the nationalism in Puerto Rico but some local business which interested in the protection of their economic interests by the local authorities.

In actuality, it is possible to distinguish two major political parties which benefit from the nationalism in Puerto Rico. One of these parties is the Puerto Rican Independence Party. In actuality, the nationalism is vitally important for the Puerto Rican Independence Party because it risks losing its electoral franchise if it fails to gain a larger support of Puerto Ricans. In such a situation, the party tends to the radicalization of its ideology to attract the most disadvantaged groups of electorate. Another political party that benefits from the nationalism in Puerto Rico is the Popular Democratic Party which used the nationalist ideology in 1998 and attempt to exploit the nationalism to gain the larger support of voters in Puerto Rico. Finally, the local business which is focused entirely on Puerto Rican economy is also interested in the nationalism because this ideology implies the protection of local companies and business.

Thus, the emergence of the nationalism in Puerto Rico is beneficial for political forces and business which attempt to maintain their position using the local population and isolation of Puerto Rico.



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