COMMENTARY

Puerto Ricans marked 100 years of U.S. citizenship on Thursday.

On March 2, 1917, on the eve of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson declared Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens — and about 20,000 of them suddenly became eligible for the draft. Nineteen years earlier, the island had been ceded to the United States from Spain after the Spanish-American War.

On the 100th anniversary of citizenship, there’s still vigorous debate over Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States: Should the island keep its current commonwealth status, should it continue a push for statehood, or should it seek independence?

Under its commonwealth status, Puerto Ricans travel freely to the mainland. Florida, for example, counts more than 1 million Puerto Ricans as residents, with the largest concentration in Central Florida. Yet residents of the island have no voting representation in Congress; they also can’t vote for president.

Puerto Rico has some degree of self-governance, but not like the 50 states. Many Puerto Ricans find this vexing — especially now, as Congress exercises federal oversight to deal with the island’s fiscal crisis.

In June, a new referendum on Puerto Rico’s status has been scheduled by Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, whose party favors statehood.

What’s best for Puerto Rico: continued commonwealth status, statehood or independence?

To help sort out the island’s future for the Front Burner, we turned to two prominent Central Floridians. Tony Suarez, president of the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Florida, lays out the benefits of statehood. Phillip Arroyo, a graduating student at the Florida A&M University College of Law who is active in the Puerto Rican community, makes the case for independence.