View in FEMA Multimedia Library The United States had three native parrot species at the beginning of the 20th century. Two of those species became extinct in the 1940s. The remaining U.S. parrot is the Puerto Rican Parrot. This bird is endangered. There were more than a million in the 1800s, but a loss of… Read more »

A candidate for the Popular Democratic Party’s (PDP) 2020 gubernatorial nomination wrote the expected next chairman of the U.S. House committee with jurisdiction over PROMESA – who he calls a personal “friend” – saying that the debt reduction for all of Puerto Rico’s bond creditors ought to be the same. The PROMESA Financial Board has… Read more »

Senator-elect Mitt Romney (R-UT) joins dozens of legislators who are now on record as supporting statehood for Puerto Rico. Romney expressed his support during his 2012 presidential campaign. Then-governor Luis Fortuno quoted Romney in an interview in The Daily Caller, saying, “He [Romney] looked me straight in the eye and he told me that he… Read more »

Puerto Rico was in a tough economic position before Hurricane Maria. Former Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla had declared the territory’s enormous debt “unpayable” — the result of decades of borrowing more than the Island could hope to pay back. Nearly half the residents of Puerto Rico lived in poverty and the population was both dwindling… Read more »

Thirty-two U.S. territories have already become states. How did they do it? What is the process for a territory to become a state? The U.S. Constitution has the simple answer: New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any… Read more »

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, Speaker Paul Ryan, and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, emphasizing the need for continued support in Puerto Rico. The letter began with a reminder of the extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and a claim… Read more »

In Puerto Rico, Thanksgiving Day is observed with a lavish turkey dinner. Just as that turkey is served with different flavors and side dishes in Connecticut and Georgia, a Puerto Rican Thanksgiving includes special elements like plantains and rice with pigeon peas. But Thanksgiving is one of the few times each year when people throughout… Read more »

Over forty years ago today, in 1974, a message was sent from the observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, to … well, any life forms out in space that might be available to receive a message. A spokesperson for the observatory emphasized that it was a “symbolic” event rather than the beginning of a conversation. The… Read more »

El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico’s major newspaper, has been polling the Island population for thirty years. The most recent poll found that 25% of respondents expect to leave Puerto Rico in 2019. This percentage shows no change since the last survey, in March. The number of people planning to leave is always larger than the… Read more »

After an initial delay due to weather concerns, Hunter College’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies, “Centro”, held the second annual Puerto Rico Diaspora Summit on October 26th, 2018 at the University of the District of Columbia School of Law. The focus of the event was to gather Puerto Ricans from across the nation, of all… Read more »