Breve historia de Puerto Rico

Summary:

Located in the West Indies, in the Northeast Caribbean, Puerto Rico is an archipelago made up of 140 islands, and currently an unincorporated territory of the United States under the designation of commonwealth. The country’s geographical location has marked its history for the past five centuries, standing out for its geopolitical importance. Puerto Rico’s territory has been coveted by several imperial powers since the 16^th century until the contemporary period and was known by the Spanish colonizers as the "key of the Indies", or as the "Malta of the Caribbean" by the North American, and even today it is considered "the world’s oldest colony". This book focuses on Puerto Rico’s contemporary history, from 1800 until today. In the 19^th century, after four centuries under the sovereignty of the Spanish Crown, the country experienced the awakening of its political consciousness and successive fights to achieve its political autonomy. The country achieves a self-government in 1897, but its desire of freedom and independence gets frustrated as a result of the US invasion and colonization in 1898, in the context of the Hispano-American war. The country, marked by its history of colonial subordination during the 19^th and 20^th centuries and without being affected, unlike other nations, by the waves of decolonization, goes through several strains regarding its identity and political, economic, social, and cultural autonomy in the 19^th century.