The island of Puerto Rico is drowning. Not in a cobalt Caribbean Sea, but in menacing layers of debt and political residue.

Of course, there is much we need to fix, much we need to mend in order to stabilize this island. Puerto Rico has been irresponsible at best with her income; not like a reckless child with new tooth-fairy money, as some may paint it, but instead resembling a loan-collecting adolescent with significant, albeit unrealistic, hopes for the future. We are a flawed island--- that is simple enough to admit; however, this does not mean Puerto Rico should be subject to oppression and humiliation.

We are oftentimes looked at as a liability, an unwelcome deadweight for one of the most developed and richest countries in the world. It is a “privilege” for us, some may believe, to even be a part of the land of opportunities in the first place.

But this is not what the United States is to us.

Our relationship with the United States is referenced in multiple terms: Commonwealth, Province, Free Associated State, Colony, Territory, the list of empty names goes on. The truth is that no one can correctly describe our status, and that is because such a definition does not exist. The official name itself “Free Associated State” seems to contradict itself three consecutive times; Are we free? Are we associated? Or are we a state? The official label of Commonwealth is used by multiple states, such as Virginia and Massachusetts, to address their own identities.

So where does this place Puerto Rico?

In some convoluted limbo between sovereignty and colonialization. In some twisted form of perpetual adolescence, where we believe that we are free enough to make our own decisions, but only to the extent that it complies with the confinements and restrictions presented by our superiors. Much like a teenager, Puerto Rico is only given artificial, superficial sovereignty.