Will Puerto Rico become the 51st US state?
AGENDA 21 RADIO
BY BOSTON GLOBE
SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico’s governor announced that the US territory has overwhelmingly chosen statehood in a nonbinding referendum Sunday held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the US mainland.
With nearly all precincts reporting, 97 percent of the ballots cast were in favor of statehood. Nearly half a million votes were for statehood, more than 7,600 for free association/independence, and 6,700 for current territorial status.
The turnout was just 23 percent with roughly 2.26 million registered voters, leading opponents to question the validity of a vote that several parties had boycotted.
‘‘From today going forward, the federal government will no longer be able to ignore the voice of the majority of the American citizens in Puerto Rico,’’ Governor Ricardo Rossello said, announcing the victory.
