It has been five years since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, and the destruction and havoc caused by Hurricane Fiona demonstrates that the ongoing crisis in Puerto Rico has not subsided. Puerto Rico’s crisis is an American crisis. There are two components of the Puerto Rico crisis: 19th century American colonialism that is still in effect and climate change.

Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, and thus, it is a colony of the United States. Puerto Rico lacks voting representatives in either the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. The colonial political relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico is unworkable in the 21st century, and antithetical to the concepts of democracy and representative government.