Leid Stories - Statehood for Puerto Rico? - 11/12/12

In a referendum that coincided with U.S. general elections, Puerto Ricans strongly favored changing their island's status as a commonwealth to becoming America's 51st state.  The issue is among a list of high-priority items on the Latino political agenda, now reinforced by a strong showing at the polls by Latino voters that proved pivotal to the re-election of President Obama and his Democratic administration. Dr. Carlos Vargas-Ramos, a researcher at the Manhattan-based Center for Puerto Rican Studies, assesses the impact of the referendum in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican Diaspora, and its legislative fate in a lame-duck, tumultuous U.S. Congress.