Puerto Rico seeks to define its relationship to US

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rican voters will once again ponder the decades-old question over the island's political future when they go to the polls Tuesday: What kind of relationship do they really want with the United States?

Do they support the status quo? Or would they prefer statehood, independence or "sovereign free association," a designation that would give the island of nearly 4 million people more autonomy?

Officially, the Caribbean island is the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a semi-autonomous extension of the U.S. mainland, its giant neighbor 1,000 miles to the northwest. But in fact it is a territory, lacking both the freedom of an independent country and some of the fundamental rights it would have if it was a U.S. state.

Aimed at resolving the 114-year-old conundrum over Puerto Rico's status, Tuesday's referendum marks the fourth time in 45 years that a vote has been held on the island's future. Past balloting has never given statehood a majority, and independence never garnered more than 5 percent, but debate over the territory's legal standing remains heated.