La Constitución de Puerto Rico y el derecho constitucional puertorriqueño

Abstract

The Constitution of Puerto Rico reflects a government structur e very similar to that of a state of the United States of America. The United States Supreme Court considers the Puerto Rican nation an “unincorporated territory that belongs but is not a part of the United States.” Thus, Puerto Rico is “foreign in a domestic sense but domestic in a foreign sense.” The govern ment of Puerto Rico operates under a separation of power scheme. Its operation is largely affected by both public and private forces. Public force is exercised by the Congress of the United States and a federal government structure that coexists with the government of Puerto Rico. Private forces represented by political parties, labor unions and mass media also exert great influence over the operation of the government.