224 1 Nylund Introduction The political status of Puerto Rico has been a vexing and controversial issue for over a century.1 An island with four million residents located approximately 1000 miles (1600 km) off the coast of the United States mainland, Puerto Rico has been a US territory since 1899.2 Puerto Rico is a semi-autonomous commonwealth, lacking both the freedom of an independent nation and some of the rights (such as the right to vote in presidential elections) it would have were it a state within the US federal system.3 Although the issue is complex and contentious, most Puerto Ricans favor some continued relationship with the United States (be it the status quo, statehood, or something in between).4 However, a small but vocal minority (known as independentistas, or independence activists) has sought to establish a separate national identity for Puerto Rico via the renunciation of US citizenship.5 By doing so, the independentistas essentially challenged the US government to recognize them as citizens of Puerto Rico, or as stateless. Their renunciations resulted in litigation and a somewhat confused reaction on the part of the government.6 Were these individuals who renounced US citizenship seeking to be stateless – a status which usually results from human rights violations,7 rather than voluntary action? Were they at any point actually stateless? This article discusses these questions and analyzes the US government’s response to the renunciation of citizenship by Puerto Ricans in light of its stance on the Statelessness Conventions. In addition to historical interest, it is submitted that the actions of independentistas in the mid-1990s relating to the right to a 1 Report by the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status (2011) 3, 17. 2 Ibid 17; Danica Coto, ‘Puerto Rico Seeks to Define Its Relationship to US’ Associated Press (4 November 2012) <http://bigstory.ap.org/article/puerto-rico-seeks-define-its-relationship-us> accessed 9 September 2013. 3 Coto (n 2). 4 ibid; President’s Report (n 1) 21. 5 ‘Juan Mari Bras, Elder Statesman of Puerto Rico’s Independence Movement, Dies at 82’ Associated Press (10 September 2010) <www.foxnews.com/world/2010/09/10/juan-mari-bras -elder-statesman-puerto-ricos-independence-movement-dies/#ixzz2fgS9P1rO> accessed 8 August 2013. 6 Lisa Napoli, ‘The Legal Recognition of the National Identity of a Colonized People: The Case of Puerto Rico’ (1998) 18 BC Third World LJ 159, 191. 7 See eg D Weissbrodt and C Collins, ‘The Human Rights of Stateless Persons’ (2006) Hum Rts Q 245, 248. tilburg law review 19 (2014) 223-235