happy 50th anniversary, commonwealth of puerto rico

It's a celebration that half the population of Puerto Rico may likely ignore. Puerto Ricans have been US citizens since 1917, but it wasn't until 1952 that a constitution was passed declaring them a commonwealth. The governing document went into effect on this date, 50 years ago, but focused more on the local operations of government than the status of the island in its relationship with the United States. The Puetro Rico Herald is running a number of stories on what being a "commonwealth" means to Puerto Rico, including one called Commonwealth Drove the Modernization of a Caribbean Backwater, and another on an effort to get more Puerto Ricans who live on the mainland to register to vote to give the island more political power in Washington, D.C.