In this episode of Puerto Rico: Open Your Eyes, Edwin Ortiz introduces a new radio talk show format with a thoughtful discussion on one of the most misunderstood questions in Puerto Rico’s political conversation:

Was Puerto Rico ever a sovereign country?

Before answering that question, this episode looks back at Puerto Rico’s political development under Spain, especially the 1897 Carta Autonómica, the elections of March 27, 1898, and the autonomous framework that was beginning to take shape before the United States invaded the island.

The episode also compares Puerto Rico’s 1897 autonomy to Spain’s modern autonomous communities, such as the Canary Islands, explaining how Puerto Rico and Cuba received an early form of autonomy decades before Spain’s current autonomous system was created after the 1978 Constitution.