the issue of the political status of the island (meaning whether it's a country, a u.s state, or a colony) is an issue of debate amongst the puerto rican people. in the past there have been many attempts to clearly define the island's political status by means of voting. most of the time the majority of the people have chosen to remain a colony. however, in the last "status voting" the colonial option appeared to have lost well over 90% of its support, while the u.s state option has only gained strength in the last few decades. the puerto rican independence party, on the other hand, has mainly lost a great deal of support within the last six decades.