Pedro A. Malavet relies heavily on cultural theories to study the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico, especially Latina/Latino Critical Race Theory. In chapter 1 he attempts to explain this theoretical framework and how it informs his writing. “Lat Crit” scholars such as the author “have identified many forms of discrimination that target Latinas/os in the United States, despite their legal U.S. citizenship. Language, for example, has often been used as a cultural marker to discriminate against Latinas/os” (p. 22). The author claims these forms of discrimination are ultimately racial; Puerto Ricans are just one of many groups who have been “racialized” as Latinos.Chapter 2 studies the legal relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States during the Spanish and American colonial periods. The Spanish American War, ended by the Treaty of Paris, transferred sovereignty from Spain to the United States; although the treaty terminating Spanish citizenship, it did not define legal citizenship within the context of the United States. Instead, it expressly reserved this power for the U.S. Congress; implicitly, it was initially left to the courts to decide (p. 25). The U.S. Supreme Court during the 1901/2 term classified Puerto Rico as an “unincorporated territory of the United States, part of the United States under the ‘territorial clause’ but subject to absolute congressional legislative authority under that provision and the ‘necessary and proper clause’ of the U. S. Constitution” (p. 38). Today, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, but that citizenship is expressly inferior — second class — at least as long as they choose to reside on the island (p. 42).Chapter 3 concerns Puerto Rican political culture. The author describes the diverse and sophisticated ideologies of Puerto Rican political parties. The reasons for the paradox of a U.S.-dominated island “that cannot be independent and cannot become a state may be found in the ‘American’ desire to possess the island, on the one hand, and its rejection of the Puerto Ricans and their culture, on the other” (p. 99). In chapter 4, the author states that Puerto Rican cultural nationhood resides in its linguistic heritage, and despite concerted and consistent efforts by the U.S. government to destroy this culture, the existence of Puerto Rican cultural citizenship has resulted in the construction of Puerto Ricans as “others relative to ‘real Americans,’ that is the people of the United States. To attain justice and full citizenship, this ‘othering’ must differentiate and empower, not marginalize” (p. 101).In chapter 5, the author explains his theorization of a new reality of citizenship and nation, by using “critical race theory in general and Lat Crit theory in particular to critique and reform liberalism, to recognize that if it chooses to value group identity, it will not be at odds with a communitarian vision of citizenship.” He adds, “the purpose of this book is to empower Puerto Ricans by redefining their citizenship and, necessarily, their ‘nation’ ” (p. 117). He then uses chapter 6 to affirm that the international legal regime is totally powerless to enforce any rule against the United States, especially in relation to Puerto Rico’s status, and the U.S. – Puerto Rican colonial relationship could be resolved only through U.S. internal law and legal and political systems. The author concludes that Puerto Rico has the choice of negotiating with the people of the United States “a postcolonial future that is consistent with contemporary theories of justice that ensure a legal respect of culture(s) and a multicultural political coexistence” (p. 161).Malavet is a lawyer and academic. He wrote this book to describe a problem between United States and Puerto Rico that dates back 107 years. He uses historical documents, such as the Treaty of Paris of 1898, U.S. Supreme Court Insular cases 1901 – 2, and acts of the U.S. Congress, as well as theories of cultural criticism, to examine the relations between Puerto Rico and the United States. The result, I believe, is a great contribution to American, Puerto Rican, and Latin American history, because it offers both a legal and a cultural perspective. He says Puerto Rico is a constitutional problem that United States has to resolve with justice. To my mind, the author devotes too many pages to theoretical explanations, but I understand his motivation in employing this framework to help Americans understand Puerto Ricans and the relations between United States and Puerto Rico.