[Clemenza]

Rwlew, you speak the truth. I do believe, however, that the US government deserves part of the blame. At one time PR was a land largely inhabited by independent small farmers. "Operation Bootstrap" (which also encouraged agricultural workers to go the the USA during WWII) and government subsidies for everything from industrial development to food stamps ruined all of this.

[LenS]

If they were mostly independent small farmers in 1940, then the that PR economy was doomed no matter what the US did. In a modern economy, there just isn't room for more than a few farmers in the overall society. It's just not efficient.