Puerto Rico votes to become 51st state of America

Puerto Rico has voted to ask the US Congress to grant it full statehood in a non-binding referendum that had 97.1 per cent of voters in favour of the plan.

Governor Ricardo Rossello claimed victory, even though opposition leaders boycotted the ballot and turnout was less than 23 per cent.

"The federal government will no longer be able to ignore the voice of the majority of the American citizens in Puerto Rico," he said.

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However, critics have called the referendum "meaningless" and an "absolute, unmitigated disaster".

Former governor Anibal Acevedo Vila said in an interview: "A 97 per cent win is the kind of result you get in a one-party regime. Washington will laugh in their faces."

At the moment, residents on the Caribbean island, a US territory since 1898, have US citizenship but cannot vote in federal elections and have no formal representation in Congress.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico's economy has been in recession for a decade and it faces debts of $49bn (£38bn) in pension obligations and $74bn (£58bn) which it cannot pay.

"Some see statehood as the best way to pull Puerto Rico out of its economic crisis," says CNBC. "Others blame the US for the malaise and would rather seek independence."

If accepted, the island will become the 51st state of the US, more than 50 years after Hawaii joined.