This is the first book in English to analyze the controversial language policies passed by the Puerto Rican government in the 1990s. It is also the first to explore the connections between language and cultural identity and politics on the Caribbean island. This book shows that officials in both San Juan and Washington, along with English-first groups, used the language laws as weapons in the battle over U.S.-Puerto Rican relations and the volatile debate over statehood.
In 2002, Amilcar Antonio Barreto became the youngest recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus award from the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. He earned his law and graduate degrees in Political Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 2005 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Chaim Herzog Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben Gurion University. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Affiliated Faculty in the African American Studies Department at Northeastern University in Boston.
