Ramtin Arablui

tax code that exempted corporations doing business in Puerto Rico from paying federal taxes on their profits.

Once those businesses started to have to pay taxes, many closed up shop, including one of the cornerstones of Puerto Rico's economy, pharmaceuticals.

Big companies like Pfizer and Procter & Gamble shuttered factories, and thousands of manufacturing jobs disappeared.

In the mid-90s, families were feeling it.

They were feeling it big time.

And this is really the beginning of what ends up becoming the financial crisis.

To understand why this moment was such a big deal for Benito and his generation, we've got to give you a quick crash course in Puerto Rico's history.

And that's why it's a good thing that we spoke to Puerto Rican historian Jorel Melendez-Badillo.

He's a Latin American and Caribbean history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I'm also the author of the book Puerto Rico, A National History.

He's going to break it down for us.

When I talk to people that are not from Puerto Rico, particularly in the United States, I always begin with the same phrase that Puerto Rico is a Latin American and Caribbean country colonized by the Spanish colonists.

since 1493 until 1898 and by the United States since.

After 1898, Puerto Rico becomes a colony of the United States.

And it's not until 1917 with the passing of the Jones Law that Puerto Ricans become U.S.

citizens.

To this day, however, Puerto Ricans aren't fully protected by the U.S.

Constitution.

They don't have voting representation in Congress.

They can only vote in U.S.