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| 1968, Nov. 5 |
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| Luis A. Ferré, right-wing leader of the New Progressive Party (PNP) and advocate of statehood, was elected as governor. | 1 |
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| 1972, Nov. 7 |
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| PPD candidate Rafael Hernández Colón was elected as governor. During his term the economy stagnated as U.S. firms contemplated leaving the island because of unionization and increasing taxes; proindependence terrorism in Puerto Rico and on the mainland increased. | 2 |
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| 1976, Nov. 2 |
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| Carlos Romero Barceló, PNP candidate, won the election for governor. The outgoing administration was blamed for economic collapse, corruption, and repression. | 3 |
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| 1978, July |
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| Two young nationalist militants were executed by police at Cerro Maravilla, with the apparent complicity of Gov. Romero. Widely believed to be an ambush, the incident mobilized opposition to the government. | 4 |
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| 1980, Nov. 5 |
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| Carlos Romero Barceló was reelected governor. In a worsening economic climate, U.S. federal assistance had grown to $2.3 billion by 1980. Unemployment was reaching 25 percent, and over half the island's residents qualified for federal aid. | 5 |
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| 1981, Jan. 12 |
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| Members of the Boricua People's Army (EPB) attacked a U.S. Air National Guard installation and bombed nine jet fighters. | 6 |
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| 1984, Nov. 6 |
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| With the Romero Barceló government under pressure for corruption and general economic crisis, Rafael Hernández Colón was elected as governor. Hernández Colón promised to abandon efforts to achieve more complete autonomy and to continue tax exemptions for foreign companies. He introduced the twin plant initiative, in which U.S. companies could use Puerto Rican labor for final assembly of products produced in Caribbean nations with cheaper labor, thereby evading trade barriers. | 7 |
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| 1985, July 4 |
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| Thousands of Puerto Ricans rallied in San Juan, calling for complete independence. Protesters decried Puerto Rico's “colonial” status, which made the island more dependent on the U.S. than any other region of Latin America. Unemployment was over 30 percent, and more than half the population received welfare benefits. Thus, many believed that full independence would be disastrous. | 8 |
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| 1988, Nov. 8 |
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| Rafael Hernández Colón was reelected as governor. Favoring greater autonomy for Puerto Rico, he promised a referendum on the island's status. | 9 |
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| 1990 |
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| The island's population reached 3.5 million. | 10 |
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| 1991, Dec |
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| A referendum on the status question produced no clear majority in favor of closer integration with the U.S. | 11 |
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| 1992, Jan |
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| Politically defeated in the referendum, Gov. Hernández resigned. | 12 |
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| Nov. 3 |
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| Pedro Rosselló of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP) won the gubernatorial election. He promised health, educational, and police reforms, as well as a referendum on statehood for 1993. | 13 |
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