Puerto Rican Reconstruction Administration

The Puerto Rican Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) was a United States agency established as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies in the mid-1930s. Its primary goal was to redistribute economic power on the island by limiting sugarcane production and enforcing a law that restricted corporate land holdings. This initiative aimed to reverse the dominance of the sugarcane industry and encourage Puerto Ricans to return to small-scale farming. However, the PRRA faced administrative and financial challenges, and its objectives were curtailed. The agency's efforts were also impacted by political factors, including rising Nationalist sentiment and the U.S. government's focus on Puerto Rico's political status.1