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In December 2017, word spread quickly via social media that the United States intends to return the territory of Puerto Rico to Spain after a report detailing such a plan was published in the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día. The report said the plan was the result of secret negotiations between the United States and Spain (translation ours): Whatever surface plausibility the article may have had stemmed from strained relations between the United States and Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in September 2017. The territory was devastated by the storm, which left millions without power and basic necessities for months. The Trump administration was criticized by many inside and outside Puerto Rico for what was termed an inadequate, too-slow response to the crisis. President Trump said the government's response compared favorably to that in past hurricanes and told Puerto Ricans the effort had thrown the federal budget out of whack. Although El Nuevo Día is a reputable daily newspaper, a number of clues point to the information being false. For one, no such plan has been reported by any mainstream news outlets anywhere in the world but El Nuevo Día. For another, the agreement has not come up for public debate or voting in Congress, despite the claim that it enjoys overwhelming support there. Additionally, there is no U.S. Senator from Alabama (or any other state) named Luke McCullen. (The article also names a fictional U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Cletus Ryder. The actual ambassador, confirmed by the Senate in November 2017, is Duke Buchan.) A disclaimer at the bottom of the article revealed that the story is, in fact, a prank: The Day of the Holy Innocents (28 December) is a holiday celebrated in Spanish-speaking countries on which it is customary to play pranks and spread hoaxes, similar to April Fools' Day in the U.S. and elsewhere.
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