Puerto Rico: Political Status Question on the Agenda in Democratic Presidential Primary
Puerto Rico has been pushing for dialogue with White House on the question of its political status. After setbacks under the Trump administration, islander’s hopes are high for the upcoming Democratic presidential primary on March 29. With members of the pro-statehood New Progressive party as well as the pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party in local campaigning teams, the discussion over Puerto Rico’s status options and right to self-determination have high chances to find a nation-wide audience. Similar to Washington, D.C., many Puerto Ricans prefer to have a different political status, such as full statehood within the United States that would enhance their representation in national politics.
Below is an article by The Weekly Journal
And then there were two… With a slew of Democratic presidential candidates bowing out in the last few days, there are only two front runners left in the party’s primaries: former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
With the island holding its Democratic presidential primary on March 29, Biden’s campaign in Puerto Rico has officially begun, according to several co-chairs that include former Gov. Alejandro García Padilla. Biden’s local team includes top members of the pro-statehood New Progressive party and the pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party.
“[W]e are more than confident that [Biden’s] triumph will bring hope back to our people. He represents a real option for us to re-establish communications with the White House, as he knows Puerto Rico firsthand and is willing to eliminate the discriminatory bureaucracy that Donald Trump’s dreadful administration has implemented on the needy of the island,” the co-chairs said in a statement.
Biden will not only work to rebuild the island after Hurricane Maria in Sept. 2017 and the recent earthquakes, they said, but he is also committed to a “self-determination process” on the island’s political status that includes “all status options.”
Biden’s campaign is also calling on the more than 1.2 million Boricuas living in Florida to vote in that state’s Democratic presidential primary on March 17. “A vote for Biden on March 17 is a vote for Puerto Rico,” they said, adding that the same is true for the island’s Democratic presidential primary on March 29.
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